Early in his career, Monroe served as the first news director for WDSU-TV, an NBC affiliate, in his hometown of New Orleans.

For some years prior to his assuming the moderator's chair, Monroe served as one of four regular weekly panelists on Meet the Press.

He also served as Washington bureau chief for NBC and frequently reported for The Today Show, for which he won a Peabody in 1973.

Monroe retired from NBC in 1986, but subsequently held several other jobs including ombudsman for the "Stars and Stripes", the media platform serving the U.S. military overseas.

Monroe was injured in a fall in December 2010, and died from complications of hypertension on February 17, 2011, at a nursing home in Potomac, Maryland, aged 90[4]