# Alibi Club

The Alibi Club is a traditional gentlemen's private club in Washington, D.C. Its members consist of the Washington elite, including presidents, senators, and diplomats, among other prominent figures.

## History

In 1884, seven Washingtonians founded the Alibi Club, a private social club of prominent political and social figures. Its name derived from the club practice of providing an alibi when the member's family questioned the whereabouts of a member. The club's founding purpose was to foster "mutual improvement, education, and enlightenment" among members of Washington society. Membership also extended to out-of-town figures from New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia, most likely to share information between communities and help in the development of strategies to address civic issues. Throughout its history, it has hosted numerous world leaders, including King Leopold of Belgium, Prince Albert of Belgium, Prince Henry of Prussia, and Viceroy Li Hongzhang.

### Clubhouse

The first clubhouse was situated at 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Since 1886, the club has occupied a three-story, brick townhouse blocks away from the White House. The clubhouse is furnished with donated memorabilia and artifacts covering nearly every available wall section on the first two floors. The clubhouse is also notable as a well-preserved example of residential architecture in a commercial district and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 21, 1994. In 2018, the building was listed as a vacant property.

## Membership

Membership is limited to fifty, with new members admitted upon unanimous vote after the death of a previous member. Membership is not revealed to outsiders, and the first public notice of membership is often in a member's obituary.
Some of the Alibi Club's most prominent members have included: President George H. W. Bush, his father, Senator Prescott Bush, Supreme Court Justices Potter Stewart and Stanley F. Reed, Allen Dulles and John Foster Dulles, Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth, and General George C. Marshall.
* David M. Abshire
* David Acheson
* Dean Acheson
* Theodore Achilles
* Lamar Alexander
* Chandler Anderson
* Larz Anderson
* Warren R. Austin
* Truxtun Beale
* Gist Blair
* Robert Woods Bliss
* Frederick N. Brooke
* David K.E. Bruce
* George H. W. Bush
* Prescott Bush
* George E. Corcoran
* Thomas Gardiner Corcoran
* Dwight F. Davis
* Allen Dulles
* John Foster Dulles
* James Dunn
* Walter Edge
* George A. Garrett
* Charles C. Glover III
* Gordon Gray
* Cary Grayson
* Joseph Grew
* Alfred Gruenther
* Frederick Hale
* George Hamilton, Jr.
* Nelson Hartson
* Christian Herter
* William Hibbs
* Archibald Hopkins
* Walter Bruce Howe
* David B. Karrick
* Samuel Kaufman
* John Kean
* Emory S. Land
* Nicholas Longworth
* Robert A. Lovett
* George C. Marshall
* Clarence Moore
* Benjamin Mosby McKelway
* John Lord O'Brian
* Thomas Nelson Page
* Stanley F. Reed
* Henry Roosevelt
* Jules Henri de Sibour
* Potter Stewart
* James W. Symington
* Maxwell Taylor
* J.W. Wadsworth
* John F. Wilkins
* Clarence R. Wilson
* Blanton Winship
* Jerauld Wright
* William M. Wright
* John Adams Bross
* C. Boyden Gray