Donald Lambro

LAMBRO

DONALD LAMBRO

Nationally syndicated political columnist and author Donald Lambro dies April 24, 2023 after a lengthy illness.

Fairfax Station, Virginia - Donald Lambro, Albanian-American journalist, former chief political correspondent for The Washington Times, nationally syndicated political columnist, and author of five books on the government and the economy, has died.

One of the most frequently quoted political reporters in Washington, Donald Lambro interviewed many major political leaders and covered numerous presidential campaigns. He wrote widely about the government, the economy, and social issues, and won the 1995 Warren Brookes Award for Excellence in Journalism. In that same year, he was also the host and co-writer of the nationally televised PBS documentary, Inside The Republican Revolution, a behind-thescenes report on the first 100 days of the 104th Congress. Wall Street economic analyst Lawrence Kudlow called him "the best political economic reporter in Washington today."

Donald Lambro was born in 1940 in Wellesley, Massachusetts to Albanian immigrants, the late Pascal "Pat" Lambro and Mary Lambro, and graduated from Boston University in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He began his career working for the Boston Herald-Traveler, and in 1968 joined United Press International (UPI) in Hartford, Connecticut, covering state government as well as Congress, the federal bureaucracy, and national politics. In 1980, he launched his syndicated twice-weekly newspaper column, United Feature Syndicate.

Mr. Lambro was also the producer and moderator of The Washington Times

Forum, a public affairs program that was broadcast from Capitol Hill over the CSPAN cable television network. His commentaries have been heard across the country on Associated Press Radio, National Public Radio, the Mutual Broadcasting System and the Business News Network.

He earned a national reputation in the late 1970s and the 1980s for his stinging investigations into federal spending programs. His bestselling book, Fat City: How Washington Wastes Your Taxes, won national acclaim and the attention of President Ronald Reagan, who quoted from it during his 1980 presidential campaign. Soon after taking office, Reagan passed out copies of Mr. Lambro's book to every member of his Cabinet at a White House Cabinet meeting, urging them to read it and root out wasteful spending. In 1981, the Conservative Political Action Conference awarded Don Lambro the "Outstanding Journalist Award" for Fat City. His investigative series on federal spending programs, "Watching Washington," was twice nominated by UPI for a Pulitzer Prize. He was named the Heritage Foundation's Distinguished Journalism Fellow in 1981.

A subsequent book, Washington - City Of Scandals, dealt with wasteful federal spending and what can be done to reduce it. The New York Times Book Review called Mr. Lambro's book "an unsparing chronicle of hypocrisy, fraud and inefficiency in our government" and "a valuable insider's view of the government."

Mr. Lambro's last book was Land of Opportunity, the story about America's entrepreneurial expansion in the 1980s. In a Wall Street Journal book review, economist George Gilder said the book "should be used in every high school and introductory college economics course" in the country.

In a special "Up-Front" feature on Mr. Lambro, People magazine credited him "with being a crucial influence on Candidate Reagan's budget promises and on the President's fiscal program."

Mr. Lambro also was the host and co-writer of Star Spangled Spenders, a privatelyfunded, one hour public television documentary on the growth and cost of the federal government that was broadcast across the country in 1982.

He was the recipient of the National Taxpayers Union award for "outstanding efforts to curtail government spending." His investigative work as a Washington columnist was also nominated for a Pulitzer by United Feature Syndicate.

In addition to numerous television, radio and speaking appearances, he has also written for many magazines and other periodicals, including Reader's Digest, Parade, The Wall Street Journal, the Washingtonian Magazine, National Review, Barron's and The World Almanac.

Mr. Lambro is also listed in Who's Who In America.

Mr. Lambro is survived by his wife, Jacquelyn Killmon Lambro and son Jason Lambro, daughter in-law Susan, and grandson Jacob.

Private interment to take place on May 15