Peter Jennings, the Face of ABC News, Dies From Lung Cancer

By Linda Orlando

Peter Jennings had the kind of handsome face and charming demeanor that could bring calm and reassurance to television viewers in the midst of the worst tragedy and horror imaginable. Perhaps that’s why he was so trusted and beloved by millions of Americans, and welcomed into their homes each night to deliver the news in a matter-of-fact but level-headed manner, unemotional but informative. Along with Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, Jennings was part of a powerful news triumvirate that came to symbolize network news for more than two decades. People depended on Jennings for every big story, be it weather or war, way before the dawn of the Internet or CNN.

When Jennings announced to the world in April that he had lung cancer, he delivered the news with his usual calmness, despite the gravity of his words. "I will continue to do the broadcast," he said, his voice husky but still strong. "On good days, my voice will not always be like this." While viewers sent prayers his way and awaited his return, Charles Gibson stepped in to take over the anchor chair while Jennings underwent chemotherapy. But although Jennings occasionally came into the office between treatments, he never again appeared on the air. In a statement issued Monday, ABC News President David Westin said that Jennings died Sunday at his home in New York, at age 67. "Peter has been our colleague, our friend, and our leader in so many ways," Westin said. "None of us will be the same without him." Indeed, the world will not be the same without him.

Peter Jennings came from a broadcasting family. His father, Charles Jennings, was the first person to anchor a nightly national news program in Canada, and later became head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s news division. Although Peter never completed high school or college, he began his career as a radio news reporter in Brockton, Ontario, and quickly earned a job anchoring the nightly news at Canadian Television. Jennings always regretted dropping out of high school, and he did his best to pass that lesson along to young people wherever possible. According to Ted Koppel, a friend and fellow anchor, what Jennings lacked in formal education, he made up for by becoming a student of the world, becoming ingrained in each story he covered so that he could learn about other cultures and their people. Although he remained a Canadian citizen until 2003, his decision to become a U.S. citizen had nothing to do with his politics; he did it for his family. "He was a warm and loving and surprisingly sentimental man," says Koppel. Another fellow news reporter, Barbara Walters, also had nothing but praise for her friend. "No one could ad lib like Peter," said Walters. "Sometimes he drove me crazy because he knew every detail. .... He just died much too young."

Jennings was selected to anchor ABC’s evening news in 1965, when he was only 26 years old. The network’s decision to hire someone so young was a strategy to lure younger viewers to their nightly news program, which was currently ranked third among the big three networks. "It was a little ridiculous when you think about it," Jennings said later. "A twenty-six-year-old trying to compete with Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley. I was simply unqualified." Critics lambasted him for his Canadian accent and his occasional misreporting, so three years later, ABC reassigned him as a foreign correspondent. He established an ABC News bureau in Beirut, quickly becoming an expert on the Middle East and problems affecting the area. He won a Peabody Award in 1974 for his profile of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. A few years later, in 1978, ABC decided to make Jennings one of three people to anchor their nightly news program, which they renamed to "World News Tonight." Jennings served as the foreign correspondent anchor of the group, reporting from London. When Frank Reynolds, one of the other anchors, died in 1983, ABC abandoned the multi-anchor format and brought Jennings back to be the sole anchor on September 5, 1983.

Beginning in 1986, Jennings quickly rose to the top of the ratings and stayed there for over a decade. Because of his international experience, he was well equipped to explain to the world the intricacies of the collapse of European communism, the difficulties of the first Gulf War, and the various terrorist bombings and activities in the Middle East. The name "World News Tonight" became a truism as the program took on a more worldly view of the news than its rivals. Fans responded to his smooth delivery and his intelligent, controlled style of reporting every story no matter how shocking or tragic it was. In an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jennings explained, "When it's clearly an emotional experience for the audience, the anchor should not add his or her emotional layers." That belief of his was never demonstrated more fully than during the week of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when Jennings logged more than 60 hours on the air. His reassuring demeanor and calmness offered viewers a familiar and soothing sense of continuity amidst the overwhelming sadness of the time. However, there was one brief moment when even the quietly calm Jennings was himself overwhelmed—the moment that the first tower fell. At that very moment, with the horrified world watching as thousands of people died, Jennings stayed completely silent except for two words: "My God," he said. "There are a lot of people who think our job is to reassure the public every night that their home, their community and their nation is safe," he later told author Jeff Alan. "I don't subscribe to that at all. I subscribe to leaving people with essentially—sorry it's a cliche—a rough draft of history. Some days it's reassuring, some days it's absolutely destructive."

Jennings deeply regretted dropping out of high school, and he would have wanted that lesson passed along, Koppel said. He made up for it by becoming a student of the world, studying cultures and their people for the rest of his life.

Jennings was wherever the big story was. He logged more than 60 hours on the air during the week of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, offering a soothing sense of continuity during a troubled time.

In a 1993 survey by Broadcasting & Cable magazine, 2/3 of local broadcasters said that Jennings was the best network news anchor. The Washington Journalism Review apparently agreed, naming him anchor of the year for three years straight. Jennings accomplished several unique projects for ABC, such as designing and producing a massive historical study to celebrate the turn of the century and anchoring a marathon 25-hour special to commemorate the event. He traveled the back roads of the country with Todd Brewster to write the book, "In Search of America," and he struck a chord with viewers in 2000 by spearheading a documentary titled "The Search For Jesus," which earned high ratings and critical praise. "I have never spent a day in my adult life where I didn't learn something," Jennings told the Saturday Evening Post. "And if there is a born-again quality to me, that's it."

Westin’s statement spoke for all of America when he praised the fortitude and optimism of how Jennings dealt with his critical diagnosis. "He knew that it was an uphill struggle. But he faced it with realism, courage, and a firm hope that he would be one of the fortunate ones," Westin said. "In the end, he was not." Jennings is survived by his wife, Kayce Freed, his two children, Elizabeth, 25, and Christopher, 23, and millions of people worldwide who will never forget him and the standards he set for broadcasting the news.