Llewellyn
King
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February 19, 2009
Sam Donaldson Moves Out
of Focus
Sam Donaldson has retired from ABC News after 41 tumultuous years. His
going – without an official sendoff or even a press release – was the
way he wanted it. A loud man, Donaldson elected to go quietly. We all
should miss him. He was good for his audience and a tonic for his
colleagues.
As
controversial as he was competent, Donaldson is not so much remembered
for his reporting around the world as for his years as ABC's chief White
House correspondent – and for his antics in that role.
Sam covered Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
But, he told me when I interviewed him on my television program,
White House Chronicle that Reagan was his favorite. Donaldson
famously shouted questions at Reagan, who clearly enjoyed the repartee –
sometimes breaking away from his staff to answer one of the questions
Donaldson shouted from behind the rope line.
The public – and maybe some of the suits at Disney, which owns ABC –
thought Donaldson rude. Clearly, Reagan did not. Two fine actors were
enjoying their roles, feeding off each other.
And that is the thing about Donaldson: he is always on. The energy he
showed in bawling at presidents, was the same energy that invigorated
the White House press corps.
Make no mistake, Donaldson has always been an invigorator, a controlled
explosion of a man. When he was in the White House briefing room, it was
palpably alive. When he was not there, it was as it is today – earnest,
serious and subdued. The closest personality to Donaldson's for sparking
up the briefing room has now moved on: David Gregory. Without big
energy, the place lacks a robust sense of itself.
Television and print both seek to tell the news, but they are not the
same animal. Shouting out at presidents, or anyone else, will not help a
print reporter. Deft cultivation of sources and a sensitive ear are the
tools of great White House scribes. But for television, the getting of
the story can be as much the story as what is elicited. On a TV news
program, the quarry pushing away the camera is significant. It is just a
frustration to a newspaperman.
Donaldson knew so well that a question avoided by the subject on
television amounts to a question answered. In an interview with The
Washington Post, Donaldson said he might have gone for a contract
renewal if ABC had a program like CBS's 60 Minutes. Clearly
Donaldson misses the years of confrontation.
As
a White House reporter, Donaldson's strength was an indifference to what
people thought about him. He did not care whether his antics annoyed his
colleagues. And he had the good sense to ignore his peers.
At
the end of Clinton's visit to China in 1998, there was a full press
conference in Hong Kong. That was before former President George W. Bush
insisted on having a list of reporters to call on and the questioning
became formulaic – something, sadly, President Barack Obama has
continued to do.
Donaldson failed to find a front seat, where he could be heard.
Undeterred he found a chair at the back of the room, carried it to the
front, set it up with the back facing forward, and sat with his arms
resting on the back. Simply, this said: “I am Sam Donaldson, and I am
here to question the president of the United States.”
It
was pure chutzpah; and it worked. I doubt the preselecting of
questioners by the current White House staff would have survived the
Donaldson treatment.
He
could also be considerate. In Uganda, during Clinton's extended African
trip, a large gathering of schoolchildren, local officials and, of
course, the traveling press was assembled in an arena under a broiling
African sun. As usual, Clinton was inconsiderately late. Everyone baked,
but none more than the video crews in the “pod,” which is the structure
in front of the podium from which the president is to speak. They were
trapped, unable to leave in case Clinton appeared. The rest of us were
given crates of life-saving ice water.
It
was Donaldson who realized their predicament and struggled through the
crowd with ice water for the crews. It was thoughtful and observant.
It
was the softer side of Sam Donaldson – correspondent extraordinaire.
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