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Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the flagship evening news program of the NBC television network. Williams replaced former Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw on December 2, 2004. Previously, Williams was the network's chief correspondent at the White House and host of The News with Brian Williams on CNBC and MSNBC.

Youth and early career

Williams, an Irish American and the youngest of four children, was raised in a middle class family in Elmira, New York, attending Hendy Avenue Elementary. In fifth grade, Williams moved with his parents to Middletown, New Jersey. Even as a child, he knew he wanted to work for the news. Williams graduated from Mater Dei, a Roman Catholic High School in New Monmouth, New Jersey, and attended George Washington University and The Catholic University of America where he gave the commencement address in 2004. To pay his tuition, he worked at a pancake restaurant and at a local Sears store. In addition, he was a volunteer firefighter in high school. He calls leaving college a decision that he terms "one of my great regrets." He never graduated, instead taking an entry level job with the Carter Administration.

After working in the lobbying arm of the National Association of Broadcasters, Williams began his broadcasting career at KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kansas. He moved back to Washington, D.C. and worked at WTTG-TV as general assignment correspondent. Then, Williams was hired at WCBS-TV in New York. He won his first Emmy for his reporting of the stock market collapse. Williams still regards WNBC's Chuck Scarborough as a mentor. He won Emmys in 1987, 1989, and 1993.

Williams married the former Jane Stoddard, a television producer, in 1986. He has two children: Allison, born in 1988, and Douglas, born in 1993. Williams was named "Father of the Year" in 1996 by the National Father's Day Committee.

WCBS

It was at WCBS-TV where Williams was discovered by national network executives. Wiliams was the anchor of First News, WCBS's 4 P.M. newscast. In February 1993, he headed up WCBS's coverage of the World Trade Center Bombing with live reports from the street. In March of 1993, Williams began work at NBC News where he climbed the ranks to his current position.

NBC Nightly News

Rise to anchor's chair

In the past, some viewers held the perception that Williams was stiff and lacked charisma during his broadcasts (some viewers still do). After the announcement that he would succeed Brokaw, Williams was a guest on various television entertainment programs including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart where he showed a more jovial and charismatic side of his personality.

Family

His brother David Williams died of liver failure on May 13, 2001, leaving behind two children: Andrew who lives in Arizona, and Robert who lives in Rhode Island.

His sister, Mary Jane Esser, died on February 27, 2006, leaving behind five children. He cancelled his coverage of Mardi Gras in New Orleans when he heard of the death that day. On the Nightly News episode on May 25, 2006, Campbell Brown substituted for Williams, who was honoring his daughter Allison's high school graduation that day. She now, along with colleague Stone Phillips' son, Streeter, is a member of Yale College Class of 2010.

Brian also has another son and the whole family lives in Connecticut.

Trivia

• Replaced Maury Povich as host of locally produced Washington D.C chat show Panorama in 1985.

• Worked as an intern during the administration of U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

• Williams was handpicked by NBC's Tom Brokaw to take over at his retirement

• Won the year 2005 in the Nielsen Ratings War

• Williams is considered the dean of network news with the retirements of Brokaw and Rather, and the death of Peter Jennings

• In a December 2004 interview with C-Span's Brian Lamb, Williams proclaimed that he is a longtime listener of The Rush Limbaugh Show : "I do listen to Rush. I listen to it from a radio in my office, or depending on my day, if I'm in the car, I will listen to Rush. And he will tell you I've been listening for years. I think it's my duty to listen to Rush. I think Rush has actually yet to get the credit he is due, because his audience for so many years felt they were in the wilderness of this country. No one was talking to them." [1]

• Williams is known as a big Dale Earnhardt fan, even visiting Earnhardt a few times (Williams and his son Douglas were at Talladega Superspeedway in October 1999 for a race when Williams interviewed Earnhardt for his show. Douglas wanted to see the car, and Earnhardt told him he could touch the car, and Earnhardt won, so he invited both to victory lane after the race.), and hosted NBC's first live television broadcast of a NASCAR event, the 1999 Pennzoil 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway. For many years, he drove a black Chevrolet sport-utility vehicle with an official Earnhardt sticker on the back.

• On a similar note, until its closure, Williams was well-known for frequenting the Flemington (NJ) Speedway when he could.

• In 2006, he was Grand Marshal for Dale Earnhardt Day, and inducted Earnhardt into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

• Williams was the honored guest at the 2005 Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Fall Gala. [2]

• In 2005, Williams received an honorary degree from Bates College in Maine, a school his father and brother attended.

• Has appeared three times on The Daily Show as a celebrity guest and interviewed by Jon Stewart, most recently on Tuesday, August 8th, 2006.

• August 20th 2006 challenged President George W. Bush when discussing his administration to Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, and the Iraq War saying that "But those were not Iraqis who attacked us."

• Appeared on Saturday Night Live September 30, 2006 ready to co-anchor the Weekend Update segment with Amy Poehler, but is told by Poehler that Seth Meyers will be co-anchoring Weekend Update. [3]

Notable Coverage

• Death of Princess Diana
• 2003 North America blackout (Anchored live coverage)
• Tsunami in Asia
• Death of Pope John Paul II
• Hurricane Katrina
• 2006 Winter Olympics

External links

• NBC News Bio
• The Daily Nightly - Brian Williams's blog
• Video of talk to journalists group - from SAJAforum.org

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