National Press Club history snippet #17

"TR and the lion: Former President Theodore Roosevelt, fresh from an African safari, visited the National Press Club in November 1910. One witness described Roosevelt as bubbling with enthusiasm as he regaled reporters about how a ferocious lion leapt at him three times--but he managed to duck to safety again and again. Asked, however, whether he planned to seek the presidency again, TR remained mum. The National Press Club--where news (some of it roaring) is made in the nation's capital."

This snippet is one of many put together by the late Art Wiese, who served as Club president in 1979. He was responsible for planning much of the reconstruction of the Club during its renovation in the early 1980s. In his later years, he put together a series of snippets on the Club's history. In honor of his passing last year, the Wire is running one of them each week while they last.