Sander Vanocur facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sander Vanocur
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Vanocur in 2006
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| Born |
Alexander Vinocur
January 8, 1928 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
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| Died | September 16, 2019 (aged 91) |
| Alma mater | Northwestern University |
| Occupation | Broadcast journalist |
| Spouse(s) |
Edith Pick
(m. 1956; died 1975)Virginia Backus Wood
(m. 1975) |
| Children | 2 |
Sander Vanocur (born Alexander Vinocur, January 8, 1928 – September 16, 2019) was an American journalist who worked on television. He was well-known for covering U.S. elections and politics, mainly for NBC News and ABC News.
Life and Career
Sander Vanocur was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents were Rose (Millman) and Louis Vinocur. His family had roots in Russia and was Jewish. When he was twelve, Vanocur moved to Peoria, Illinois.
He went to Western Military Academy and then studied political science at Northwestern University. He also studied in London for a year. After college, he served in the United States Army for two years as an intelligence officer. He was stationed in Austria and Berlin.
After his time in the army, Vanocur started his career in journalism. He worked as a reporter for The Manchester Guardian in London. He also reported for The New York Times.
Television News Career
Sander Vanocur became a very important political reporter in the 1960s. He worked for NBC News as a White House correspondent. This meant he reported on the President and what was happening at the White House. He also covered national politics.
In 1960, he was one of the journalists who asked questions at the first ever Kennedy-Nixon debates. These were important TV debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Vanocur was also one of NBC's "four horsemen." This was a nickname for their main reporters at political conventions. The other three were John Chancellor, Frank McGee, and Edwin Newman.
While covering the White House, Vanocur was one of the first reporters to ask President Kennedy about the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. He also gave Kennedy's close group of advisors the nickname "Irish mafia."
Vanocur also covered the 1968 U.S. presidential election. During this time, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was sadly assassinated. Vanocur had interviewed Kennedy just before the shooting. He reported on the event all night from The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
After leaving NBC in 1971, Vanocur worked for PBS. He also wrote for The Washington Post. In 1977, he joined ABC News. He held many important jobs there until 1991. He was a chief diplomatic correspondent, meaning he reported on international relations. He was also a senior correspondent in Buenos Aires. He even anchored Business World, which was the first weekly TV show about business.
He covered the World Economic Summits in the late 1990s. He was also a main reporter for the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections. In 1984, Vanocur led the debate between Vice President George H. W. Bush and Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. He also asked questions in a 1992 presidential debate.
Other Projects
Sander Vanocur also appeared in movies and TV shows. He often played a fictional version of himself as a TV journalist. Some of these movies include The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971) and Dave (1993).
He also hosted two series for the History Channel: Movies in Time and History's Business. Vanocur also narrated an expanded audiobook of the famous Nixon-Kennedy presidential debates.
Personal Life
Sander Vanocur married his first wife, Edith Pick, in 1956. They had two sons, Nicholas and Christopher. Christopher also became a television news reporter. After Edith passed away in 1975, Vanocur married Virginia Backus Wood later that same year.
Sander Vanocur passed away on September 16, 2019, at the age of 91. He died in Santa Barbara, California, due to complications from dementia.
See also
In Spanish: Sander Vanocur para niños
