Brian Williams

Brian Williams became the seventh Anchor and Managing Editor in the distinguished history of the broadcast "NBC Nightly News" on December 2, 2004. Now, as he approaches his one-year anniversary at the helm of "Nightly News," Williams is the nation's most-watched news anchor on a broadcast that represents the largest single daily source of news in America. Williams was the first and only network evening news anchor to report from the region before Hurricane Katrina hit and was the only network news anchor to report from the Superdome during the storm. He remained in New Orleans to report on the aftermath and destruction of Hurricane Katrina, and continues to travel back and forth to the region to cover the recovery and rebuilding efforts. The New York Times wrote that Williams’ coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath was "a defining moment as a network reporter and anchor." Vanity Fair magazine called his work "Murrow-worthy" and said that while reporting live from New Orleans, Williams "exhibited unfaltering composure, compassion and grit," and during the crisis became "a nation’s anchor." In April 2005, Brian Williams was the first of the big three network news anchors to report that Pope John Paul II had died, and the first and only evening news anchor to travel to Rome to cover the funeral. In January 2005, he traveled to Baghdad and Mosul to report on the landmark Iraqi elections. Earlier in January, Williams traveled to Asia to report on one of the worst natural disasters in history. As the first network evening news anchor to report from Banda Aceh, Indonesia -- the area most devastated by the tsunami and earthquake -- Williams covered the health crisis facing the region, the international relief and recovery efforts and how survivors are working to rebuild their lives. On November 7, 2005 -- under Williams' leadership -- "Nightly News" became the first and only network evening newscast offered on the Internet -- free of charge, in its entirety, and on demand. The "NBC Nightly News Netcast with Brian Williams" (www.nightly.msnbc.com) is available on the web at 10 pm, ET/7 pm PT. In addition, Williams is also the first and only network evening news anchor to write a daily blog. On May 31, 2005, Williams began "The Daily Nightly" (www.dailynightly.msnbc.com) and, as he wrote in his first post, it aims to "create a narrative of the broadcast day and a window into the editorial process" at NBC Nightly News. Prior to assuming the role of permanent anchor, Williams traveled to 37 U.S. cities during the 2004 presidential election cycle and filed a series of reports called "Assignment America" which focused on the attitudes of voters across the country. In addition, he traveled to Ramallah on the West Bank to cover the funeral of Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat and provided hours of live coverage of the event, much of it amid live gunfire just feet from his anchor location. Having covered them in the field, Williams' passion to pursue the stories of the men and women injured on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan has produced some of the most riveting reporting about how America's gravely wounded soldiers are overcoming their injuries at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Since joining NBC News in 1993, Williams has become one of the nation's foremost television journalists, covering virtually every major breaking news event and traveling extensively around the world. From 1996 to January 2004, he was anchor and managing editor of "The News with Brian Williams," a live, hour-long nightly newscast on MSNBC and then on CNBC. Williams was the anchor and managing editor of the Saturday edition of "NBC Nightly News" for six years before becoming anchor of the weekday edition. In 1994, Williams was named NBC News Chief White House correspondent. Accompanying President Clinton aboard Air Force One, Williams circled the world several times, covering virtually every foreign and domestic trip by the President until 1996. On perhaps one of the most historic trips of the Clinton presidency, Williams was the only television news correspondent to accompany three U.S. presidents -- Clinton, Bush and Carter -- to Yitzhak Rabin's funeral in Israel. While covering the 2003 war in Iraq, Williams became the first NBC News correspondent to reach Baghdad after the U.S. military invasion of the city. Just days into the war, Williams was traveling on a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter mission when the lead helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. Williams spent three days and two nights in the Iraqi desert south of Najaf, with a mechanized armored tank platoon of the Army's Third Infantry Division providing protection. During the war, Williams traveled to seven nations throughout the Mideast during his seven-week overseas deployment. In 2003, Williams moderated the Democratic Presidential Candidates debate in New York. In 2000, he moderated the Republican Presidential Candidates debate in South Carolina. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, Williams was on the air for days of continuous coverage. USA Today named him Best Anchor of the marathon 2000 Presidential election night coverage. In 1997, his continuous coverage of the death of Princess Diana was watched by millions worldwide on the networks of NBC News, as were his many hours of live coverage following the crash of TWA Flight 800 and the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr. Williams’ writing has appeared in The New York Times, Time Magazine and the Los Angeles Times. In July 2005, he was profiled in "Esquire" magazine as part of their "Man at His Best" special issue in which they report on 10 men who have led inspiring and extraordinary lives. "GQ" magazine named him "the most interesting man in television today," and in 2001 named him "Man of the Year." The National Father's Day Committee named him "Father of the Year" in 1996. Williams is a frequent guest on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Late Show with David Letterman." Before joining NBC News, Williams spent seven years at CBS's owned-and-operated stations division as anchor and correspondent for WCBS-TV in New York, where he covered the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. He began his service at CBS as a correspondent for the NBC-owned WCAU-TV in Philadelphia and was a correspondent at WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C. He started his broadcasting career at KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kansas. Prior to his broadcasting career, Williams worked in the White House during the Carter administration, beginning as a White House intern. He later worked as assistant administrator of the political action committee of the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington. A native of both Elmira, NY and Middletown, NJ, Williams is particularly proud of his several years of service as a volunteer firefighter in New Jersey. Williams is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and has lectured at Columbia University School of Journalism and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. He attended George Washington University and the Catholic University of America, both in Washington, and is the recipient of six honorary Doctorates. He and his wife, Jane Stoddard Williams, have two children.

Log In to see more information about Brian Williams
Log in or register now!

Series

Books: