<p><span class="deck">Is it libel to say that the President of the United States tried to seduce his neighbor’s wife—even if he did? Thomas Jefferson tried to gag the venomous editor of upstate New York’s <span class="typestyle"> Wasp;</span> Alexander Hamilton argued brilliantly in defense of journalistic candor.</span></p>
<p><span class="deck">Matthew Lyon did not like John Adams, and insisted on his right to say so. He spent months in jail but he could not be silenced.</span></p>
<p>In the bitter debate over the War of 1812, the decorated veteran nearly died fighting a Baltimore mob in defense of an unpopular Federalist publisher.</p>
