Peter Jennings was the chief anchor of
ABC-TV's World News Tonight
from 1983 until shortly before his
death in 2005. For many of those years
he went head-to-head with two other
longstanding network anchors, NBC's
Tom Brokaw and CBS's Dan Rather. A
Canadian by birth, Jennings was known
for his dry, understated delivery and
for his international outlook, honed
by years as a foreign correspondent.
Jennings also anchored the ABC evening
news from 1965-67, which at the time
made him the youngest network anchor
in TV history. After a long period in
other roles, he was named the sole
anchor of World News Tonight in
1983. Jennings announced in April of
2005 that he had been diagnosed with
lung cancer, but would continue to
work as much as possible. He never
returned to the air, passing away four
months later.