In 1831, a young French intellectual named Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States. Less than a year later, he returned home to begin writing "Democracy in America," a two-volume book that is arguably the best ever written on its subject. It is quite remarkable that Tocqueville's book has proven to be so prophetic and enduring: When the author visited the American shores, the country was in its infancy, the population was widely dispersed, travel was arduous, and he was only 27 years old. This essay revisits Tocqueville's "Democracy in America"--especially his belief that citizen "habits of the heart" would play a critical role in the future of American democracy--and explores its implications for higher education in the current political crisis.