“No more dramatic courtroom scene has ever been enacted,” reported the  Syracuse Herald  on May 22, 1915, as it covered “the greatest libel suit in history,” a battle fought between former president Theodore Roosevelt and the leader of the Republican party.    Roosevelt, the boisterous and mostly beloved legendary American hero, had accused his former friend and ally, now turned rival, William Barnes of political corruption. The furious Barnes responded by suing Roosevelt for an enormous sum that could have financially devastated him. The spectacle of Roosevelt defending himself in a lawsuit captured the imagination of the country, and more than fifty newspapers sent reporters to cover the trial. Accounts from inside and outside the courtroom combined with excerpts from the trial transcript give us Roosevelt in his own words and serve as the heart of  Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense .   This was Roosevelt