Roger Mudd
Encyclopedia
Roger Mudd is a U.S.
television journalist
and broadcaster, most recently as the primary anchor for The History Channel
. Previously, Mudd was weekend and weekday substitute anchor of CBS Evening News
, co-anchor of the weekday NBC Nightly News
, and hosted NBC
's Meet the Press
, and NBC's American Almanac television newsmagazine. Mudd is the recipient of the Peabody Award, the Joan Shorenstein Award for Distinguished Washington Reporting, and five Emmy Awards.
His father, John Kostka Dominic Mudd, was the son of a tobacco farmer and worked as a map maker for the United States Geological Survey
, and his mother, Irma Iris Harrison, was the daughter of a wheat farmer and worked as a lieutenant for the Army Nursing Corps and a nurse at the physiotherapy ward in the Walter Reed Hospital, where she met Roger's father. Roger Mudd received a B.A.
from Washington and Lee University
in 1950 (where one of his classmates was author Tom Wolfe
) and a Master's degree
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
in 1953.
He began his journalism career in Richmond, Virginia
as a reporter for The Richmond News Leader
and for radio station WRNL
. At the News Leader, he worked at the rewrite desk during spring 1953 and became a summer replacement on June 15 that year. The News Leader ran its first story with a Mudd byline on June 19, 1953. At WRNL, Mudd did the daily noon newscast. In his memoir The Place to Be, Mudd describes an incident from his first day at WRNL in which he laughed hysterically on-air after mangling a news item about the declining health of Pope Pius XII
. Because Mudd failed to silence his microphone properly, an engineer intervened. WRNL later gave Mudd his own daily broadcast, Virginia Headlines. In the fall of 1954, Mudd enrolled in the University of Richmond School of Law
but dropped out after a semester.
. In September that year, Mudd conducted his first live TV studio interview. The interview was with Dorothy Counts, a black teenage girl who suffered racial harassment at her all-white high school in Charlotte, North Carolina
. WTOP replaced Don Richards with Mudd for its 11 p.m. newscast in March 1959.
's studios at 40th and Brandywine in NW Washington. Mudd quickly came to the attention of CBS News
and moved "downstairs" to join the Washington bureau on May 31, 1961. For most of his career at CBS, Mudd was a Congressional correspondent. He also was anchor of the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News
and frequently substituted on the weeknight broadcasts when anchor Walter Cronkite
was on vacation or working on special assignments. During the Civil Rights Movement, Mudd anchored coverage of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
for CBS. On November 13, 1963, CBS broadcast documentary Case History of a Rumor, in which Mudd interviewed Rep. James Utt (Republican
of Santa Ana, California
) about a rumor Utt spread that Africans were working with the United Nations
to take over the U.S. Utt sued CBS in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
for libel, but the court dismissed the case.
Mudd also covered numerous political campaigns. He was paired with co-anchor Robert Trout
in the 1964 political convention anchor booth, temporarily displacing Walter Cronkite, in an unsuccessful attempt to match the popular NBC Huntley–Brinkley anchor team. He covered the 1968 Presidential campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy
and was in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles
when Kennedy was shot on June 5, 1968.
Mudd hosted the seminal documentary The Selling of the Pentagon in 1971. He was a candidate to succeed Walter Cronkite
as anchor of the CBS Evening News. Despite substantial support for Mudd within the ranks of CBS News, network management gave the position to Dan Rather
after the longtime White House
and 60 Minutes
correspondent threatened to leave the network and sign a contract with ABC News
.
for the 1980 Democratic Presidential nomination
. In addition to questioning Kennedy about the Chappaquiddick incident, Mudd asked, "Senator, why do you want to be president?" Kennedy's stammering answer which has been described as "incoherent and repetitive" as well as "vague, unprepared" raised serious questions about his motivation in seeking the office, and marked the beginning of the sharp decline in Kennedy's impressive poll numbers. Carter defeated Kennedy 50% to 38% in the Democratic primary vote. Although the Kennedy family
refused any further interviews with Mudd, the interview helped strengthen Mudd's reputation as a leading political reporter. Broadcaster and blogger Hugh Hewitt
and Washington Post columnist
Michael Gerson
have used the term "Roger Mudd moment" to describe a self-inflicted disastrous encounter with the press by a presidential candidate.
to succeed Cronkite as weeknight anchor of the CBS Evening News, Mudd chose to leave CBS News and accepted an offer to join NBC News. He co-anchored NBC Nightly News
from 1980 until September 1983, when Tom Brokaw
took over as sole anchor. From 1984 to 1985, he was co-moderator of NBC's Meet the Press
with Marvin Kalb
, and later served as co-anchor with Connie Chung
on two NBC news magazines, American Almanac and 1986
.
From 1987 to 1992, Mudd was an essayist and political correspondent with the MacNeil–Lehrer Newshour on PBS
. He was a visiting professor at Princeton University
and Washington and Lee University
from 1992 to 1996. Mudd was also a primary anchor for over ten years with The History Channel
, where many of his programs were often repeated in reruns. He retired from full-time broadcasting in 2004, yet remains involved with documentaries for The History Channel.
