If libel suits are a measure of a magazine publisher's success, then Robert J. Collier had more than his share. He was sued often, he liked to believe, because he championed the people's causes (primarily through muckraking). He and his magazine were sued by business tycoons that his publication had attacked; by other publishers, most notably William Randolph Hearst; and even by advertisers, because he did not permit all comers to advertise in his magazine.

Through his social, political, and business contacts, Collier had the attention, if not always the active support, of many leaders of the period. Certainly, the muckraking work done by Collier's while he was editor and publisher had enormous impact in the areas of policy development and the passage of statutory remedies for a number of societal ills in the early part of this century. After all, Pres. Theodore Roosevelt continued to praise the...