'Meet the Press' Host Bill Monroe Dies at 90

TV Journalist Bill Monroe, host of NBC’s Meet the Press from 1975-84, died Thursday following complications from hypertension. He was 90.

He passed away at a Washington-area nursing home.   Born in New Orleans on July 17, 1920, Monroe graduated from Tulane University, served in World War II and later began his career in television journalism at the New Orleans NBC affiliate, WDSU.   In 1961 he moved to Washington, where he became NBC's bureau chief. He worked on the Today show, winning the Peabody Award in 1972, and succeeded Lawrence Spivak as host of Meet the Press in 1975.   He was the show’s fourth moderator, interviewing everyone from President Jimmy Carter to U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.