Alexis de Tocqueville

1805–1859 · French political thinker, author of Democracy in America

Alexis de Tocqueville sailed for the United States in 1831 on a commission to study American prisons and came home with something far larger: De la démocratie en Amérique, published in two volumes in 1835 and 1840. His method was to watch American institutions closely enough to see where they would bend under pressure — which is why he is quoted, and misquoted, in every American constitutional crisis. His chapter on political jurisdiction is one of those pressure tests: he thought American impeachment was mild, and that its mildness was exactly what made it dangerous.

Traced to source

2 quotes we’ve traced to Alexis de Tocqueville

“A decline of public morals in the United States will probably be marked by the abuse of the power of impeachment as a means of crushing political adversaries or ejecting them from office”

Disputed

“America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great”

Disputed

Not actually Alexis de Tocqueville

Often misattributed to Alexis de Tocqueville

Famous lines widely pinned on Alexis de Tocqueville that we’ve traced to someone else.

“America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great”

actually Unknown

“In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve”

actually Joseph de Maistre

On the research bench

Commonly pinned on Alexis de Tocqueville — under review

5 lines flagged as pinned on Alexis de Tocqueville and queued for a full source trace — not yet verified.

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. In the fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there. In her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits, aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

Likely misattributed

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.”

Likely misattributed

“It's not an endlessly expanding list of rights — the 'right' to education, the 'right' to health care, the 'right' to food and housing. That's not freedom, that's dependency. Those aren't rights, those are the rations of slavery — hay and a barn for human cattle.”

Likely misattributed

“Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.”

Disputed

“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”

Disputed

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