— Alexis de Tocqueville. 

Alexis de Tocqueville bicentennial
He's admired by statesmen as diverse as Russell Feingold, Ronald Reagan, and Hillary Clinton — and cited by George Bush as "my favorite political philosopher." For information on Tocqueville bicentennial events, click here. For recent press reports by National Public Radio, The Washington Post, and others, click here. For links to Tocqueville comemerative stamps and other souveniers, click here.

Current history and policy:

Mike Gravel announces presidential bid
Former Tocqueville Chairman Mike Gravel will seek the White House in 2008, according to widespread reports. (He thus joins such former Tocquevillians as Jack Kemp and Joe Lieberman in the race for the White House -- not to mention project advisors John McCain and Bill Bradley.) Read the official release here, and Joe Lauria's scoop from the Druge Report here.

Osama Bin Laden, day 1,688
The West's inability to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden adds much to al-Qaida's mystique, and thereby, its ability to recruit and inspire. The remedy? Go on offense against terror's patron franchiser — in Pakistan or wherever he may flee. Insights from William Lind to Tocqueville, here.

Summer of '71
Thirty-five years ago this summer, Alaska's Mike Gravel began reading sections of the "Pentagon Papers," the classified account of American involvement in Vietnam, on the Senate floor. Link to background about Gravel's action here, the Gravel edition of the Pentagon papers here, and a retrospective on Vietnam by Senator (and former Tocqueville chairman) Gravel here.