There are some trials that naturally lend themselves to dramatic recounting in books or movies. They're usually the same ones that get called "trials of the century." Cases, for example, involving John T. Scopes, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, Adolf Eichmann and O.J. Simpson all captured the public imagination and inspired writers and filmmakers to take a shot at depicting the courtroom drama that ensued.
None of those were civil cases that involved the tort of libel, however. (That's not to say there haven't been landmark trials about defamation, but with the exception of Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, which formed the basis for Miloš Forman's 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt, few have been the subject of books or movies intended for general audiences.) But in their new book, Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense, authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher prove that the story of a libel case can indeed make for gripping reading.
While many Americans today might not be aware that Theodore Roosevelt was involved in a libel suit, the case dominated headlines in 1915. Roosevelt, a former two-term president, was still very much a national celebrity; three years prior, he made an unsuccessful bid to return to the White House as a candidate for the Progressive Party.
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