Mr. Gibson has interviewed many leaders from around the world, including John Major, Boris Yeltsin, Nelson Mandela and Yasir Arafat. In 1996, during "GMA's" week in Canada in May, Mr. Gibson interviewed Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Lucien Bouchard, Premier of Quebec, on the question of an independent Quebec. When the program traveled to Europe in May, 1995, he focused on efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Bosnia with Haris Silajdzic, the prime minister of the former Yugoslavian republic. During "GMA's" week in Hong Kong in February, 1994, Mr. Gibson sat down with its British Governor General Chris Patten to discuss political and economic expectations for 1997, when Communist China will take over the colony.

Mr. Gibson's experience in and enthusiasm for political reporting fueled "GMA's" coverage of the 1996, 1992 and 1988 Presidential campaigns. He has offered in-depth analysis of the campaigns from the Republican and Democratic conventions as well as from the New Hampshire primaries. In the closing days of the 1992 campaign, he directly questioned each of the three major candidates in a series of one-on- one interviews centered on issues such as taxes, education and jobs. Mr. Gibson also held live conversations with then Governor Bill Clinton and President George Bush using other formats. In the final week of the campaign, he moderated as Governor Clinton faced New Jersey voters in a town meeting and President Bush answered phone calls from viewers. In June, 1992, he led four public policy experts in a roundtable discussion with Governor Clinton, who had just won the Democratic nomination.

Books also hold a high priority for Mr. Gibson, as he reads them by the armful -- often as preparation for interviews with up to a half-dozen authors a week. He enjoys digesting serious nonfiction, devoting many hours to reading first-person accounts by newsmaking guests, such as former President Ronald Reagan, the late President Richard Nixon, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former First Lady Barbara Bush. He had the pleasure of visiting with the late Helen Hayes, the "First Lady of the American Theater," and George Kennan, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, when memoirs of their legendary careers were published. But, Mr. Gibson fully appreciates fiction and other creative writing as well, and he gives ample time and attention -- both on and off-camera -- to the work of novelists John Irving, James Michener and John Updike, poet Maya Angelou, playwright Edward Albee, composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, and the like.

Mr. Gibson's range of interests was exemplified on "GMA's" 1993 "Down Under" tour. During two weeks in New Zealand and Australia, he talked foreign policy with their respective Prime Ministers, Jim Bolger and Paul Keating; education with New Zealand's Minister of Education and students at a private school in Christchurch; literature with Australian author Colleen McCullough; small business with a family of Australian sheep ranchers; and sports with New Zealand marathoner Rod Dixon and Australian tennis champion Evonne Goolagong-Cawley.

During "GMA's" two-week visit to Europe in May, 1995, he reported on the 50th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day and the ongoing efforts to achieve political and financial unity among modern European nations. Other memorable trips include the program's week-long "Great Alaska Adventure" in May, 1994, and, in stark contrast, a week of live broadcasts from Saudi Arabia, where he celebrated a poignant Thanksgiving in 1990 with U.S. troops serving in Operation Desert Shield prior to the start of the Gulf War.

In addition to his "GMA" duties, Mr. Gibson also hosted a PBS documentary on compulsive gambling, "Lucky Number," which aired in June, 1990, and two "American Agenda" specials for the ABC Radio Network. "When Johnny and Janie Come Marching Home," which aired in 1991, concerned the reaction and readjustment of families to returning U.S. Gulf War troops, and "Throw the Rascals Out," which aired in 1990, focused on grassroots movements to defeat incumbents.

Mr. Gibson became well-known to television viewers as a reporter on ABC's "World News Tonight With Peter Jennings," as an occasional substitute for Ted Koppel as anchor on "Nightline," and as substitute anchor on "World News This Morning." He also was chief correspondent at the House of Representatives for ABC News since January, 1981.

On Capitol Hill, Mr. Gibson covered Tip O'Neill and the Democratic handling of President Ronald Reagan's legislative agenda. As a general assignment correspondent for ABC News from 1977 to 1981, he reported on a broad spectrum of major national news, including investigations of the Central Intelligence Agency and various economic stories.

From February, 1976, to January, 1977, Mr. Gibson was a White House correspondent for ABC News. During this time, he covered Gerald Ford's 1976 Presidential campaign.

Mr. Gibson came to ABC News in May, 1975, from a syndicated news service, Television News, Inc. (TVN), which he joined in May, 1974. He covered President Nixon's resignation and the subsequent Watergate conspiracy trials for TVN.

From 1970 to 1973, Mr. Gibson was an anchorman and reporter for WJLA-TV (then WMAL-TV), the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining WJLA-TV, he had been news director for WLVA-TV and Radio in Lynchburg, Virginia. His first job in broadcasting was Washington producer for RKO Network in 1966.

The National Endowment for the Humanities named Mr. Gibson a National Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan in 1973, and he has served as a board member of the Michigan Journalism Fellows since 1988.

He is a graduate of Princeton University, where he was news director for the University radio station, WPRB-FM. Mr. Gibson was honored with the 1992 John Maclean Fellowship, awarded to Princeton University alumni "who have made a major contribution to American society."

Mr. Gibson, a native of Evanston, Illinois, grew up in Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Arlene, a school headmistress, reside in New Jersey. They have two daughters.

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