Diane Sawyer

Lore & Background

Diane Sawyer was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, to Jean W. Sawyer, an elementary school teacher, and Erbon Powers 'Tom' Sawyer, a county judge. She attended Seneca High School in Louisville, where she served as editor-in-chief of the yearbook. In 1963, she won the America's Junior Miss scholarship pageant representing Kentucky, and from 1963 to 1965 toured the country promoting the Coca-Cola Pavilion at the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1967.

After college, Sawyer worked as a weather forecaster for WLKY-TV in Louisville, then moved to Washington, D.C., in 1970. Unable to find broadcast work, she became an assistant to White House deputy press secretary Jerry Warren, later working for press secretary Ron Ziegler and eventually as a staff assistant to President Nixon. In 1973, she was assigned to help prove that John Dean was lying about Watergate; Larry Speakes later claimed he concluded Dean had not lied but they continued their efforts. After Nixon's resignation, she helped write his memoirs and prepared him for interviews with David Frost. Years later, she was suspected of being Deep Throat, but the source was later identified as W. Mark Felt.

Sawyer joined CBS News in 1978 as a general-assignment reporter, became political correspondent in 1980, and co-anchored Morning with Charles Kuralt in 1981. In 1984, she became the first female correspondent on 60 Minutes. She moved to ABC News in 1989, co-anchoring Primetime Live with Sam Donaldson, and later co-anchored Good Morning America from 1999 to 2009. She anchored ABC World News from December 2009 to August 2014, then remained with ABC News producing documentaries and interview specials.

Reader's Guide

Diane Sawyer's career spans both political service and broadcast journalism, making her a notable figure in American media. Her early work on the White House staff during the Nixon administration, including involvement in the Watergate response, provided her with insider political experience that later informed her journalism. As the first woman correspondent on 60 Minutes, she broke a gender barrier in investigative television news. Her move to ABC News led to long-running roles on Primetime Live, Good Morning America, and ABC World News, where she became one of the most visible anchors in network news. Her tenure at ABC World News coincided with a period when two of the three network evening news anchors were women, reflecting broader changes in the industry. Sawyer's legacy includes her ability to transition between morning and evening news formats and her continued work on specials and interviews after stepping down from the anchor desk. Her career illustrates the intersection of political access and broadcast journalism, and her longevity across multiple major programs underscores her influence in shaping television news.

Did You Know?

• Sawyer won the America's Junior Miss scholarship pageant in 1963 representing Kentucky.
• She was the first woman correspondent on 60 Minutes, joining in 1984.
• She was suspected of being Deep Throat, the Watergate source, but the source was later identified as W. Mark Felt.