Sam Donaldson

Sam Donaldson
Sam Donaldson in 1998.
Born	March 11, 1934 (1934-03-11) El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Journalist; television news pundit; panelist for ABC News Now
Spouse	Jan Smith

Samuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. (born March 11, 1934) is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent (1977-89 & 1998-99)and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."

Early life and career

Donaldson was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of Chloe (née Hampson), a school teacher, and Samuel Donaldson, a farmer. He grew up on the family farm in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, which his father had bought in 1910, two years before New Mexico was admitted to the Union.

He attended New Mexico Military Institute as well as Texas Western College (now known as University of Texas at El Paso) where he served as station manager of KTEP, the campus radio station, and joined the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. From 1956 to 1959, Donaldson served on active duty as an artillery officer in the United States Army, attaining the rank of Captain (USAR). While on active duty in 1958, Donaldson was one of the military observers of an atomic test in the Nevada testing grounds when an atomic device with a yield roughly equivalent to the bombs dropped on Japan was detonated three thousand yards away from the slit trench which protected the observers.

Following military service, Donaldson was hired by KRLD-TV (now KDFW-TV), the then-CBS television affiliate in Dallas, Texas. After a year, he resigned and moved to New York City to look for a job in broadcast news. He failed to get one.

He was hired by WTOP-TV (currently WUSA-TV) in Washington, D.C., in February 1961. He covered both local and national stories, including the Goldwater Presidential campaign in 1964, the Senate debates on the civil rights bill in March 1964, and the Medicare bill the next year. He anchored the 6 PM Saturday and Sunday evening newscasts with John Douglas doing the weather forecasts. And shortly before resigning in October 1967, to take a job with ABC News, he was named the anchor of the first half hour of the station's early evening news broadcast, Newsnight.^{[citation needed]}

ABC News

Donaldson was hired by ABC News as a Washington correspondent in October 1967. He covered the two major party political conventions in 1968 and in 1969 began anchoring the network's 11:00 pm Saturday and Sunday newscasts.

In 1971, Donaldson covered the war in Vietnam for ABC News. He was ABC's chief Watergate correspondent in 1973-74, covering the trial of the Watergate burglars, the Senate Watergate hearings and the House Judiciary Committee's impreachment investigation of President Nixon.

Donaldson covered Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign and became the networks' White House Correspondent in January 1977, a post he held until January 1989. One of his most widely remembered questions during his tenure at the White House came during the Reagan administration: "Mr. President, in talking about the continuing recession tonight, you have blamed Congress and mistakes in the past. Does any of the blame belong to you?" To which Reagan retorted: "Yes,for many years I was a Democrat!"

Donaldson appeared as a panelist on the Sunday morning television program "This Week with David Brinkley" from its inception in 1981 and after Brinkley's retirement in 1996 co-anchored the "This Week" program with Cokie Roberts until the two were replaced in September 2002 by George Stephanopolis. He still occasionally serves as a panelist on This Week.

Donaldson anchored the ABC Sunday Evening News from its inception in 1979 until August 1989.

Donaldson Co-anchored the network's magazine program "Prime Time Live" with Diane Sawyer from 1989 to 1999. One of his reports featured a Nazi Gestopo officer named Eric Priebke who had escaped to Argentina after World War II. Donaldson's team located Priebke in 1994, and Donaldson interviewed him on a street in Baraloche, Argentina, about his role in the execution of 335 Italian civilians on the direct orders of Adolph Hitler in the caves outside Rome. When the report aired, Italy demanded Priebke's extradition and Argentina eventually complied. Priebke was sentenced to life in prison in Italy for his crimes.

In 1992, Donaldson covered the first Persian Gulf war (Operation Desert Storm)and co-anchored "Prime Time Live" from Kuwait City two days after the Iraqi troops were forced out.

In August 1992, Donaldson and his producer David Kaplan went to Sarajavo on assignment. On the way into town from the airport, Kaplan, riding in a second vehicle, was shot to death by a sniper. That night from Belgrade, Donaldson, co-anchoring the program "Prime Time Live," reported on Kaplan's death.

In January 1997, Donaldson was once again assigned to the White House as the network's chief correspondent there and served until mid-1999. He covered the Lewinsky scandal and the Impeachment of President Clinton (who was acquitted by the Senate).

