A coded packet from Paris, a demand for a bribe, and a president who has to decide whether to show the whole country.
The XYZ Affair, a war at sea nobody declared, a thirteen-year-old midshipman lost in battle, Americans jailed for a joke, the peace that cost Adams everything, and the first night in an unfinished White House.

Next: John Adams, Part 5: Thomas Jefferson Survives.

Chapters:
00:00 Cold open
01:41 Following Washington
04:10 The XYZ Affair
06:53 A War Nobody Declared
09:40 The Sedition Act: Jailed for a Joke
11:52 The Decision That Cost Him Everything
16:01 A Blessing on the White House
18:48 Wrap-up

Mr. President: The Untold Story. The presidents you think you know, told like a thriller. A new part every day, one president at a time.

Intro music: John Philip Sousa, The Stars and Stripes Forever, performed by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band (public domain).

Image credits: all images via Wikimedia Commons (public domain or CC0). Artists and sources include: John Singleton Copley; Gilbert Stuart; Benjamin Blyth; John Trumbull; Mather Brown; Samuel F. B. Morse; Charles Willson Peale; Thomas Sully; Joseph Siffred Duplessis; Paul Revere; Alonzo Chappel; Library of Congress; and unknown artists.

More from the Mr. President team: books, free tools, and writing services.
Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0vR5CaOjBj3Bykefvqh0sQ | https://www.youtube.com/@MrPresidentUntoldStory
Books: https://payhip.com/DavidKaneBooks
Free calculators: https://calcsunny.com
Free audio tools: https://audioknife.calcsunny.com
Writing (memoir, business, self-help): https://www.fiverr.com/brightdesk_co