Remembering Tocqueville, America’s French observer, on the anniversary of his death

Perhaps the best book about America was not written by an American. Instead, Democracy in America came from the pen of a Frenchman, Alexis De Tocqueville. Tocqueville, a politician and aristocrat, died on April 16, 1859 — 165 years ago.

Democracy in America came from the Frenchman’s first-hand observations of the United States in the early 19th century. Tocqueville arrived in America in 1831 on a mission from the French government to investigate and write about our country’s prison system. But Democracy was his much greater contribution, a work he published in two installments: the first part in 1835 and the second in 1840. These broader observations continue to show us something of value for our own political discourse.