David Gregory

When the major figures in Washington have to go before the country to discuss the current state of affairs in America, they must face David Gregory. With a reputation as a journalist that asks the tough questions, Gregory is the host of NBC's Meet the Press. In his former role as chief White House Correspondent, he led the network's coverage of the George W. Bush presidency since 2001. He has been a fixture on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Today, MSNBC, and MSNBC.com. Gregory speaks candidly about covering the most powerful office in the world, and talks openly about the role of the popular media, its reputation, and its responsibilities as a form of mass communication.

In the fall of 2005, Gregory became a frequent substitute for Matt Lauer on Today. He has anchored the weekend editions of Nightly News and Today. As a political commentator, he can often be seen and heard on the Chris Matthews Show and Hardball.

A View of the Top, From the Top. As a White House correspondent, Gregory circled the globe, traveled with President Bush on every major foreign trip, and visited nearly every state in the nation during the presidential campaigns of 2000 and 2004. He has also reported on every aspect of the War on Terror and the War in Iraq since September 11, 2001. He was the only network correspondent to tour ground zero with President Bush, and he reported exclusively from Afghanistan while traveling with Vice President Dick Cheney to the inauguration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Gregory was one of a select few journalists to travel with Vice President Cheney on a mission to 12 countries in the Middle East in 2002, as the administration laid the groundwork for the Iraq war. During the summer of 2004, he landed an exclusive and rare interview in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ahead of his summit with President Bush in Texas.

Through terror attacks, two wars, presidential campaigns, policy debates, Supreme Court nominations, and a historic leak investigation, Gregory has earned a reputation for being one of the toughest interrogators of President Bush and press secretaries Scott McClellan and Tony Snow. His reputation has earned him the nickname the "firebrand in the front row," as well as the distinction of being one of Washington's 50 best and most influential journalists by Washingtonian magazine.

Meet the Press. On the campaign trail in 2004, Gregory was the most heavily utilized network correspondent on television, according to the Tyndall Report. He was the only network correspondent to travel with the president aboard Air Force One on election day and report exclusive details during NBC's marathon election night coverage. During the historic 2000 campaign, Gregory also led the network's election night coverage from Austin, Texas, and stayed on to chronicle the legal standoff during the recount.

In 2005, Gregory shared an Emmy with his colleagues for the network's coverage of President Ronald Reagan's death and funeral the previous summer. He has covered nearly every major contemporary story for NBC, from the O.J. Simpson trials, to the trial of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, to the impeachment of President Clinton, and the death of Pope John Paul II in Rome. He offers sharp observations and accounts of being one of the president's most necessary challengers and litmus testers.