This week In National Press Club history: Roosevelt dishes on close encounters with lions in Africa

Nov. 19, 1910: Former President Theodore Roosevelt stops by the Club in the evening to regale members with tales from his recent African safari, including several close encounters with a lion. He reveals nothing of a possible challenge in 1912 for the Republican nomination.

The Club has served as a sounding board or launching pad for many other presidential hopefuls, including Jimmy Carter, who announced his candidacy at a Club luncheon in 1974. Both Ronald Reagan in 1975 and George H. W. Bush in 1979 revealed their presidential bids at press conferences at the Club.

Nov. 21, 1936: Political pollster George Gallup speaks and revolutionizes polling by correctly predicting the winners of the 1936 election by polling only 5,000 people, in contrast to Literary Digest’s incorrect prediction based on a sample of two million people.

This week In National Press Club history is sponsored by the History and Heritage Committee, which preserves and revitalizes the Club’s history through lobby displays, events, panel discussions and its long-standing oral history project.

For more information on the committee’s activities, or to join the committee, contact past NPC President Gil Klein at [email protected].