Though the chances of rearrest were very high, O'Doherty refused to go on the run. As he entered his home in late November 1919, he narrowly escaped a bullet that missed him. This attack was in response to the killing of a detective by the IRA in July, which O'Doherty had played no part in. This led him to leave for Philadelphia in December 1919, hoping that diplomatic efforts in the United States might be successful. In August 1920, his family joined him there. He worked for a firm of church furnishers, and wrote articles for an Irish-American newspaper, the "Irish Press", which was edited by his old friend Patrick McCartan. He became editor of the paper in 1920, but it closed in May 1922 due to lack of finances. He was horrified by the 1921 partitioning of Ireland, the Civil War in 1922. He attempted to remain unbiased, but he leaned towards the anti-treaty side. His wife was firmly anti-treaty.