David Brinkley

He first tied the knot with Ann Fischer in 1946. The couple was blessed with three children - Joel Brinkley, Alan Brinkley and John Brinkley. The unison however ended in divorce in 1968.

In 1972, he married Susan Melanie Benfer with whom he has a step-daughter Alexis Brinkley Collins.

He breathed his last in 2003 at his home in Houston, Texas resulting from complications after a fall. His body was interred in Oakdale Cemetery, Wilmington, North Carolina

David McClure Brinkley was the youngest of the five children born to William Graham Brinkley and Mary MacDonald Brinkley in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Since an early age, he started writing for the local newspaper - Wilmington Morning Star. He completed preliminary education from New Hanover High School.

Later on, he studied at various universities, including University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Emory University and Vanderbilt University.

In 1941, he was drafted into the United States Army, wherein he served for two years until 1943. After being relieved from his military duties, he moved to Washington DC.

In Washington DC, he looked for a job with CBS News but luckily found a job with the NBC News as a White House correspondent. By 1952, he started reporting on the evening news program of NBC, ‘The Camel News Caravan’.

He continued in that profile for a couple of years. It was during the 1956 coverage of the Democratic and the Republican political convention that his name was proposed by the producer Reuven Frank to anchor the coverage, along with Chet Huntley.

After much discussion, they gave a green signal to the pair, whom they felt were not much experienced for the job. Both David and Huntley proved the NBC top brass wrong as they outperformed themselves.

It was their brilliant coverage of the Democratic and the Republican political convention that helped them bag the NBC's flagship nightly newscast by October 29, 1956. The program was named Huntley–Brinkley Report. While Huntley was responsible for coverage of news belonging to New York City, Brinkley was in charge of news for Washington DC.

The Huntley–Brinkley Report soon gained a wide viewership for their ease with which the news was presented. Also, what set the program apart was that unlike the CBS news, it provided the information sans unremitting seriousness.

In his five decades long career, he was felicitated with multiple prestigious awards including ten Emmy Awards, three George Foster Peabody Awards, one Alfred I. duPont Award.

He was conferred with the highest civilian honor of the U. S., the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H. W. Bush.