What Happened To Former Today Show Co-Anchor Tom Brokaw?

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The following article references sexual misconduct allegations.

Born in 1940, South Dakota native Tom Brokaw went on to make his mark in network television news. After joining NBC News in 1966 as a local news anchor in Los Angeles, his stature grew when he became a national correspondent based in Washington, D.C. 

In 1976, Brokaw entered a new stage of his career when he was tapped to co-anchor NBC's weekday morning show, "Today," sharing the anchor duties with Jane Pauley. That particular combination proved to be a winning one for the network, and Brokaw remained a popular figure with daytime television viewers before exiting the show in 1982 after a six-year run. 

Over the next few decades, Brokaw continued to cement himself as one of the most renowned and well regarded journalists on network television, and his résumé has been eclectic, to say the least. To find out more, read on for an exploration of what happened to former "Today" show co-anchor Tom Brokaw.

When Tom Brokaw said goodbye to viewers of "Today," he said good evening to viewers of "NBC Nightly News," joining veteran journalist Roger Mudd at the anchor desk for the network's nightly news broadcast after the retirement of longtime anchor John Chancellor. Eighteen months later, Mudd exited, leaving Brokaw as the broadcast's sole anchor, a position he held for the next two decades.

During his tenure as anchor, Brokaw reported on some history-making stories, ranging from the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle, to the protests in Tiananmen Square, to the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center. Not only did the latter spur him to delay his planned retirement (he finally stepped down from "NBC Nightly News" in 2004), reporting on that tragic incident was one of the toughest things he'd ever faced in his lengthy career as a journalist. "It took everything I knew as a reporter, as a father, as a husband, as a human being to get through that day," Brokaw reflected in a 2013 speech he delivered at the University of Tennessee. "It took a lifetime of experience to get through that day." 

As he told the Associated Press in 2021, he was quick to realize that 9/11 wasn't just another news story — he was reporting on history as it unfolded. "Throughout my career, I was constantly trying to think, 'What's the big picture here?'" he said. "I think that was especially true that day."

During Tom Brokaw's two-decade stint as anchor of NBC's evening newscast, he began pursuing his passion for history by writing his first book. That book, "The Greatest Generation," was published in 1998, profiling the generation whose lives were interrupted by World War II, and how their courageous efforts during this crucial period in history quite literally changed the world. "Millions of men and women were involved in this tumultuous journey through adversity and achievement, despair and triumph," Brokaw wrote in the first chapter, excerpted by The New York Times. "Certainly there were those who failed to measure up, but taken as a whole this generation did have a 'rendezvous with destiny' that went well beyond the outsized expectations of President Roosevelt when he first issued that call to duty in 1936."

Interviewed by NBC News, Brokaw recalled being hit with the idea for the book when he stood on Omaha Beach to cover the 40th anniversary of the D-Day landings, realizing the post-war stories of those who'd fought there hadn't been told. "And as I began to do more research on that, I realized how much we owed them, in every conceivable way in our country," he said.

In a 2020 interview with Artful Living, Brokaw insisted that even 20 years later, "I cannot go anywhere in America without somebody coming up to me and saying, '"The Greatest Generation" is the most important book of my lifetime.' That's what I think my legacy professionally will be."

When Tom Brokaw ended his lengthy run as anchor of "NBC Nightly News" in 2004, he did not part ways with the network. He remained ensconced within NBC News, taking on a new role as special correspondent. In this capacity, he produced various primetime specials for NBC, beginning with 2004's "A Question of Fairness," which tackled the thorny issue of affirmative action — and won him a second Peabody Award. Further news-oriented specials followed, including "To War and Back" (examining the trauma experienced by young soldiers) and the "The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat."

When Brokaw sat down with the Television Academy Foundation, he reflected on the decades of journalistic experience he had amassed over the course of his career, which he drew upon as a special correspondent for NBC News. One key truism, however, has remained his guiding light throughout all those years. "[As a journalist], your job is to be a truth teller for the American public," he explained. "It's not about you. It's about what you're able to find out and share with your audience [so they can] make a wise decision about being a citizen."

