he was polite to a couple of young frenchmen. >> how did he meet john quincy adams? >> it was at the house of a politician in boston. the politician is notorious for droning on for two hours at gettysburg where lincoln gave his historic address. according to tocqueville, adams had willingly lost the presidency in 1828, rather than compromise his principles. he had been elected to the house of representatives, which seems like an extraordinary choice for a politician to make, having been president. in addition, adams thought deeply about american history. he was the son of one of the founders, spoke perfect french, had a great diplomatic career. tocqueville was deeply impressed by his wisdom. >> tocqueville lived for how many years? >> a total of 53. he had tuberculosis. later, he would have repeated breakdowns and recoveries. >> how long was he married and who did he marry? >> that is interesting, too. he fell in love with a middle- class englishwoman. he kept his engagement secret from his family for several years. he was secretly engaged when he was in this country,

some of them are very distinguished people like john quincy adams. some of them are utterly unknown. the notebooks are full of the ideas that blossomed into chapters in this book. >> you talk about this in your book -- his attitude toward amberjacks and. when did he meet with him? >> -- toward andrew jackson. when did he meet with him? but it was toward the end when he was disillusioned -- >> it was toward the end when he was disillusioned. most people remember that in 1824, you have the most popular votes, but their work four candidates, not a majority -- there were four candidates, not a majority. what looked like a backroom deal -- for the four years, jackson should have been president and he was not. in 1828, he was elected. most of the patricians that tocqueville met at the beginning of his trip feared jackson. they thought he won an irrelevant battle in new orleans and that was all that had gotten him the reputation. it was terribly shortsighted. jackson had charisma. he had great leadership qualities. tocqueville just did not get at. >> how lo

you know, you want to go back and read john quincy adams' incredible closing arguments that went on for over two days. you know. ed in the amistad case. you can get it. you want to read ben franklin's entire speech before the constitutional convention in 1787, where he said if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it possible an empire can rise without his, the lord's, aid? he said, we're told in the sacred writing, unless the lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it. i also firmly believe he said, without his, god's concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of babel. we shall be confounded bit bilocal, partial interests, and we ourselves shall become the byword of history. you can find that whole speech, the lessons learn through history. if you don't have a bible and you wonder what was the most quoted book here in the house of representatives, for the first 100-plus years of our history, the most quoted book here in the house of representatives, it may have been 150 years, most quoted book here on the h