Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) was a French political philosopher and historian, best known for his works Democracy in America and The Old Regime and Revolution. He was a pioneer in modern political science and sociology, famously analyzing the societal changes provoked by democratic society. Actively engaged in French politics most of his life, he retired after Napoleon's 1851 coup and focused on his writing. He died of tuberculosis in the spring of 1859. John D. Wilsey (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Assistant Professor of History and Christian Apologetics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary at the Houston campus, where he teaches courses on Western civilization, American politics, and American religious history. He is the author of American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea (IVP Academic, 2015). Dr. Wilsey's research focuses on American religious nationalism and public theology, and Alexis de Tocqueville's work figures prominently in his studies.