Brooks is the second-longest tenured moderator of the program, after Tim Russert.

[citation needed] He graduated in 1924 from the journalism school at Ohio State University.

[1] He joined the National Broadcasting Company and worked on the Three-Star Extra radio program.

[2] Brooks wrote two books, Winning the Pacific and Inventory of America.

[1][3][4] Brooks died on April 13, 1969, aged 68, at a hospital in Washington, D.C., or Maryland, sources differ.