Portrait of Lafayette
painted by Charles Willson Peale

image in the public domain

In 1832, President Monroe invited Lafayette back to America to celebrate the nation’s upcoming 50th Anniversary of Independence

His name, in full, was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette, though in the US he was purely known by the one word - 'Lafayette'

Lafayette was a French nobleman and military officer who had volunteered to join the Continental Army, led by General George Washington.
So already famous from his exploits in the Revolutionary War, he was celebrated and exalted everywhere he went.