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Due to Catherine's ruthless and steadfast personality she did not see her son as a fitting heir to the throne. She raised Alexander herself and transferred her visions for a future Russia to who she thought the true heir of Russia should be. Frédéric-César de La Harpe, who was a famous encyclopaedist and enlightened thinker, and was Alexander's personal tutor and educator. In order to keep the Romanov Dynasty alive, Catherine arranged Alexander's marriage with Princess Louise of Baden-Durlach. Alexander did not think highly of this arrangement, classifying it as unwanted and leading him to be unhappy with his spouse. Catherine had written a manifesto granting Alexander as the heir to the Russian throne and not Paul. However, she died suddenly on November 17th, 1796, therefore leaving the manifesto to not be disclosed and granting Paul the throne. This shaped Alexander to feed off of the major historical events occurring in his life to make him more "European" and unite the continent in peace and unity. .
Catherine's visions for Alexander led him to show his power as a reformist and in foreign policy, hoping to better the nation. Once he took over after the death of Paul I, he created an "intimate" or "secret" committee formed with good friend Pavel Stroganov, and three others, Victor Kochubei, Nicholay Novosil'tsev, and Adam Jerzy Czartoryski. .
Alexander symbolizes the gains of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, by wanting to step away from the unpredictable governmental behavior of Paul I. Reforms in the senate were started in 1801 when he first stepped onto the throne. The Senate Council was designed to improve the technique of the legislative body, becoming the second chamber of the legislature. The Governing Senate was transformed into the Supreme Court of the Empire. He had strong ambitions to improve the prospects of the peasantry, however it was often stated that he was attempting to "run before he could walk.
