David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for
NBCNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
and
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997.
From 1956 through 1970, he
co-anchoredA news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's top rated nightly news program,
The Huntley–Brinkley ReportThe Huntley-Brinkley Report was the NBC television network's flagship evening news program from October 29, 1956 until July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C...
, with
Chet HuntleyChester Robert "Chet" Huntley was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report, for 14 years beginning in 1956.-Early life:...
and thereafter appeared as co-anchor or commentator on its successor,
NBC Nightly NewsNBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
, through the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, Brinkley was host of the popular Sunday
This Week with David BrinkleyThis Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...
program and a top commentator on election night coverage for
ABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
. Over the course of his career, Brinkley received ten Emmy Awards, three George Foster Peabody Awards, and the
Presidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
.
He wrote three books, including the critically acclaimed 1988 bestseller
Washington Goes to War, about how World War II transformed the nation's capital. This social history was largely based on his own observations as a young reporter in the city.
Early life
Brinkley was born in
Wilmington, North CarolinaWilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, the youngest of five children born to William Graham Brinkley and Mary MacDonald (née West) Brinkley. He began writing for a local newspaper, the
Wilmington Morning Star, while still attending
New Hanover High SchoolNew Hanover High School is a high school located in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. New Hanover High is now the oldest present high school built in Wilmington. Recently the original building underwent a complete renovation to update the 1919 school to the 21st century. New Hanover is also the...
. He attended the
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
,
Emory UniversityEmory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
, and
Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
, before entering service in the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1941. Following his 1943 discharge, he moved to
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, looking for a radio job at
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
News. Instead, he took a job at NBC News, became its
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
correspondent, and in time began appearing on television.
Career
In 1951, Brinkley began providing Washington reporting on NBC Television's evening news program, The
Camel News CaravanThe Camel News Caravan was a 15 minute American television news program aired by NBC News from February 14, 1949 to October 26, 1956. Sponsored by the Camel cigarette brand and anchored by John Cameron Swayze, it was the first NBC news program to use NBC filmed news stories rather than movie...
(the name changed over time), hosted by
John Cameron SwayzeJohn Cameron Swayze was a popular news commentator and game show panelist in the United States during the 1950s.- Early life :...
. In 1956, NBC News executives considered various possibilities to anchor the network's coverage of the
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
political conventions, and when executive J. Davidson Taylor suggested pairing two reporters (he had in mind
Bill HenryWilliam Rodman Henry is a retired American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he appeared in Major League Baseball between and for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Houston Astros...
and Ray Scherer), producer
Reuven FrankReuven Frank was an American broadcast news pioneer.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Israel Reuven Frank earned a bachelor's degree at City College of New York and a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University...
, who favored Brinkley for the job, and NBC's director of news,
Joseph MeyersJoseph A. Meyers was a stonecutter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who served one term as a Populist member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Milwaukee.- Background :...
, who favored
Chet HuntleyChester Robert "Chet" Huntley was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report, for 14 years beginning in 1956.-Early life:...
, proposed combining Huntley and Brinkley. NBC's top brass consented, but they had so little confidence in the team that they withheld announcing it for two months. Their concern proved unfounded.
The pairing worked so well that on October 29, 1956, the two took over NBC's flagship nightly newscast, with Huntley in New York City and Brinkley in Washington, D.C., for the newly christened
Huntley–Brinkley Report. Brinkley's dry wit offset the serious tone set by Huntley, and the program proved popular with audiences turned off by the incessantly serious tone of CBS's news broadcasts of that era. Brinkley's ability to write for the ear with simple, declarative sentences gained him a reputation as one of the medium's most talented writers, and his connections in Washington led CBS's Roger Mudd to observe, "Brinkley, of all the TV guys here, probably has the best sense of the city--best understands its moods and mentality. He knows Washington and he knows the people." Most often described as "wry," Brinkley once suggested on the air that the best way to resolve the controversy over whether to change the name of Boulder Dam to "
Hoover DamHoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President...
" was to have former president
Herbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
change his name to "Herbert Boulder".
Another example of Brinkley's seething wryness was evinced on the third night of Chicago's infamous Democratic Convention of 1968. After continuous abuses made on the floor of the convention of NBC correspondents – namely, interference and shadowing of the media staff by supporters of
Hubert HumphreyHubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
, presumably with connections to political boss
Richard J. DaleyRichard Joseph Daley served for 21 years as the mayor and undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago and is considered by historians to be the "last of the big city bosses." He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F...
– voiced a protest of Daley's behavior and his alleged interference with freedoms of the press following Senator Abraham Ribicoff's stormy nomination of
George McGovernGeorge Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
. Perhaps in reply to a control room for objectivity, referencing Daley's refusal to be interviewed by
John ChancellorJohn William Chancellor was a well-known American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News...
earlier in the evening, Brinkley can be heard over the McGovern demonstration to have scolded "Mayor Daley had his chance!"
The catchphrase conclusion to each evening's broadcast, "Good night, Chet; Good night, David," entered the language, and it was followed by the beginning of the second movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, played as the program credits rolled.
