Who was Alexis de Tocqueville?
An aristocratic Frenchman who came to the U.S. in 1831 — when he was only 25 years old — and later wrote Democracy in America, a two-volume study of the American people and their political institutions. The book is frequently quoted by journalists and politicans. When did he live? Tocqueville was born July 29, 1805 in Paris. His parents were Herve-Bonaventure Clerel de Tocqueville, a descendant of a noble Norman family, and Louise Le Peletier de Rosanbo, granddaughter of Malesherbes and sister-in-law of Chateaubriand. His older brothers were named Hippolyte and Edouard. He died April 16, 1859 in Cannes. Tocqueville is buried in the village of Tocqueville near Normandy. What was his background? Tocqueville came from an aristocratic background and he had a private tutor, the abbe Lesueur, until high school and then attended high school and college in Metz. He studied law in Paris and worked as a substitute judge in Versailles before coming to the U.S. In 1839 he was elected to the Cham
