Introduction to This Collection of Washington Digest Columns
This is a collection of transcribed copies of the 396 weekly commentary writings of William Bruckart from 1933-40. These were taken from the original galley proofs submitted for review to Mr. Bruckart by the Western Newspaper Union, through which organization the columns were syndicated throughout the United States. My brother, Kenneth, and I obtained the galley proofs upon the death of our mother, who had saved them.
This project was begun in 1996 and has been completed early in 2004. In transcribing these columns, we had to shift format from a 2-column, page-length galley proof format to an essay-style arrangement. This was done using Word, and the columns are in Word Document format. We made every effort to adhere strictly to the grammar and word choices used by Mr. Bruckart, in order to preserve his style.
These columns were originally written each Friday, and published during the following week. They are serially numbered for identification as, for example — WD3303 – where the first two digits (33) are for the year – 1933 – and the final two digits (03) for the week of the year – 3rd in this example.
They are assembled in 6-month groupings for convenience.
Note that this information is protected by copyright laws, and permission to copy, use and/or publish any of the contents is restricted to non-profit activities for study, research or academic purposes.
– W.L. Bruckart
© 2003 W.L. & K. B. BRUCKART
About the Author
Mr. Bruckart was a noted news man in Washington, D.C. His work was well-received everywhere it was read, and he was the kind of writer who would “rather write then eat” as he once told me. He was a conservative who presented a balanced view of the situations and conditions on which he reported.
He was born in Larned, Kansas, and was raised there and in Warrensburg, Missouri. His first news job was with the Wichita Eagle, as a reporter, followed by working as a reporter at the Kansas City Star, and later with the Associated Press in Kansas City, then in Washington, D.C. There he covered the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Treasury.
During his early period in Washington, he spent 4 years at night attending National University Law School, where he earned an LL.B. and an M.P.L. degree. While at law school he was elected to ΣΝΦ honorary law fraternity. He served also as Associate Editor of the National University Law Review and as Editor-in-Chief of The Docket in 1928 (the yearbook). Shortly after law school, he was admitted to the bar of the U.S. Court of Appeals, and I believe to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
Mr. Bruckart left the Associated Press in 1929 to work for David Lawrence at The United States Daily where he rose to be an editor. During the years of financial turmoil the paper failed, (later to be reborn as U.S. News and World Report). At this time, he set himself up as the Washington representative of the Philadelphia Public Ledger. He set up an office in the National Press Building, Room 1004 (next door to Willard Kiplinger). His close proximity to the newly formed National Press Club, and his activity as a founding member and later as an officer served him well.
During this period the Public Ledger folded, after which Mr. Bruckart decided to write for himself as an independent columnist. He made an arrangement with Western Newspaper Union (of Chicago) to write 19 Columns on “Our Government — How it Operates”. This was well received and he was then set up to write Washington Digest, syndicated by WNU as weekly columns to be sold nationally to weekly papers. (His counterpart for daily columns was Arthur Brisbane.)
In addition to his columns, Mr. Bruckart began to write a weekly column for the Periscope section of Newsweek magazine. These columns gave a capsule view of the important events of the week in Washington, D.C.
His last effort as a Washington representative was to secure a contract with Bozell and Jacobs of Omaha, NE, to perform Public Relations work. This contract was to start in September, 1940. Mr. Bruckart died on 4 August.