Mudd's memoir, The Place to Be: Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News, was released on March 24, 2008.
, CEO of Fortress Investment Group
LLC and former CEO of Fannie Mae , singer and songwriter Jonathan Mudd, author Maria Mudd Ruth, and Matthew. He has eleven grandchildren. His family is indirectly related to Samuel Mudd
, the doctor who was imprisoned for aiding and conspiring with John Wilkes Booth
after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
. He resides in McLean, Virginia
.
Mudd has been active as a Trustee of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, with which he helped to establish its popular "Ethics Bowl," featuring student teams from Virginia's private colleges debating real-life cases involving ethical dilemmas. He is also a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and author of the memoir The Place to Be: Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News.
In December 2010 he donated $4 million to Washington and Lee, his alma mater, to establish a center for the study of professional ethics and to endow a professorship in ethics. Both the center and the professorship are named for him.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and broadcaster, most recently as the primary anchor for The History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
. Previously, Mudd was weekend and weekday substitute anchor of CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
, co-anchor of the weekday NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
, and hosted NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
, and NBC's American Almanac television newsmagazine. Mudd is the recipient of the Peabody Award, the Joan Shorenstein Award for Distinguished Washington Reporting, and five Emmy Awards.
Early life and career
Mudd was born in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
His father, John Kostka Dominic Mudd, was the son of a tobacco farmer and worked as a map maker for the United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
, and his mother, Irma Iris Harrison, was the daughter of a wheat farmer and worked as a lieutenant for the Army Nursing Corps and a nurse at the physiotherapy ward in the Walter Reed Hospital, where she met Roger's father. Roger Mudd received a B.A.
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
in 1950 (where one of his classmates was author Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
) and a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
in 1953.
He began his journalism career in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
as a reporter for The Richmond News Leader
The Richmond News Leader
The Richmond News Leader was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Richmond, Virginia from 1888 to 1992. During much of its run, it was the largest newspaper source in Richmond, competing with the morning Richmond Times-Dispatch. By the late 1960s, afternoon papers had been steadily losing...
and for radio station WRNL
WRNL
WRNL is a Sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, serving Metro Richmond. WRNL is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications.-External links:*...
. At the News Leader, he worked at the rewrite desk during spring 1953 and became a summer replacement on June 15 that year. The News Leader ran its first story with a Mudd byline on June 19, 1953. At WRNL, Mudd did the daily noon newscast. In his memoir The Place to Be, Mudd describes an incident from his first day at WRNL in which he laughed hysterically on-air after mangling a news item about the declining health of Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
. Because Mudd failed to silence his microphone properly, an engineer intervened. WRNL later gave Mudd his own daily broadcast, Virginia Headlines. In the fall of 1954, Mudd enrolled in the University of Richmond School of Law
University of Richmond School of Law
The University of Richmond School of Law , a school of the University of Richmond, is located in Richmond, Virginia...
but dropped out after a semester.
WTOP News
In the late 1950s, Mudd moved to Washington, DC to become a reporter with WTOP News, the news division of the radio and television stations owned by Post-Newsweek. Although WTOP News was a local news department, it covered many national stories. At first Mudd did the 6 a.m. newscast for WTOP and did local news segments on the local TV program Potomac Panorama. In the fall of 1956, Mudd hosted the first newscast he wrote independently, WTOP's 6 p.m. newscast that included a weekly commentary piece, all without "the constraints of the wire service vocabulary". Mudd produced a half-hour TV documentary in summer 1957 advocating the need for a third airport in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan AreaBaltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
The Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area is a combined statistical area consisting of the overlapping labor market region of the cities of Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.. The region includes Central Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Jefferson County in the Eastern Panhandle of West...
. In September that year, Mudd conducted his first live TV studio interview. The interview was with Dorothy Counts, a black teenage girl who suffered racial harassment at her all-white high school in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
. WTOP replaced Don Richards with Mudd for its 11 p.m. newscast in March 1959.
CBS News
CBS News was located on the third floor of WTOPWUSA (TV)
WUSA is a television station broadcasting on channel 9 in Washington, D.C.. Owned by the Gannett Company, WUSA is an affiliate of the CBS television network, and the longest-tenured affiliate of that network...
's studios at 40th and Brandywine in NW Washington. Mudd quickly came to the attention of CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
and moved "downstairs" to join the Washington bureau on May 31, 1961. For most of his career at CBS, Mudd was a Congressional correspondent. He also was anchor of the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
and frequently substituted on the weeknight broadcasts when anchor Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
was on vacation or working on special assignments. During the Civil Rights Movement, Mudd anchored coverage of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the largest political rally for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr...
for CBS. On November 13, 1963, CBS broadcast documentary Case History of a Rumor, in which Mudd interviewed Rep. James Utt (Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
of Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
) about a rumor Utt spread that Africans were working with the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
to take over the U.S. Utt sued CBS in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...
for libel, but the court dismissed the case.