In 2002, Donaldson anchored the first regularly scheduled U.S. news broadcast on the Internet. And in later years hosted the ABC News Now "Politics Live" broadcast.

Beginning in 1964, Donaldson has covered every major party politial convention to the present except the Republican convention in August 1992.

Donaldson was voted Best White House Corespondent in 1985 by readers of the Washington Journalism Reivew and Best Television Correspondent in 1986,87,88 and 89 by readers of the same magazine. Among his other awards are four Emmys, three Peabodys, the Edward R. Murrow award 1997 (WSU), the Paul White award (RTNDA 1998) and he and his wife Jan were among those named as "Washingtonians of the Year" by Washingtonian Magazine in 2002.

Bush confrontation

On August 2, 2006, during the last White House Press conference in the briefing room before undergoing major renovations, Donaldson shouted, "Mr. President, should Mel Gibson be forgiven?", referencing reports of the actor/producer's alleged anti-Semitic remarks. President Bush laughed and looked up to see who had asked the question. Bush joked, "Is that Sam Donaldson? Forget it...you're a 'has-been'! We don't have to answer has-beens' questions." Donaldson replied, "Better to have been a has-been than a never was."

Career timeline

• 1977-1989, January 1998-August 1999: ABC News Chief White House Correspondent
• 1979-1989: World News Sunday anchor
• 1981-1996, 2002–present: This Week panelist
• August 1989-1999: Primetime Live anchor
• December 1996-September 2002: This Week co-moderator
• 1998-2000: 20/20 anchor
• 1999-2001: SamDonaldson@abcnews.com host
• October 2001-May 2004: The Sam Donaldson Show -- Live in America host
• May 2004 - March 2010: "Politics Live" anchor
• March 2010 – present: ABC News contriutor and analyst

Personal life

Donaldson operates a family cattle ranch in Lincoln County, New Mexico. On July 5, 2004, three members of the ranch foreman's family were found murdered. Cody Posey, a 14-year-old and sole remaining survivor of the family, was arrested and charged with the murders and subsequently convicted.

In 1995, Donaldson had a melanoma removed from a lymph node. Since then, he and his wife, Jan Smith Donaldson, have both been active supporters of cancer research.

Donaldson is President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Advisory Board; member of the Library of American Broadcasting and American Academy of Achievement boards; and Chairman Emeritus of the H. Lee Moffett Cancer Center (Tampa, Florida)Advisory Board.

In April 1983, Donaldson and Jan Smith were married in Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. They have no children together but Donaldson has four children from previous marriages: Samuel Donaldson III, Jennifer, Thomas and Robert Donaldson.

Donaldson appears in the 2008 political documentary on Lee Atwater, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story. In the film, he says, "An operative never comes and says ‘here is a story I’d like you to run for me, but just in private conversation, did you know this about so and so, we’re still checking it mind you, but, but it’s probably going to turn out to be true.’ Well, you don’t want to be beaten by your competition and wait until they announce it. They put it on the conveyor belt and you just run it out.”

Quotes

Quotes by Samuel Andrew Donaldson

• "People ask me about my relationship with President Reagan. I say it was a case of two 'hams' discovering each other. Only I played the 'straight man' and he always had the last word."

• "Young people are often told to find something they love. No, I tell them to find something they're good at. If they do, they'll love it and people will reward them."

• "As a political reporter questioning public officials, I say only half facetiously that the only way to avoid being seen as a partisan is to be equally viscious to everyone."

Further reading

• Donaldson, Sam (1987). Hold On, Mr. President!. Random House. ISBN 0-449-21520-2. 
• Schmitt, Mark (March 2006). "Straight Line Projections". The Decembrist. 

External links

• ABC Medianet Bio
• Foundation For Melanoma Research: Honorary Council
• NCCS Recognizes Leaders in Cancer Survivorship
• ABC News' "Time Tunnel" page containing clips of numerous newscasts on which Donaldson appeared
• Sam Donaldson Archive of American Television Interview
• Sam Donaldson speaks about Lee Atwater in Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

Media offices
Preceded by Tom Jarriel	ABC News Chief White House Correspondent 1977 -1989	Succeeded by Brit Hume
Preceded by John Donvan	ABC News Chief White House Correspondent 1998 – 1999	Succeeded by Terry Moran

Preceded by David Brinkley

This Week December 15, 1996 – September 8, 2002

Succeeded by George Stephanopoulos