Barnes vs. Roosevelt libel trial

[3]: 99  In July, Roosevelt made a statement that was widely published, in which he accused Barnes of being a corrupt, obnoxious political boss who was in league with Charles Francis Murphy, the leader of New York's Tammany Hall Democratic Party organization.

[1] With respect to libel, a defendant must prove his innocence; that is, Roosevelt was required to demonstrate that he had not intentionally imparted a malicious public falsehood about Barnes.

[9] The trial essentially ended Barnes' influence; he was not even considered for the 1916 Republican U.S. Senate nomination and soon left his state and national party posts.

[10] Roosevelt reclaimed a measure of his status as a national political figure; in 1916, he declined a Progressive presidential nomination and campaigned for Republican nominee Charles Evans Hughes; Hughes narrowly lost to incumbent Woodrow Wilson, but most of Roosevelt's supporters followed him back to the Republican Party.

[3]: 102–103  He also advocated for the Preparedness Movement, and when World War I broke out he supported U.S. intervention and made an unsuccessful attempt to raise a volunteer Army unit to command in combat.

[11] At the time of his death in 1919, Roosevelt's status had been restored to the point that he was the leading contender for the Republican nomination in the 1920 presidential election.