7. The President Who Believed That the Center of the Earth Was Inhabited by People
Like his father, America’s second president John Adams, John Quincy Adams was a brilliant man. Before he became president, JQ Adams had been a great diplomat – perhaps America’s best diplomat ever. His accomplishments included a stint as ambassador to Russia, and service in the delegation that negotiated an end to the War of 1812. JQ Adams also served as Secretary of State, in which capacity he negotiated the acquisition of Florida, and played a key role in the creation of the Monroe Doctrine. He also served in both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, and became one of the early major opponents of slavery.
However, while clearly an intelligent man, Adams had some blind spots. One such was his belief in the Hollow Earth Theory – a nutty theory considered ludicrous even in his own time. As the name indicates, Hollow Earth posited that our planet was not a solid rock. Instead, it was supposedly more like a ball, with concentric layers separated by empty spaces, that were probably inhabited by people. As seen below, Adams not only believed in that balderdash, but actually wanted to prove it at the taxpayers’ expense.