Background and career
Charles deWolf Gibson (born March 9, 1943) is an American broadcast television anchor, journalist, and podcaster. Gibson was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2006, and the anchor of ABC World News from 2006 to 2009. In 1965, Gibson worked as the news director for Princeton University's student-run radio station, a radio producer for RKO, and a reporter for local television stations. In 1975, he joined ABC News, where he worked as a general assignment reporter and a correspondent from Washington, D.C.
Gibson was born on March 9, 1943, in Evanston, Illinois, to Georgianna Law and Burdett Gibson, and is a great-nephew of graphic artist Charles Dana Gibson. He grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended the Sidwell Friends School, a private college-preparatory school in Washington. In 1965, Gibson graduated with an A.B. in history from Princeton University, where he was News Director for WPRB-FM, the university radio station, and a member of Princeton Tower Club. Gibson completed a senior thesis titled "The Land and Capital Problems of Pre-Famine Ireland." In 1966, he served in the United States Coast Guard.
Gibson joined RKO General in 1966 as a producer and later worked as a reporter and anchor for WLVA (now WSET) television in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 1970, he moved to WMAL-TV (now WJLA) television, the ABC network affiliate in Washington, D.C. Gibson joined the syndicated news service Television News Inc. (TVN) in 1974. For TVN, he covered the Watergate scandal investigations and the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
Gibson joined ABC News in 1975, where he worked as its White House correspondent from 1976 to 1977, a general assignment reporter from 1977 to 1981, and House of Representatives correspondent from 1981 to 1987. Gibson was a correspondent and stand-in anchor for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, anchored World News Saturday and substitute anchor on the late-night hard and soft news program Nightline and World News This Morning.
On February 23, 1987, Gibson first became a co-anchor of Good Morning America, alongside Joan Lunden. From 1985 to 1995, Good Morning America was the most-watched morning show on American television. Gibson hosted and narrated the Maryland Public Television documentary Lucky Number, a program about problem gambling, in 1990. During the 1992 presidential campaign, Vice President Dan Quayle criticized Ross Perot over remarks Perot had made during an interview with Gibson on Good Morning America concerning the United States Constitution. In June 1992, Gibson interviewed Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton and pressed him to identify his running mate. On May 1, 1998, Gibson left Good Morning America and was replaced by Kevin Newman. ABC reinstated Gibson on January 18, 1999, with Diane Sawyer as co-anchor. He remained with the program until June 28, 2006, when he left to become anchor of World News Tonight. During the September 11 attacks, Gibson and Sawyer were anchoring Good Morning America. After the second plane struck the South Tower, Gibson recognized that the United States was under attack. During the 2004 U.S. presidential-election campaign, Gibson moderated the second presidential debate in St. Louis, Missouri, between the two nominee candidates – Republican incumbent President George W. Bush and Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry. That debate took place on October 8, 2004.
In 2005, Gibson was among the substitute anchors for World News Tonight while Peter Jennings underwent treatment for lung cancer. Following Jennings's death on August 7, 2005, Gibson anchored World News Tonight the following evening. Gibson was considered a leading candidate to succeed Jennings, but ABC selected Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff as co-anchors of World News Tonight, beginning January 2, 2006. Following Woodruff's injury in Iraq, ABC News again considered Gibson for the position. On May 23, 2006, ABC News announced that Gibson would become the program's sole anchor following Vargas's departure.
