Biography

Found in 18410000Conversation_JohnCarlin_WHS_FMS1.
Alexis de Tocqueville was born at Verneuil on July 29, 1805. He was brought up to be a lawyer and Judge and became an assistant magistrate in 1830. In 1831 he was sent by the government to examine prisons and penitentiaries in America, which he did with his friend Gustave de Beaumont. This took him less than two years and published a report. He then wrote De la Démocratie en Amerique which was published in 1835 and helped make his reputation. De Tocqueville married an Englishwoman on his visit to England in the mid-to late 30s. On his return to France in 1837 he was elected to be a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques on January 6, 1838. He then decided to live as a country gentleman at Tocqueville and stood for the chamber of deputies to carry out the English ideal. However, he refused a government nomination from Molé and thus was defeated for the chamber of deputies. He tried again at a later date and was successful, sitting for several years before and after the February revolution. In 1849 he became vice-president of the assembly and was minister for foreign affairs for a few months. He supported both the Roman expedition and a positive opponent of Louis Napoleon. He was arrested in the coup d'état and retired from public life afterward. In 1856 he wrote De l'Ancien régime which was nearly as successful as his first book. For the last 20 years of his life he had a large amount of fame in Europe which continued for at least ten years after his death on April 16, 1859 after having suffered a broken blood-vessel in 1858.