Mudd also covered numerous political campaigns. He was paired with co-anchor Robert Trout
Robert Trout
Robert "Bob" Trout was an American broadcast news reporter, best known for his radio work before and during World War II...
in the 1964 political convention anchor booth, temporarily displacing Walter Cronkite, in an unsuccessful attempt to match the popular NBC Huntley–Brinkley anchor team. He covered the 1968 Presidential campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
and was in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
when Kennedy was shot on June 5, 1968.
Mudd hosted the seminal documentary The Selling of the Pentagon in 1971. He was a candidate to succeed Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
as anchor of the CBS Evening News. Despite substantial support for Mudd within the ranks of CBS News, network management gave the position to Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
after the longtime White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
and 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
correspondent threatened to leave the network and sign a contract with ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
.
Ted Kennedy interview
Mudd is perhaps best remembered for an interview he conducted with Senator Edward M. Kennedy for a November 4, 1979 CBS special, Teddy, which aired three days before Kennedy officially announced his challenge of President Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
for the 1980 Democratic Presidential nomination
Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1980
The 1980 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1980 U.S. presidential election...
. In addition to questioning Kennedy about the Chappaquiddick incident, Mudd asked, "Senator, why do you want to be president?" Kennedy's stammering answer which has been described as "incoherent and repetitive" as well as "vague, unprepared" raised serious questions about his motivation in seeking the office, and marked the beginning of the sharp decline in Kennedy's impressive poll numbers. Carter defeated Kennedy 50% to 38% in the Democratic primary vote. Although the Kennedy family
Kennedy family
In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
refused any further interviews with Mudd, the interview helped strengthen Mudd's reputation as a leading political reporter. Broadcaster and blogger Hugh Hewitt
Hugh Hewitt
Hugh Hewitt is an American radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network, lawyer, academic, and author. An outspoken Republican, evangelical Christian, he comments on society, politics, and media bias in the United States. Hewitt is also a law professor at Chapman University School of Law.-...
and Washington Post columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
Michael Gerson
Michael Gerson
Michael John Gerson is an op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, a Policy Fellow with the ONE Campaign, and a former senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as President George W...
have used the term "Roger Mudd moment" to describe a self-inflicted disastrous encounter with the press by a presidential candidate.
Later Career
In 1980, after being turned down in favor of Dan RatherDan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
to succeed Cronkite as weeknight anchor of the CBS Evening News, Mudd chose to leave CBS News and accepted an offer to join NBC News. He co-anchored NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
from 1980 until September 1983, when Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
took over as sole anchor. From 1984 to 1985, he was co-moderator of NBC's Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
with Marvin Kalb
Marvin Kalb
Marvin L. Kalb is an American journalist. Kalb was the Shorenstein Center's Founding Director and Edward R. Murrow Professor of Press and Public Policy . The Shorenstein Center and the Kennedy School are part of Harvard University...
, and later served as co-anchor with Connie Chung
Connie Chung
Connie Chung, full name: Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich is an American journalist who has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S...
on two NBC news magazines, American Almanac and 1986
1986 (News Magazine)
1986 was a news magazine on NBC. It ran from June 10, 1986 to December 30, 1986. The lead anchors were Roger Mudd and Connie Chung. Maria Shriver also contributed to the program....
.
From 1987 to 1992, Mudd was an essayist and political correspondent with the MacNeil–Lehrer Newshour on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
. He was a visiting professor at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
from 1992 to 1996. Mudd was also a primary anchor for over ten years with The History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
, where many of his programs were often repeated in reruns. He retired from full-time broadcasting in 2004, yet remains involved with documentaries for The History Channel.
Mudd's memoir, The Place to Be: Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News, was released on March 24, 2008.
Personal
Mudd was married to the former E. J. Spears of Richmond, Virginia, who died in 2011. They had three sons and a daughter: DanielDaniel Mudd
Daniel H. Mudd is the former President and CEO of Fannie Mae, a post he held from 2005-2008.He is the son of TV anchor, Roger Mudd. He holds a B.A. degree in American history from the University of Virginia and an M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University...
, CEO of Fortress Investment Group
Fortress Investment Group
Fortress Investment Group LLC is an investment management firm based in New York, New York. The company went public on February 9, 2007.-History:...
LLC and former CEO of Fannie Mae , singer and songwriter Jonathan Mudd, author Maria Mudd Ruth, and Matthew. He has eleven grandchildren. His family is indirectly related to Samuel Mudd
Samuel Mudd
Samuel Alexander Mudd I, M.D. was an American physician who was convicted and imprisoned for aiding and conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the 1865 assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson and released from prison in 1869...
, the doctor who was imprisoned for aiding and conspiring with John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. He resides in McLean, Virginia
McLean, Virginia
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
.
Mudd has been active as a Trustee of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, with which he helped to establish its popular "Ethics Bowl," featuring student teams from Virginia's private colleges debating real-life cases involving ethical dilemmas. He is also a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and author of the memoir The Place to Be: Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News.
In December 2010 he donated $4 million to Washington and Lee, his alma mater, to establish a center for the study of professional ethics and to endow a professorship in ethics. Both the center and the professorship are named for him.