Photos: Tom Brokaw through the years
Tom Brokaw is formally retiring from NBC News after an extraordinary 55 years with the network. Brokaw is best known for having anchored the "NBC Nightly News" from 1982 through 2004.
Tom Brokaw, 1976
Television newsman Tom Brokaw is seen in 1976. (AP Photo)
Tom Brokaw, 1976
NBC's "Today" show host Tom Brokaw and newswoman Jane Pauley share a moment prior to Pauley's first appearance on the network morning news program, New York, October 11, 1976. (AP Photo)
Tom Brokaw, 1977
Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., appears on the "Today Show", Oct. 12, 1977, with her father-in-law, Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., with Tom Brokaw at left. A portrait of King hangs on the set. (AP Photo)
Tom Brokaw, 1977
Former White House Correspondent Tom Brokaw, right, signs autographs for youngsters on Oct. 24, 1977 at Stillwater, New York, where he delivered a speech on the Revolutionary War Battle of Saratoga. Brokaw, who hosts NBC-TV's Today Show, says he gets a higher level of recognition on the street, "But I don't let it interfere with with my private life." (AP Photo)
Tom Brokaw, 1977
President Jimmy Carter is interviewed by four television reporters on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 1977 in the Red Room of the White House at Washington. From left are: Bob McNeil, PBS; Bob Schieffer, CBS; Carter; Barbara Walters, ABC; and Tom Brokaw, NBA. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
Tom Brokaw, 1979
Former Atlanta Braves baseball player, Henry Aaron, center, laughs as he's surprised on his 45th birthday with a cake presented by Jane Pauley on NBC -TV's Today Show in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 1979. Seated left is Georgia legislator and actor David Scott enjoying the celebration with Tom Brokaw, right, who co-host the show with Pauley. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff)
Tom Brokaw, 1980
Anchorwoman Jane Pauley of NBC's "Today" show, left, breaks down in tears at the end of a half-hour memorial tribute to musician John Lennon, Dec. 9, 1980, as Tom Brokaw looks on. Lennon was shot and killed last night outside his apartment building. (AP Photo/Roberto Borea)
Tom Brokaw, 1980
Arkansas Governor William Clinton, left, discusses the prison system in his state with Tom Brokaw of the NBC-TV's "Today Show," July 24, 1980 in New York. "Brubaker," a released film starring Robert Redford, shows negative aspects of an Arkansas prison. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye)
Tom Brokaw, 1983
Network news correspondents Dan Rather, left, of CBS News, Tom Brokaw of NBC News and Barbara Walters, right, of ABC News, host the International Radio and Television Society Gold Medal Award for president of ABC News and Sports Roone Arledge in New York City, Wednesday night, March 10, 1983. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Tom Brokaw, 1988
Mass. Gov. Michael Dukakis appears on the NBC television show ?Nightly News? with Tom Brokaw, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 1988 in Manchester. Dukakis, Democratic presidential candidate, is the apparent winner in the New Hampshire primary. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
Tom Brokaw, 1988
News anchors Dan Rather, left, and Tom Brokaw shake hands during a reception sponsored by the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York, June 29, 1988. (AP Photo)
Tom Brokaw, 1990
Tom Brokaw, NBC News anchor, gestures to the audience as he delivers the keynote address during commencement ceremonies at Boston College in Newton, Ma., Monday, May 21, 1990. Brokaw was presented with an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Tom Brokaw, 2000
"NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw delivers the commencement address at Seton Hall University's graduation in Rutherford, N.J., Monday, May 8, 2000. (AP Photo/Jill C Becker)
Tom Brokaw, 2004
NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw delivers his closing remarks during his final broadcast, in New York Wednesday Dec. 1, 2004. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Tom Brokaw, 2004
NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw walks off the set after his last broadcast, in New York Wednesday Dec. 1, 2004. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Tom Brokaw, 2004
NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw, right, and his successor Brian Williams, pose for a photo in the NBC news department in New York, prior to Brokaw's last broadcast, Wednesday Dec. 1, 2004. Making good on an exit plan announced in May 2002, Brokaw, 64, is stepping away from daily journalism after 23 years to pursue his varied other interests, including more time on his Montana ranch. But his NBC association will continue under an agreement to host at least three documentaries a year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Tom Brokaw, 2005
Former news anchors Tom Brokaw, left, and Dan Rather shake hands on stage during a tribute to news anchors during the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday, Sept. 18, 2005, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Tom Brokaw, 2006
Former anchorman of NBC Nightly News Tom Brokaw is seen in front of the memorial wall aboard the USS Arizona Memorial during a ceremony commemorating the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
Tom Brokaw, 2007
Tom Brokaw touches the casket of former President Gerald R. Ford during a State Funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)
Tom Brokaw, 2007
Journalist Tom Brokaw moderates a panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Tom Brokaw, 2008
Tom Brokaw, former NBC News anchor, stands outside Holy Trinity Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, after speaking at funeral services for the late Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet the Press, Wednesday, June 18, 2008. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Tom Brokaw, 2008
Moderator Tom Brokaw stands before the audience prior to a townhall-style presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Tom Brokaw, 2008
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, and his wife Michelle Obama speak to debate moderator Tom Brokaw after the town hall-style presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Scott Olson, Pool)
Tom Brokaw, 2009
Tom Brokaw moderates a "National Town Hall" for the USA Network in Washington, on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Tom Brokaw, 2012
Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, Friday, July 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Tom Brokaw, 2012
FILE - This Jan. 12, 2012 file photo shows NBC News special correspondent and former "Today" show host Tom Brokaw, attending the "Today" show 60th anniversary celebration at the Edison Ballroom, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)
Tom Brokaw, 2014
Tom Brokaw speaks at the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry annual dinner Monday, Sept. 22, 2014, in Hershey, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Tom Brokaw, 2014
President Barack Obama awards journalist, Tom Brokaw, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. President Obama is presenting the nation's highest civilian honor to 19 artists, activists, public servants and others. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Tom Brokaw, 2018
FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2018, file photo, journalist Tom Brokaw speaks during the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Awards ceremony in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)
Tom Brokaw, 2019
Former ABC and how Ted Koppel, far left, Wall Street columnist Peggy Noonan, second from left, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, center, CBS "Sunday Morning" host Jane Pauley, second from right, and Associated Press photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Drew, far right, pose before their induction into The Deadline Club 2019 New York Journalism Hall of Fame, Thursday Nov. 21, 2019, in New York. Drew, a staff photographer for AP in New York known for taking the The Falling Man photograph during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, is the first photojournalist to be inducted. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Before social media and with online news in its infancy, the story of 9/11 unfolded primarily on television. These three newsmen were where most Americans turned.