Sam Donaldson Biography
Sam Donaldson is a former ABC News reporter and news anchor who worked for the network from 1967 to 2009. He is best known for his work as the network’s White House Correspondent (1977-1989 and 1998-99), as well as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network’s Sunday program.
How old is Sam Donaldson?- Age
He is 88 years old as of March 2022. Donaldson was born Samuel Andrew Donaldson Jr on March 11, 1934, in El Paso, Texas, United States of America.
Sam Donaldson Education
Donaldson attended ‘The New Mexico Military Institute’ and ‘Texas Western College,’ which is now known as ‘The University of Texas at El Paso.’
Sam Donaldson Family
Donaldson was born in El Paso, Texas, on March 11, 1934. Chloe, his mother, was a teacher, and Samuel Donald, his father, was a farmer. He grew up on his family’s farm in Chamberino, New Mexico.
Who is Sam Donaldson’s wife? – Son
Donaldson and Sandra Martorelli Donaldson have been married since December 2014. They are residents of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Previously, Donaldson’s marriage to Jan Smith was annulled in 2014. From previous marriages, Donaldson has four children: Samuel III, Jennifer, Thomas, and Robert Donaldson. He was married to Patricia Oates from 1954 to 1962, to Billie Kay Butler from 1963 to 1980, and to Janice C Smith from 1983 to 2014.
Sam Donaldson ABC News
In October 1967, ABC News hired Donaldson as a Washington correspondent. In 1968, he covered the two major political conventions, and in 1969, he began anchoring the network’s 11:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday newscasts. Donaldson covered the Vietnam War for ABC News in 1971. In 1973-74, he was ABC’s chief Watergate correspondent, covering the Watergate burglars’ trial, the Senate Watergate hearings, and the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation of President Nixon.
Donaldson covered Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign in 1976. The following year, he was promoted to ‘ABC’s’ White House correspondent. He was in charge until 1989. Donaldson has been the anchor of the ABC Sunday Evening News since its inception in 1979. He served in this capacity until 1989. Donaldson began co-hosting ABC’s magazine show ‘Primetime Live’ with Diane Sawyer in 1989. During this time, one of his most famous reports was an interview with a ‘Nazi Gestapo officer named Erich Priebk, who had been hiding in Argentina since the end of WWII. Following this report, the officer was apprehended and extradited to Italy, where he executed 335 Italians on Adolf Hitler’s direct orders. Donaldson held this position until 1999.
Donaldson was reassigned as ABC’s chief White House correspondent in 1997. He held this position until 1999. During this time, he covered the Monica Lewinsky scandal and President Clinton’s impeachment. Donaldson hosted the first regularly scheduled US news broadcast on the internet in 2002. Donaldson hosted ‘Politics Live’ on ABC News Now in 2004. He continued to host the show until 2009. From 1964 to 2012, Donaldson covered nearly every major political convention. In 2013, he announced his retirement from ABC News.
Sam Donaldson Career
He worked as the station manager of the campus radio station KTEP and was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Donaldson served as an artillery officer in the United States Army from 1956 to 1959, rising to the rank of Captain (USAR). Donaldson was on active duty in 1958 when an atomic device with a yield roughly equivalent to the bombs dropped on Japan was detonated three thousand yards away from the slit trench protecting the observers in the Nevada testing grounds.
Donaldson was hired by KRLD-TV (now KDFW-TV), the CBS television affiliate in Dallas, Texas, after serving in the military. He resigned after a year and relocated to New York City to look for work in broadcast news. He was unable to obtain one. In February 1961, he was hired by WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV) in Washington, D.C. He covered both local and national stories, such as Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign in 1964, Senate debates on the civil rights bill in March 1964, and the Medicare bill the following year. He hosted the Saturday and Sunday evening newscasts at 6:00 p.m., with John Douglas providing weather forecasts.
Sam Donaldson Net Worth
Sam has an estimated net worth of 50 million dollars as of 2022.