For Tom Brokaw, another facet of being a special correspondent for NBC News arose in June 2008, when veteran journalist Tim Russert unexpectedly died from a massive heart attack at age 58. Russert's passing left a void at "Meet the Press," the long-running news show that he'd hosted for years. Until a permanent moderator could be found, the network tapped Brokaw to take over as interim host. "A lot has been said in recent days about what 'Meet the Press' means to NBC News and to the nation," NBC News President Steve Capus said in a statement to Politico, noting the gravitas and experience that Brokaw would bring to the venerable political show. "To have someone of Tom's stature step up and dedicate himself to ensuring its ongoing success is not only a testament to his loyalty to Tim, but his enduring commitment to NBC News and our viewers."

Brokaw's tenure at "Meet the Press" was brief, lasting just a few months until David Gregory was brought aboard later that year. However, those few months gave Brokaw a distinctive status at the network as the only person to ever anchor all three of NBC's major news broadcasts: "Meet the Press," "The NBC Nightly News," and "Today." 

In August 2013, former "Today" anchor Tom Brokaw, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer targeting blood cells within bone marrow. He didn't make his diagnosis public until months later. 

In February 2014, he issued a statement indicating that his doctors were hopeful that he'd respond well to treatment. Later that year, he revealed that the cancer had gone into remission, and he'd begin regular drug treatments intended to ensure it remained in remission. Brokaw issued a statement of positivity, admitting that he wasn't initially as optimistic as he appeared. "A year ago my future was more uncertain than I cared to acknowledge but now I face the New Year with very encouraging news," he said (via Inquisitr).

Brokaw's cancer may have been in remission, but it nevertheless remained a constant in his life. In a 2016 op-ed he wrote for The New York Times, Brokaw revealed achieving remission did not come without cost, including "three years of chemotherapy, a spinal operation that cost me three inches of height, monthly infusions of bone supplements and drugs to prevent respiratory infection." At age 76, living with incurable cancer being kept at bay had forced him to confront his own mortality. "Age alone puts me in my twilight years; and cancer only heightens that objective reality," he wrote.

In November of 2014, shortly before he revealed his cancer was in remission, Ton Brokaw was honored at a ceremony held at the White House. Brokaw was among 19 people presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, the highest honor a civilian can receive from the American government. Brokaw was in good company; others who received the award at that year's ceremony included Oscar-winning actor Meryl Streep, music icon Stevie Wonder, novelist Isabel Allende, and legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim.

In an official White House interview, Brokaw admitted he was "stunned" to learn that he'd be among those to receive the honor, and he immediately understood the gravity of receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. "I've been around for a while at this point, and I've had other honors, but nothing like this one," Brokaw said. "As I said to all my friends, this one counts. And it was an emotional moment for me."

Beyond journalism and history, another of Tom Brokaw's passions is baseball. Baseball, in fact, is what drew Brokaw to step away from his longtime home at NBC — albeit temporarily — to serve as host on a baseball-themed series airing on the Fox Sports cable network.

Titled "The Boys in the Hall," Brokaw served as host for the 2011 series, which featured former Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent interviewing an array of MLB Hall of Famers, including Duke Snider, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, and others. Brokaw's involvement was limited, serving as the "voice" of the show by providing both an introduction and postscript for each episode, in addition to various narration. Still, for the lifelong baseball fan, the experience proved to be sheer delight. "It was like a trip to the ballpark on a sunny afternoon to spend time with these insightful interviews of my long-time heroes," Brokaw said in a statement (via Sportsnewser). "They perfectly captured the authenticity of their character and their humility. I loved the experience."

After the series ran its course, Brokaw wasn't entirely done with baseball. He went on to write the foreword for the 2014 book "The Hall: A Celebration of Baseball's Greats."

The experience of writing "The Greatest Generation" — and, no doubt, the praise-filled reception it received — eventually encouraged Tom Brokaw to write another. He plumbed the same subject matter in a 1999 sequel, "The Greatest Generation Speaks: Letters and Reflection." Then, "An Album of Memories" was published in 2001, in which Brokaw gathered personal stories from members of that generation. This opened the floodgate for Brokaw the author, who followed that up with 2002's "A Long Way From Home," in which he reminisced about his rural upbringing. His next book, "Boom! Voices of the Sixtes," came out in 2007, followed in 2011 by "The Time of Our Lives: A Conversation About America."

