Bully Pulpit Blunders: TR’s Tumultuous SLAPP

By: Lauren Smith

Former President Theodore Roosevelt had a knack for theatrics. From his explosive personality to his expansive policies, the former President brought vigor into the White House. That vigor simultaneously echoed in his relationship with the press. In 1908, Roosevelt filed a retaliatory libel suit against Journalist Joseph Pulitzer over statements in several newspaper articles. The suit would span into a years-long battle that would ultimately land before the Supreme Court.

Strategic Laws Against Public Participation (SLAPPS) are retaliatory lawsuits that chill free speech. SLAPPS are often filed against people who make unpopular comments or criticisms against public figures, policies, and corporations. These suits often disguise themselves as libel or defamation suits. SLAPPs gained their moniker in the 1980s by Professors George W. Pring and Penelope Canan. Despite its recent naming, SLAPPs have permeated American courts since the 1800s.

Pulitzer and Roosevelt’s legal battle began prior to 1908. Pulitzer engaged in “Yellow journalism,” a media style in which news stories were published with very little – if any – research. Then-President Roosevelt detested the style, and frequently protested Pulitzer’s style and inquiries. This drew the two into sprawling press battles. In one such instance, Pulitzer published several newspaper stories that alleged Roosevelt – and his brother – profited from the sale of the Panama Canal. The stories launched an extensive investigation against Roosevelt and his brother. In December 1908, shortly before the end of his second presidential term, Roosevelt wrote a letter to Congress with demands that the attorney general prosecute Pulitzer and his newspaper, The New York World, for slander against TR and the nation. [1].

The suit was filed and flew through several courts. One New York grand jury issued a fourteen-count libel charge against Pulitzer on a legal nuance around newspaper circulation. [2]. Eventually, the Supreme Court ended the legal battle in 1911. In United States v. Press Publishing Co., the court ruled that “there was no federal crime of libel.” [3] Additionally, the Court said that Pulitzer’s offense “if any” was “committed wholly within the State of New York, and was punishable there.” [4]

To read more about the United States v. Press Publishing Co., click here.

[1] HAROLD HOLZER, THE PRESIDENTS VS. THE PRESS 112-14 (2020).

[2] Id.

[3]  United States v. Press Publishing Co., 219 U.S. 1 (1911), https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/219/1/.

[4] Id.