May 16, 1797: President John Adams told Congress of the "XYZ Affair" — a dispute with France that nearly led to war with Napoleon. The letters X, Y, and Z derive from the names of French diplomats in documents released by the Adams administration. The "affair" began when a U.S. diplomatic delegation went to France in July 1797 to negotiate issues that were threatening to cause war. The diplomats, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry, were approached by agents of the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand demanding bribes and a loan before formal negotiations could begin. This was a common practice in those days, but the Americans were offended, and Pinckney and Marshall went home. But Gerry, seeking to avoid war, remained, and with Talleyrand, laid the groundwork for an eventual end to diplomatic and military hostilities.
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