For his next book, Brokaw opened up about how his cancer diagnosis had impacted his life in his 2015 memoir, "A Lucky Life Interrupted." In the book, Brokaw revealed he'd initially been diagnosed with back pain before doctors discovered his multiple myeloma. "I was certainly not expecting a diagnosis of a malignancy cancer," Brokaw admitted in an interview with NPR's "Fresh Air." 

As Brokaw explained, he was able to deal with his diagnosis, and all it entailed, via compartmentalization. "I divided my time between dealing with my cancer and then dealing with the things that I've always loved," he added, "which is journalism and the big stories that I've been involved in."

In late 2017, Tom Brokaw's former television home was rocked to the core when "Today" anchor Matt Lauer was fired in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. It was arguably one of the biggest scandals in morning TV news history. And while Lauer's downfall was so disturbing, so too were subsequent allegations about Brokaw. In 2018, two women shared their accusations against Brokaw with The Washington Post, both claiming that Brokaw made unwanted advances toward them in the 1990s — and both fearing that rebuffing the powerful Brokaw would damage their careers at NBC.

Brokaw vehemently denied the accusations in a statement, and in an email he sent to friends and colleagues, he fired back at the allegations with guns blazing. "It is 4:00 am on the first day of my new life as an accused predator in the universe of American journalism. I was ambushed and then perp walked across the pages of The Washington Post and Variety as an avatar of male misogyny, taken to the guillotine and stripped of any honor and achievement I had earned in more than a half century of journalism and citizenship," he wrote in the email, which had been obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. "I am angry, hurt and unmoored from what I thought would be the final passage of my life and career." More than 60 prominent women in news signed a letter of support, praising Brokaw's treatment of his female colleagues. Among those who signed were Maria Shriver, Andrea Mitchell, and MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

By 2019, Tom Brokaw and his doctors had successfully kept his cancer in remission. However, as he revealed in an interview with SurvivorNet, the treatments that kept his multiple myeloma at bay were prohibitively expensive. "I counted up the price and it was something like $10,000 a week, you know, that I was spending on drugs," he said, revealing that the bulk of the cost was covered by the extended health plan that's part of his employment at NBC. Luckily, even if he did have to shell out all that money by himself, he'd done well enough financially over the years that cash was not a concern. In fact, estimates of how much money Brokaw is really worth place his fortune in the high eight figures.

Meanwhile, Brokaw was also suffering back pain as a side effect, and had been pursuing a therapy that those who watched his somber news reporter on television for decades might find surprising. "I'm now on medical marijuana for my back, for the first time," he added.

No career lasts forever, and Tom Brokaw decided to close the book on his in 2021. That was when Brokaw, who had just celebrated his 80th birthday, announced he was retiring from his news anchor position at NBC News, after an extraordinary 55-year run with the network. "During one of the most complex and consequential eras in American history, a new generation of NBC News journalists, producers and technicians is providing America with timely, insightful and critically important information, 24/7," Brokaw said in a statement to NBC News. "I could not be more proud of them."

In a post-retirement sit-down with his former "Today" co-anchor, "CBS Sunday Morning" host Jane Pauley, Brokaw confirmed that both his age and his medical condition had dictated his exit from the job he still loved. "I really had to give up my daily activity with NBC," he said in the "CBS Sunday Morning" interview. "I had to walk away from them, as they were walking away from me."

Leaving the job, he admitted had left him feeling like a ship without a sail. "I just wasn't the same person," he added. "And so for the first time in my life, I was kind of out there, you know, in a place I had never been in my life."

As Tom Brokaw explained in his 2023 interview with Jane Pauley, he has come to be pragmatic about what it means to live with incurable cancer. The diagnosis, he said, changed his outlook on pretty much everything. "I've had a bad experience," he said. "I kept thinking bad things wouldn't happen to me. But as I grew older, I began to develop this condition. And what you try to do is control it as much as you can. I've had to change my life in some way."

He has also revealed that when it comes to seeking medical help, he's become less concerned with finding a doctor who he likes on a personal level and more determined to find the best and brightest. As he told SurvivorNet, "They can be a b***ard, but if they're good at what they're doing, go to them. That's what you have to learn to do."

In October 2024, a source told NewsNation that Brokaw's health had deteriorated, to the point that he was now using a wheelchair to get around, and required round-the-clock care. "He was in the wheelchair, with his wife and the home health aide, being wheeled around the pond," the source recounted. "He and his wife looked so happy. It was sweet — sad, but sweet."