Entitled: "No war talk! Attorney General Gregory says, "Obey the law, keep your mouth shut!", 1917. In 1914, President Wilson appointed Thomas Watt Gregory Attorney General of the United States, and he held that office until 1919. His performance as attorney general provoked enormous controversy because of his collaboration with postmaster general Albert S. Burleson and others in orchestrating a campaign to crush domestic dissent during WWI. He helped frame the Espionage and Sedition Acts, which compromised the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and press, and lobbied for their passage. He encouraged extralegal surveillance by the American Protective League and directed the federal prosecutions of more than 2,000 opponents of the war.
