Samuel Andrew Donaldson Jr.[1] (born March 11, 1934) is a retired television reporter, and also news anchor.

He was well known as the White House Correspondent (1977–1989 and 1998–99) with a booming loud voice, which could get the attention of President Reagan, amazingly cutting through the noise of whirling helicopter blades.

[5] From 1956 to 1959, Donaldson served on active duty as an artillery officer in the United States Army, attaining the rank of Captain (USAR).

While on active duty in 1958, Donaldson was one of the military observers of an atomic test in the Nevada testing grounds when an atomic device, with a yield roughly equivalent to the bombs dropped on Japan, was detonated three thousand yards away from the slit trench protecting the observers.

Following military service, Donaldson was hired by KRLD-TV (now KDFW-TV), the then-CBS television affiliate in Dallas, Texas.

He anchored the 6:00 pm Saturday and Sunday evening newscasts, with John Douglas doing the weather forecasts.

He covered the two major party political conventions in 1968 and in 1969 began anchoring the network's 11:00 pm Saturday and Sunday newscasts.

In August 1989, Donaldson became co-anchor of the network's new magazine program Primetime Live with Diane Sawyer.

One of his reports featured a Nazi Gestapo officer named Erich Priebke who had escaped to Argentina after World War II.

That night from Belgrade, Donaldson, co-anchoring the program Primetime Live, reported on Kaplan's death.

On August 2, 2006, during the last White House Press conference in the briefing room before undergoing major renovations, Donaldson shouted, "Mr. President, should Mel Gibson be forgiven?

Bruce Ingersoll, award-winning journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times and The Wall Street Journal, published a column entitled "As Congress Considers Slashing Crop Subsidies, Affluent Urban Farmers Come Under Scrutiny," where he named Donaldson as one of the wealthy, absentee beneficiaries of Federal subsidies, the "third largest recipient" of federal funds in his area.

During the debate in Congress over whether to cut "pork," this article was read into the Congressional Record,[11] and Donaldson was chastised by Senator Al D'Amato to "Give the money back," a phrase repeated multiple times in his floor speech and elsewhere.

[12] The real number turned out to be around $188,000,[13] but the scandal of a millionaire receiving money for a farm on which he was "absentee" still got significant public coverage.

They're eating so many lambs, I thought the other day I'd put out some mint jelly, in case they want it with their mutton.

Cody Posey, a 14-year-old and sole remaining survivor of the family, was arrested and charged with the murders and subsequently convicted and sentenced to juvenile detention until age 21.

In the film, he says, "An operative never comes and says, 'here is a story I'd like you to run for me, but just in private conversation, did you know this about so and so, we're still checking it mind you, but, but it's probably going to turn out to be true.'

He is currently a member of the Board of New Mexico First, the State's bi-partisan booster organization, and the Ford Theater Advisory Council.

[33] Charges were dropped on Friday, November 8, 2013, by a Delaware judge, citing lack of probable cause for the arrest.