Page "Thomas Jefferson" Paragraph 34

According to Chernow, during the Quasi-War, Jefferson engaged in a " secret campaign to sabotage Adams in French eyes.

" In the spring of 1797, he held four confidential talks with the French consul Joseph Letombe.

In these private meetings, Jefferson attacked Adams, predicted that he would only serve one term, and encouraged France to invade England.

Jefferson advised Letombe to stall any American envoys sent to Paris by instructing them to " listen to them and then drag out the negotiations at length and mollify them by the urbanity of the proceedings.

" This toughened the tone that the French government adopted with the new Adams Administration.

Due to pressure against the Adams Administration from Jefferson and his supporters, Congress released the papers related to the XYZ Affair, which rallied a shift in popular opinion from Jefferson and the French government to supporting Adams.