Venue Information

The National Press Club has been a part of Washington life for more than 90 years. Its members have included all of the Presidents of the United States since Theodore Roosevelt. Most have spoken from The Club's podium, some to declare their candidacies for the highest office in the land.On March 12, 1908, 32 newspapermen with $300 met in the Gridiron Room of the Willard Hotel (across 14th street from the current location of the National Press Building) and framed a constitution for the National Press Club.The Club founders laid down a credo which promised "to promote social enjoyment among the members, to cultivate literary taste, to encourage friendly intercourse among newspapermen and those with whom they were thrown in contact in the pursuit of their vocation, to aid members in distress and to foster the ethical standards of the profession."The first quarters of the Club on the second floor of 1205 F Street NW were quickly outgrown and in 1909, only a year after The Cl ...