He was the son of Louis Bonaparte, King of
Holland--a brother of Napoleon I--and was born in Paris, April 20, 1808.
From 1815 to 1830 he lived in exile. In 1836 he made an unsuccessful
attempt to organize a revolution among the French soldiers at Strasburg.
Four years later he tried to seize the throne of France; but failing in
this attempt, he was imprisoned in the fortress of Ham until 1846, when
he escaped to England. During his confinement he continued in his
writings a Bonapartist propaganda. He had addressed himself particularly
to the workingmen, and this class won a victory in the Revolution of
February, 1848. After the fall of Louis Philippe in that year, Napoleon
was elected to the National Assembly, largely by the votes of the
working classes, and on June 13, 1848, took his seat. In December he was
elected President of the Republic by an immense majority.
Although he was regarded as possessing a rather dull intellect, and as
being, partly for that reason, a "safe" man for the presidential office,
Napoleon soon proved his capacity for intrigue and for cajoling the
people.
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