Lafayette Square near the White House is surrounded by landmarks and steeped in a fascinating history of rebellion. A congressman shot and killed the son of Francis Scott Key in broad daylight on the square and got away with it. On the night Lincoln was assassinated, a co-conspirator forced his way into Secretary of State William Seward's house and nearly killed him. The women's suffrage movement created the White House protest that goes on to this day. Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into the Blair House to assassinate President Truman, who was living there. Author Gil Klein reveals the role of Lafayette Square in the nation's history.
Gil Klein is a journalism professor at American University and a freelance writer. He was a daily newspaper reporter for nearly thirty-five years, the last twenty-two in Washington as a national correspondent for the Media General News Service. He was president of the National Press Club in 1994 and wrote its centennial history, Reliable Sources: 100 Years at the National Press Club. He lives with his wife, Gail, in Arlington and has two grown children.