The Huntley–Brinkley Report was America's most popular television newscast until it was overtaken, at the end of the 1960s, by the
CBS Evening NewsCBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
, anchored by Walter Cronkite. Brinkley and his co-anchor gained such celebrity that Brinkley was forced to cut short his reporting on Hubert Humphrey in the 1960 West Virginia primary because West Virginians were more interested in meeting Brinkley than the candidate. From 1961 to 1963, Brinkley anchored a prime time news magazine,
David Brinkley's Journal. Produced by Ted Yates, the program won a George Foster
Peabody AwardThe George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
and two Emmy Awards.
When Huntley retired from the anchor chair in 1970, the evening news program was renamed
NBC Nightly News, and Brinkley co-anchored the broadcast with
John ChancellorJohn William Chancellor was a well-known American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News...
and Frank McGee. In 1971, Chancellor was named sole anchor and Brinkley became the program's commentator, delivering three-minute perspectives several times a week under the title
David Brinkley's Journal. By 1976, though, NBC decided to revive the dual-anchor format, and Brinkley once again anchored the Washington desk for the network, until October 1979. However, the early years of
Nightly News never achieved the popularity
Huntley-Brinkley Report had enjoyed. For its part, NBC attempted to launch several news magazine shows during the 1970s with Brinkley as anchor; none of them succeeded. An unhappy Brinkley left NBC in 1981;
NBC Magazine was his last show for that network.
Almost immediately after leaving NBC, Brinkley was offered a job at ABC. ABC News President
Roone ArledgeRoone Pickney Arledge, Jr. was an American sports broadcasting pioneer who was chairman of ABC News from 1977 until several years before his death, and a key part of the company's rise to competition with the two other main television networks, NBC and CBS, in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.-Early...
was anxious to replace ABC's Sunday morning news program,
Issues and AnswersIssues and Answers was a once-weekly TV news program that was telecast by the American Broadcasting Company network from 1960 to 1981. It was distributed to the ABC affiliate stations early on Sunday afternoons for either live broadcast or video taped for later broadcast.Issues and Answers was...
, which had always lagged far behind CBS's
Face the NationFace the Nation with Bob Schieffer is an American Sunday-morning political interview show which premiered on the CBS television network on November 7, 1954. It is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television...
and NBC's
Meet the PressMeet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
. Brinkley was tapped for the job, and in 1981 began hosting
This Week with David Brinkley.
This Week revolutionized the Sunday morning news program format, featuring not only several correspondents interviewing guest newsmakers, but also following up with an opinionated roundtable of discussion. The format proved highly successful and was soon imitated by Brinkley's NBC and CBS rivals, as well as new programs which later came into existence.
Retirement
Days before his announced retirement from regular news coverage, Brinkley made a rare on-air mistake during evening coverage of the 1996 presidential election, at a moment when he thought they were on commercial break. One of his colleagues asked him what he thought of
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's re-election. He called Clinton "a bore" and added, "The next four years will be filled with pretty words, and pretty music, and a lot of goddamn nonsense!" One of his team pointed out that they were still on the air. Brinkley said, "Really? Well, I'm leaving anyway!" Brinkley worked this mistake into a chance for an apology as part of a one-on-one interview with Clinton that followed a week or so later.
Brinkley stepped down from hosting
This Week on November 10, 1996, but continued to provide small commentary pieces for the show until 1997. He then fully retired from television. He had been an electronic journalist for over fifty years and had been anchor or host of a daily or weekly national television program for just over forty years. His career lasted from the beginning of broadcast news to the information age.
During his career, he won ten
Emmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s and three George Foster
Peabody AwardThe George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
s. In 1992, President
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
awarded him the
Presidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
, the nation's highest civilian honor. Bush called him "the elder statesman of broadcast journalism"; but Brinkley was much more humble. In an interview in 1992, he said "Most of my life, I've simply been a reporter covering things, and writing and talking about it".
Brinkley is the father of historian and
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Provost,
Alan BrinkleyAlan Brinkley is the Allan Nevins Professor of History at Columbia University, where he was also Provost 2003–2009. He was denied tenure at Harvard University in 1986 despite being an award-winning teacher. He lives in New York City with his wife, Evangeline, daughter Elly, and dog Jessie...
, and of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Stanford professor, Joel Brinkley.
Brinkley died in 2003 at his home in Houston,
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, from complications after a fall. His body is interred at Oakdale Cemetery, Wilmington, North Carolina.
Television career
- 1951–56 Camel News Caravan (correspondent)
- 1956–70 NBC News/The Huntley-Brinkley Report
- 1961–63 David Brinkley's Journal, produced by Ted Yates, aired on Monday evenings.
- 1971–76 NBC Nightly News (commentator only)
- 1976–79 NBC Nightly News (co-anchor)
- 1980–81 NBC Magazine with David Brinkley
- 1981–96 This Week with David Brinkley
- 1981–98 ABC World News Tonight (commentator)
Pop culture references
David Brinkley was mentioned in the
ScrubsScrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
episode, #4.23, "My Faith in Humanity". There's a patient named Betty talking to her neighbor, Jake, and J.D. walks in. Jake says, "Betty even let me in on a few of her romantic trysts from her younger days. You familiar with Mr. David Brinkley?" J.D. replies with a disbelieving "No way."
David Brinkley was mentioned in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical-episode "Once More, with Feeling" in the song "I'll Never Tell". Anya says "When I get so worn and wrinkly / That I look like David Brinkley".
External links