Trivia

His distinctive tone of delivering the news began in World War II, when, he said, he took to underlining words to insure the correct emphasis on the radio and developed his "jerky, labored way of speaking." *

His vocal delivery of the news was known for clipped sentences spoken in measured cadences and in a sardonic voice.

In his final election night program, in 1996, he called then-President Clinton a bore and telling voters they could expect more "goddamned nonsense" for the next four years. He later apologized to Clinton.

Surprised many colleagues when he became a spokesman for Archer-Daniels-Midland, the agribusiness company, in 1998.

Survived by three sons from his first marriage: Joel, a writer for the New York Times; Alan, a provost at Columbia University; and John, a director of the United States Institute for Peace in Washington. He is also survived by a stepdaughter from his second marriage, Alexis Rose West Brinkley Collins.

During his career which spanned more than half a century, Brinkley won 10 Emmy awards, three George Foster Peabody Awards and, in 1992, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Children (with Benfer): Alexis

Children (with Fisher): Alan Brinkley, John, Joel.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 46-48. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Newscaster.