The Tocqueville Liberty Institute — Reigniting America's Love Affair with Liberty

Civic Education for a Stronger American Republic

The Tocqueville Liberty Institute is a 501(c)(3) revitalizing America’s commitment to liberal democracy through civic education on our economic history, civic responsibilities, and the foundations of the republic.

Support the missionRead the essays

Latest essays

All essays

  • My Third Language

    Substack

    When I first traveled from Taipei to San Francisco on United Airlines in June of 1978, my English repertoire consisted of three words: “yes, no, and I don’t…

    Read more

  • The Sun Keeps Its Appointments

    Bottom line up front: last Wednesday the moon kept an appointment made before any of us were born, and the same week Washington proved it cannot keep the rules…

    Read more

  • Make Iran Great Again?

    Why Iran’s Rage Won’t Set It Free: A Tocqueville Warning A Tocqueville Liberty Institute Analysis By Colonel Pete The dream of a free, secular, and prosperous…

    Read more

A history of record

The House on Xinyi Road

Thirty eight years of martial law in Taiwan, and the family who paid for a piece of the last stretch of it. The murders of 28 February 1980 are still unsolved.

Read the essay

A storybook of record

Six Days’ Notice

The Japanese Americans of Bainbridge Island, the war that took them, and the neighbors who kept their farms. Free to read, free to download.

Read the book
Colonel Pete, founder of the Tocqueville Liberty Institute, in U.S. Air Force dress uniform beside an American flag

Welcome from the founder

Welcome to the TLI. Here we are dedicated to learning and inspiring our fellow Americans to take action in preserving our republic. Together we can uphold the principles of democracy and ensure a brighter future for generations to come.

Book an engagement to hear the founding story firsthand — how a Taiwanese immigrant came to America, fell in love with this country's founding principles, and now wants to reignite that romance for his fellow Americans.

Book an engagement — +1 (253) 655-7666

Mission

We work through workshops, talks, community engagement, and multimedia outreach, toward an America where citizens understand the republic well enough to keep it. Three commitments run through all of it: civic education, active citizenship, and critical thinking.

Mission, vision, and values in full

Tocqueville Liberty Institute emblem: an illustrated Statue of Liberty raising a torch, framed by a laurel wreath