Lester Holt

Decades of experience as a television journalist and reporter led to Lester Holt's assumption of the anchor chair for "NBC Nightly News" (NBC, 1970- ) and other high-profile news assignments. Born Lester Don Holt, Jr. on March 8, 1959 in Marin County, California, he majored in government at California State University, Sacramento, and began his journalism career reading the news between disc jockey assignments at a country and western radio station. Holt moved to television in 1981, working as a reporter and weekend anchor for CBS affilatiates throughout the country, including a 14-year stint at WBBM-TV in Chicago. He joined MSNBC in 2000 and assumed the substitute anchor chair for the "NBC Nightly News" and "Today" (NBC, 1952- ) within three years' time. His duties soon expanded to fulltime co-anchor of "Weekend Today" (NBC, 1987- ) and anchor for the weekend edition of "NBC Nightly News." For much of the next decade, Holt was one of NBC's most dependable journeymen journalists, hosting everything from its primetime investigation series "Dateline NBC" (NBC, 1992- ) to sports coverage for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2013, Holt took over as anchor for the "Nightly News" during Brian Williams' suspension for exaggerating a story about his coverage of the Iraq War. Williams was eventually reassigned to MSNBC, paving the way for Holt to become the permanent nighttime anchor. His newfound position made him NBC's choice to moderate the Democratic presidential candidates' debate in 2016, as well as the first and most contentious presidential debate between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald J. Trump that same year.