An oral history interview with Lawrence Knutson

              WISCONSIN
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
An Oral History Interview with
LAWRENCE KNUTSON
Interviewer: .Anita Hecht, Life History Services
Recording Date: December 16, 2009
Place: Washington DC. Length: 1.5 hours
Lawrence L. Knutson was raised in Wisconsin and graduated from Rufus King High School in
Milwaukee in 1954. He began his studies at the University of Wisconsin but interrupted them to
enlist in the U.S. .Army He received his initial training as a journalist while in the military.
In 1962, Knutson was released from active sendee and returned to the University of Wisconsin,
where he earned his B.S. degree in history and political science in 1963. He soon found work as a
reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago, was hired a year later by The Chicago Tribune, and
in 1965 began a 37-year career with the .Associated Press.
In 1967 AP transferred Knutson to Washington, D.C., where he reported on congressional
delegations from the Midwest from the regional staff office on Capitol Hill. In this capacity, he
reported on Sen. Proxmire, whom he recalled as an earnest, hyper-active legislator, a near-genius
at presenting himself to voters, and certainly the most colorful of the group. According to
Knutson, Sen. Proxmire made excellent use of the media by generating news stories such as the
Golden Fleece Awards.
In the early 1970s, Knutson was assigned to AP's general staff in the Senate, eventually covering
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He maintained his connection with Sen. Proxmire and
his staff until Proxmire's retirement in 1989, often reviewing his books and writing about his
activities.