8 Dreadful Acts From US Presidents

8. John Adams Makes It A Crime To Say Anything Bad About Him

Professional Paul Giamatti impersonator, John Adams, was the second president of the United States and had some big shoes to fill. A deeply intelligent man, it's actually quite amazing to see someone so smart do so many self destructive things.

First some historical context, relations between America and France where at an all time low (amazing as America had only really existed for less than 50 years) after the XYZ affair. XYZ were the names given to three French delegates by Adams who had apparently demanded bribes for opening dialogue on the issue France's habit of taking American ships.

This really pissed off Adams who began preparing for a possible war with France.

One of the ways in which Adams prepared was a set of domestic policies called the Alien and Sedition Acts.

They were a series of four acts, the first three are somewhat understandable, but the fourth act is a real piece of work.

The sedition act declared that publication of anything scandalous, malicious, or false would mean jail time and a fine, which it did for many news paper editors who had published work critical of the Adam's administration.

The sedition act and two of the other four alien acts were allowed to expire, with Adams being the only president to make it a crime to criticise the government.