He and his lawyers went to the trial, bringing with them dozens of witnesses, life-long friends, hunting companions, reporters who had accompanied him on political campaigns, fellow-soldiers, Cabinet officers, physicians, officers of the Army and Navy.  These witnesses testified for a week to his temperate habits, agreeing absolutely in their testimony.  The doctors pointed out that only a temperate man could have recovered so quickly from his wound.  It was established that he never drank anything stronger than wine, except as a medicine; that he drank very little wine, and never got drunk.

At the end, the newspaper editor withdrew his statement, apologized, was found guilty and fined only nominal charges.  Mr. Roosevelt was not after this small creature’s money, but was only bent on clearing his reputation.  So it was at his request that the fine was fixed at six cents.

Mr. William Barnes, the Albany politician, sued Mr. Roosevelt for libel, because Roosevelt had called him a Boss, and said that he used crooked methods.  This had been said in a political campaign.  The Republicans were looking for some chance to destroy Roosevelt, and Mr. Barnes, aided by an able Republican lawyer, thought that they would be doing a great service if they could besmirch Mr. Roosevelt in some way.

So they worked their hardest and best, cross-examined him for days and searched every incident of his political life.  At the end they joined that large band of disappointed men who tried to destroy Roosevelt or catch him in something disreputable.  For the jury decided in Mr. Roosevelt’s favor, indicating that he had uttered no untruth when he made his remarks about Mr. Barnes.

As a writer, Mr. Roosevelt would have made a name for himself, if he had done nothing else.  The success of his books is not due to the high offices which he held, for his best writings had nothing to do with politics.  As a writer on politics he was forceful and clear.  There was no doubt as to the meaning of his state papers; they never had to be explained nor “interpreted.”  They were not designed to mean any one of two or three things, according to later circumstances.  Strength and directness were the characteristics.  When writing about the by-ways of politics his enjoyment of the ridiculous made his work especially readable.  When he felt deeply about any great issue, as in his last years, about the Great War, and our part in it, his indignation found its way into his pages, which became touched with the fire of genuine eloquence.

He wrote about books and animals, and about outdoor life, as no President has ever done.  His remarks upon literature are those of a great book-lover, sensible, well-informed and free from pose.