National Press Club in History: Club president elected to Congress

To get into National Press Club politics, perhaps more than a few Club presidents like to wheel and deal like a politician. And to be sure, many reporters in the Capitol press galleries think they could do a better job than the politicians they are covering.

But only one Club president made the leap from the Club to the House chamber.

Louis Leon Ludlow was born in Indiana in 1873 and moved to Indianapolis in 1892 to launch his journalism career. He arrived in Washington in 1901 as a Washington correspondent for Indiana and Ohio newspapers, eventually for the Columbus Dispatch. Elected vice president for 1927, he became president in March when the president-elect, A.H. Kirchofer of the Buffalo Evening News, resigned to return to Buffalo as managing editor.

That made Ludlow president during a significant time for the Club. It was the year that the National Press Building was completed. He led the parade of members to the new Club quarters. And it was the year that Charles Lindbergh spoke to the Club on the day he returned to the United States from his momentous flight. Ludlow’s introduction of Lindbergh was the essence of purple prose.

After leaving the Club presidency in January 1928, Ludlow wasted little time in pursuing his political career. He returned to his native Indiana and won a House seat that November as a Democrat. He served until voluntarily stepping down in January 1949.

Two things marked his congressional career. First, in 1938, he proposed an amendment to the Constitution requiring a national referendum on any U.S. declaration of war except in cases of a direct attack. It was defeated by a narrow margin, only after an appeal from Franklin Roosevelt.

Second, a caption on a picture of him published on Aug. 31, 1937, said he set a record for never returning to his home district during congressional recesses, staying on the job in the Capitol. He didn’t even go home to campaign. By one account he received more mail than any other House member – an average of 200 letters a day - and he made sure each was acknowledged.

When he left office, Ludlow returned to work as a Washington correspondent for the remaining year of his life. And true to form, after he died on Nov. 28, 1950, at the age of 77, he did not return to Indiana. He is buried in Washington’s Rock Creek Cemetery. But the folks back home did not forget him. In 1980, he was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.

This is another in a series provided by Club historian Gil Klein. Dig down anywhere in the Club’s 110-year history, and you will find some kind of significant event in the history of the world, the nation, Washington and the Club itself. Many of these events were caught in illustrations that tell the stories.