After more than half a century, Tom Brokaw is retiring from television. NBC News announced on Friday that the renowned newsman will be leaving the network after 55 years.
Brokaw is the only anchor to have helmed all three NBC News flagship programs: Today, Nightly News and Meet the Press.
“During one of the most complex and consequential eras in American history, a new generation of NBC News journalists, producers and technicians is providing America with timely, insightful and critically important information, 24/7,” Brokaw said in a statement. “I could not be more proud of them.”
Over the past decades, the 80-year-old journalist has racked up a number of impressive awards and honors for his work. He has won Peabodys, DuPonts, Emmys and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting.
In 2014, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, and in 2016, The Greatest Generation author was given the Legion of Honor by the French government for his continuing work and advocacy on issues facing veterans. Brokaw was also the only American network anchor to report from Berlin the night the Berlin Wall came down, which earned him the Order of Merit from the German government.
Brokaw’s entire career in TV news has been with NBC and first started at the network’s Los Angeles bureau. It was there that he reported on Ronald Reagan’s first run for public office, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 presidential campaign.
By 1973, he moved to Washington, D.C. to be NBC News’ White House correspondent during Watergate, a position he held until 1976 when he started co-hosting the Today show. A decade later, Brokaw became the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News With Tom Brokaw, and led that show for 22 years. He later served as moderator of Meet the Press after the untimely death of Tim Russert.
While he’s retiring from TV, Brokaw is staying active. NBC News states in a press release that the newsman will “continue to be active in print journalism, authoring books and articles, and spending time with his wife, Meredith, three daughters and grandchildren.”
Brokaw received some well wishes from his colleagues, fans and friends after announcing his retirement.
