They left us a powerful legacy of civic activism that can still inspire our best efforts. Advocates, real people will tell you, are those people who wear buttons to meetings, distribute pamphlets, yell things at rallies, will not listen to anyone else and are generally relics of the sixties. It must be safe to be one because it is hiding behind a lack of definition. The Advocate William Campbell was a typical 19th century county lawyer, until he became interested in people who had been institutionalized with mental health problems, and took up their cause. One day Campbell stumbled upon an opportunity.
All advocates are opportunists.
He learned that Alexis de Toqueville was traveling through the country and decided that he would show de Toqueville the conditions of mental asylums in America. Campbell would use de Toqueville as a mouthpiece to amplify concern for mental patients. He hoped to embarrass those who wanted to put on a good show for the foreigner, and hence garner some good publicity. Today, William Campbell is a footnote to history. He was a nag, he pestered de Toqueville with letters at every stop.