Sander Vanocur (; born Alexander Vinocur, January 8, 1928 – September 16, 2019) was an American television journalist who focused on U.S. national electoral politics, primarily for
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
and
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company
ABC News may a ...
.
Life and career
Vanocur was born in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
, the son of Rose (Millman) and Louis Vinocur, a lawyer.
His family was of
Russian Jewish descent. Vanocur moved to
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...
when he was twelve years old.
After attending
Western Military Academy in
Alton, Illinois
Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend (Illinois), Riv ...
,
he earned a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
from the
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
School of Speech (1950) and studied at the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
(1951–1952). He became an intelligence officer in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
for two years with service in Austria and Berlin, and achieved the rank of first lieutenant. After service in the Army, he began his journalism career as a reporter on the London staff of ''
The Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and also did general reporting for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''.
Broadcast journalism career
Described as "one of the country's most prominent political reporters during the 1960s," Vanocur served as White House correspondent and national political correspondent for
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
in the 1960s and early 1970s. He was one of the questioners at the first of the
Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960, as well as one of NBC's "four horsemen," its floor reporters at the political conventions in the 1960s—the other three were
John Chancellor
John William Chancellor (July 14, 1927 – July 12, 1996) was an American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News. He is considered a pioneer in television news. Chancellor served as anchor of the ''NBC Nightly News'' from 1970 to ...
,
Frank McGee, and
Edwin Newman. While White House correspondent during the Kennedy administration, Vanocur was one of the first reporters to publicly ask Kennedy to justify the failure of the
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called or after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...
. Vanocur also dubbed Kennedy's coterie the "Irish mafia."
Later, Vanocur covered the
1968 United States presidential election
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 1968. The Republican ticket of former vice president Richard Nixon and Maryland governor Spiro Agnew, defeated both the Democratic ticket of incumbent vice president Huber ...
in which
United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. Vanocur, who had interviewed Kennedy on June 4, 1968, shortly before the Democratic candidate was shot,
[ reported on the incident from The Ambassador Hotel in ]Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, for the entire night. Kennedy died the following day at Good Samaritan Hospital. On the final night of the 1968 Republican National Convention
The 1968 Republican National Convention was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida, USA, from August 5 to August 8, 1968, to select the party's nominee in the general election. It nominated former Vice P ...
in Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
, during a convention-wrapping Thursday night round-table discussion with his fellow NBC floor reporters in the vacated folding chairs on the convention hall floor, Vanocur suggested that the Republicans had "kissed off the black vote" in 1968, a comment which caused a media uproar in the ensuing week.
Vanocur also served as host of ''First Tuesday'', a monthly newsmagazine that premiered in 1969 and continued after Vanocur left the network. His work at NBC earned him a place on the Nixon administration's "enemies list".
After leaving NBC in 1971, Vanocur worked for PBS and as a television writer for ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''. He joined ABC News in 1977 and worked there until 1991, holding various positions, including chief diplomatic correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
, senior correspondent in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, and anchor for ''Business World'', the first regularly scheduled weekly business program. He covered the 1997, 1998, and 1999 World Economic Summits and was chief overview correspondent during the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections. In 1984, Vanocur moderated the vice presidential debate between incumbent George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
and Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice presiden ...
. He was also one of the questioners in the 1992 presidential debate.
Other work
Vanocur played fictional versions of himself as a broadcast journalist in theatrical films '' The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight'' (1971), '' Raise the Titanic'' (1980), '' Dave'' (1993), and ''Street Fighter
is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...
'' (1994). He also appeared as himself in the TV movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...
s '' Without Warning'' (1994) and '' Weapons of Mass Distraction'' (1997).
Vanocur served as television presenter
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...
in two of the History Channel
History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...
's primetime series: ''Movies in Time'' and ''History's Business''.
Vanocur provided narration and further historical material for an expanded audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sch ...
release of the Nixon-Kennedy presidential debates.
Personal life
Vanocur married his first wife, fashion designer Edith Pick, on March 3, 1956, and they had two sons, Nicholas and Christopher Vanocur. Christopher is a television news reporter and a former news anchor in the Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
television market. After Edith's death in April 1975, Vanocur married Virginia Backus Wood on December 19, 1975.
Vanocur died from complications of dementia at a hospice facility in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...
, on September 16, 2019, at the age of 91.[
]
In popular culture
Vanocur was parodied by Bob Elliott as national newscaster Sandy Van Andy in another 1971 comedy film
The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
'' Cold Turkey''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanocur, Sander
1928 births
2019 deaths
20th-century American journalists
Alumni of the London School of Economics
American expatriates in England
American male journalists
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American television reporters and correspondents
Deaths from dementia in California
Duke University faculty
Journalists from Ohio
Military personnel from Cleveland
NBC News people
Northwestern University alumni
The Guardian journalists
The New York Times journalists
United States Army officers
Jews from Ohio
Journalists from Illinois
Jews from Illinois
Military personnel from Peoria, Illinois
Jewish American journalists
Jewish American military personnel