us-federal-government
How many presidents have sued others?
<p>How many presidents have sued people, corporations, banks, for defamation, for libel, etc. (for any reason at all). </p>

<p>NOT how many have been sued... The other way around.</p>

<p>I can find, in a quick google search, no record of a President who brought a suit for defamation, libel, or slander <strong>while in office</strong>. Since the famous case of <strong>NY Times vs Sullivan</strong>, a President who wished to sue for alleged defamation about any aspect of his official conduct or fitness for office would need to prove &quot;actual malice&quot; which is a high (but not impossible) bar to clear.</p>
<p>As described in <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/can-presidential-candidates-sue-media-outlets-for-defamation/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This article</a> <em>Goldwater v. Ginzburg</em> (1969) was a case of losing candidate Barry Goldwater suing <em>Fact</em> magazine and its editor Ralph Ginzburg, over a published statement that Goldwater had a “severely paranoid personality and was psychologically unfit for the high office to which he aspired”. Goldwater won the suit, although he got much less than he sought. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict, finding that the &quot;actual malice&quot; standard had been clearly met. The US Supreme Court did not accept the case for review, but Justice Black wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I cannot subscribe to the result the Court reaches today because I firmly believe that the First Amendment guarantees to each person in this country the unconditional right to print what he pleases about public affairs ...</p>
<p>The public has an unqualified right to have the character and fitness of anyone who aspires to the presidency held up for the closest scrutiny. Extravagant, reckless statements and even claims which may not be true seem to me an inevitable and perhaps essential part of the process by which the voting public informs itself of the qualities of a man who would be president.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>according to Black. But the Court did not so hold.</p>
<p>In the article <a href="https://supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/if-the-president-is-libeled-can-he-sue-should-he.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;If the President Is Libeled, Can He Sue? Should He?&quot;</a> Julie Hilden discussed a then-possible suit by President George W. Bush over a news story that he had been drinking, contrary to his public statements. (No such suit was ever filed.) Hilden  concluded that such a suit might  well be legally permitted, but should never be brought as a matter of policy.</p>
<p>Neither article mentions any case of an actual US President bringing such a suit. Nor can I find any other account of such a suit.</p>
