Theodore Goes To Court
In May 1913, Roosevelt sues George Newett for liable. Newett published the Michigan paper the Iron Ore and accused TR of being frequently drunk. Now there were lots of papers who accused TR of getting sloshed. However, Newett went a bit over the top.
“Roosevelt lies and curses in a most disgusting way; he gets drunk too and not infrequently and all his intimates know about it. All who oppose him are wreckers of the country, liars, knaves and undesirables. He alone is pure and entitled to a halo. Rats. For so great a fighter, self-styled, he is the poorest loser we ever knew!”
Still sore from losing the 1912 election the first thing TR did was to create his own “Dream Team” of notables led by Jacob Riis, Gifford Pinchot and James Garfield Jr. Roosevelt was loaded for courtroom bear.
After a week-long trial Newett dramatically retracted his charges, saying, “In the face of the unqualified testimony of so many distinguished men he must have been mistaken.”
Roosevelt then withdrew his claim for damages, asking the court to instruct the jury that he wanted only nominal damages. The jury accepted his request and awarded TR the total sum of six cents. The cost you’d pay to buy a copy of the Iron Ore.
Newspaper article depicting TR testifying at the courthouse in Marquette, Michigan