LAWRENCE, DAVID

LAWRENCE, DAVID (1888–1973), U.S. journalist, and long-time interpreter of the Washington political scene. Born in Philadelphia, Lawrence grew up in Buffalo, New York. He joined the Washington Bureau of the Associated Press on graduating from Princeton in 1910 and was assigned to cover the White House. When, two years later, Woodrow Wilson undertook his first presidential campaign, Lawrence became one of his chief interpreters. He subsequently wrote The True Story of Woodrow Wilson (1924). In 1914 he helped found the White House Correspondents' Association. In 1916 he was appointed Washington correspondent for the New York Post, and was among the first commentators in the capital whose column was syndicated nationally. In 1919 he organized the Consolidated Press Association, which furnished features and financial news to daily newspapers by leased wire, an innovation at the time. Seven years later he started the U.S. Daily, devoted exclusively to news of Washington. It became the U.S. News in 1933, and in 1948 was combined with another of his magazines as the newsweekly U.S. News and World Report. His books include Beyond the New Deal (1934), Stumbling into Socialism… (1935), Diary of a Washington Correspondent (1942), and The Editorials of David Lawrence (1970). (Irving Rosenthal)