Pete Williams

Williams was named the recipient of the 2018 John F. Hogan Award, presented annually by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). The Hogan Award, named after the association's first president, is given in recognition of "an individual's contributions to the journalism profession and freedom of the press..." Williams was chosen because "...Over the course of his distinguished career, Pete Williams has served the public first as a government spokesman and then, for the last 25 years, as a reporter covering government,” said Scott Libin, current Chair of RTDNA. "His insight and understanding of power and politics have proven hugely valuable to the viewers of NBC News."

In covering the Boston Marathon bombing for MSNBC and NBC News, Williams earned praise from various media analysts for choosing to report events in a restrained, cautionary fashion. In contrast with the Associated Press and CNN, Williams refused to report a later-retracted claim that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had arrested a suspect for the bombing. For Politico, Dylan Byers commented: "On a major story that has been defined by inaccurate and conflicting reports and wild speculation, Williams has been calm, diligent and correct." Brian Resnick of the National Journal wrote that Williams showed "restraint in not jumping too far into conclusions." The phrase "NBC's Pete Williams" became a trending topic in the overnight hours of April 19, 2013.

In 2012, the University of Wyoming awarded Williams an honorary Doctor of Letters, in recognition of his many contributions to journalism. He was praised for his "sound judgment, fair mindedness, impeccable ethics, and dedication to service."

During the Bosnian War, Williams initially denied that there was any evidence of genocide or war crimes, claiming that "we do not see evidence of a program of systematic or massive killing of innocent people". A video clip of the actual statement is featured in the 1997 film Welcome to Sarajevo.

Williams became a correspondent for NBC News in late March 1993, after leaving the Defense Department; his main areas of news coverage for NBC include the Department of Justice and Supreme Court.

NBC News hired Williams in March 1993 as justice correspondent based in Washington, D. C., to cover news from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Supreme Court.

While serving as a Pentagon spokesperson, he was accused of allegedly working to cover up the large-scale irregular military activities that had occurred during the US invasion of Panama under the pretense of apprehending Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, which was later featured in the documentary film The Panama Deception (1992).

In 1986, Williams became press secretary for U.S. Representative Dick Cheney and followed Cheney to the United States Department of Defense as Cheney became United States Secretary of Defense to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in 1989 during the George H. W. Bush administration.

In 1986, Williams was hired as press secretary and legislative assistant in the staff of U.S. Representative Dick Cheney. Williams was appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in 1989, following Cheney's appointment as United States Secretary of Defense, and worked as press secretary of the Defense Department.

Williams was raised in Casper, Wyoming; his mother was a realtor and his father was an orthodontist. "Pete" is a nickname he has used since childhood. After he graduated from Stanford University, where he had originally studied engineering but subsequently changed to journalism, he began his career in local news with the Casper, Wyoming, television station KTWO and its eponymous radio station in 1974.

Williams graduated from Stanford University in 1974. While at Stanford, he studied Journalism and History, and spent a year studying in London in a Stanford-sponsored overseas program.

From 1974 to 1985, Williams was a reporter and news director for the Casper-based KTWO television and KTWO radio stations. Williams also served as director for the Wyoming Future Project from 1985 to 1986.

Pete Williams was born and raised in Casper, Wyoming, where his mother "Bennie" was a teacher, and later a realtor, and his father Louis was a dentist. He was one of three children. Williams graduated from Natrona County High School in 1970. He was a member of his high school's award-winning debating team, and also won an award for public speaking. He was also active in his school's Teenage Republicans club, and a member of the National Honor Society.

Louis Alan "Pete" Williams (born February 28, 1952) is an American journalist and former government official. Since 1993, he has been a television correspondent for NBC News. He served in the administration of President George H. W. Bush.