Gil Klein is a journalist, author, professor, and guest speaker. He is the Resident Director of the University of Oklahoma’s Washington Journalism Program. As a volunteer, he is president of the National Press Club’s Journalism Institute, the Club’s nonprofit arm that focuses on journalism education and press freedom issues. He previously taught Journalism and New Media with American University’s Washington Semester Program. Coming to Washington, D.C. in 1985 from the Tampa Tribune, he was a national correspondent for the Media General News Service for 22 years, writing for 23 Southern newspapers. Read more about Gil here.
Recent publications
Did you know that President Harry Truman serenaded Lauren Bacall at the National Press Club?
Learn more about the Press Club and World War II events in Gil's latest article in American Heritage.
Learn more about the Press Club and World War II events in Gil's latest article in American Heritage.
"In 1945 Harry Truman was only three weeks into his vice presidency when he was famously photographed playing the National Press Club's piano, looking up at Lauren Bacall whose shapely legs hang down the front. Harris and Ewing, Harry S. Truman Library (American Heritage Vol 66, Issue 7)."
Read Gil's new article about Stephen Decatur's duel and death on Lafayette Square published in American Heritage. Learn about the fascinating history of Lafayette Square and the roles it has played in American History in Gil's book - Trouble In Lafayette Square.
Gil s newest book - Tales from the National Press Club
For 112 years, the National Press Club has been the intersection of news and history in the nation’s capital as thousands of newsmakers have made their way to its podium, shaping events that define the 20th and 21st centuries. The Club’s motto is “Where News Happens.” Former Washington Post Publisher Phil Graham famously said, “journalism is the first draft of history.” Those two ideas are combined in my new book, “Tales from the National Press Club.” Published by The History Press, it is the culmination of my work with the Club during the past 35 years as a journalist, Club president and its historian.
Every American president – from Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump – has visited the Club either before, during or after their administrations. Many presidential wannabes have made their case here, as have prime ministers and presidents, kings and queens, revolutionaries and peace makers, Cabinet secretaries and congressional leaders, generals and admirals, sports heroes, film stars and entertainers, titans of industry, media executives, best- selling authors and explorers from the Arctic to the ocean depths to outer space.
But the Club is much more than a litany of speakers. It is part of the social history of the United States and the social fabric of Washington. It is part of the history of journalism as the news business has developed from print to broadcast to the internet and social media. And it has become a champion of freedom of the press at home and around the world.
Every American president – from Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump – has visited the Club either before, during or after their administrations. Many presidential wannabes have made their case here, as have prime ministers and presidents, kings and queens, revolutionaries and peace makers, Cabinet secretaries and congressional leaders, generals and admirals, sports heroes, film stars and entertainers, titans of industry, media executives, best- selling authors and explorers from the Arctic to the ocean depths to outer space.
But the Club is much more than a litany of speakers. It is part of the social history of the United States and the social fabric of Washington. It is part of the history of journalism as the news business has developed from print to broadcast to the internet and social media. And it has become a champion of freedom of the press at home and around the world.
