Peter Jennings

Canadian-American award-winning news journalist, reporter and respected anchorman for ABC's "World News Tonight," Jennings co-authored “The Century” (1998) and “In Search of America” (2002). On December 31, 1999, for 25 hours he anchored a telecast of millennium celebrations around the world earning ABC News a Peabody Award. He won the coveted Edward R. Murrow award for his documentary on the Kennedy assassination, 16 Emmy awards, several Overseas Press Club awards, a Lifetime Achievement award and many others.

From an early age, Jennings was attracted to broadcasting. He credits his dad, a radio announcer and later executive for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, with his ability to observe attentively and describe lucidly what he had witnessed. Young Peter was behind the microphone by the age of ten on a kid's radio show. A curious if unsuccessful student, he left prep school in favor of radio. He relates that he spent a year "broadcasting to the Eskimos" during one of his first jobs in Canadian radio. From 1961-64, he was parliamentary correspondent and anchorman for Canadian TV.

Tall, handsome and gracious, he got his big break as host of the ABC Evening News on August 3, 1964 at age 26. After three years, he quit, as audiences simply did not accept the voice of authority from a young man who looked as if he were not much older than a teenager. From 1968 to 1975, Jennings learned his trade from the ground up amidst the turbulence of the times. In 1968, he opened the first American television news bureau in the Arab world. For the next several years he served as bureau chief in Lebanon. From this vantage point he was able to gain a first-hand understanding of foreign affairs while he covered major news stories such as the horrifying events at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

In 1975 he moved to Washington, DC and took over as news anchor of ABC’s morning program, “A.M. America.