Sam Donaldson: Homage to a Broadcast Legend

Feb. 26, 2009 -- We were a few hours into a very long Election Night and, suddenly, Sam Donaldson was talking about fat ladies.

Barack Obama was winning big, although it was far too early for a final projection. And so the inimitable newsman and legendary television personality was explaining that John McCain's team shouldn't give up hope.

"You can't just throw it in, not until the fat lady sings," Donaldson said, probably not knowing what would come out of his mouth next. I squirmed a bit in my chair to his left, very much not sure of what he would say.

"Or a lady or a gentleman of any particular svelteness," he added, tossing a dash of political correctness onto the latest little conflagration he started on the set.

The wonderful thing about working with Sam Donaldson was not the unmatched storytelling, the savvy questioning or even the vast institutional knowledge he brought after nearly five decades of covering politics on television.

It was the freshness he brought to every sentence he uttered on the air, the energy and enthusiasm he has maintained right through his retirement from full-time work at ABC News this week.

It made for some interesting moments along the way. But you could always count on a show.

Long before I met Sam Donaldson, I felt I knew Sam Donaldson. Who didn't? The look, the voice, the smirk, the swagger -- it all became part of the collective national consciousness from the time I was first watching the news on television.

It wasn't until I worked alongside him, though, that I could appreciate what sets Sam apart as a journalist, a communicator, and a man.

I had the distinct pleasure of sitting a few feet away from Donaldson throughout what I can safely describe as the most interesting election of either of our lifetimes. From the Iowa caucuses through Election Night, through countless hours of constant coverage at the conventions, and through a five-day-a-week political program on ABC News NOW, the enthusiasm for his craft never waned, not for an instant.