1978. Harry Reasoner Announces the Death of Bill Downs

The Good Old Days

On May 3, 1978, the ABC Evening News anchor Harry Reasoner announced Bill Downs' death from cancer at the age of 63.

1977. Project MKUltra

Project MKUltra

The CIA's Project MKUltra is one of the more troubling controversies surrounding the intelligence community over the decades. Downs contributed to two reports on ABC Evening News in the summer of 1977:

July 20, 1977

August 3, 1977

1963. 50 Years Later: The News Coverage of the JFK Assassination

The 50th Anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination

November 23, 1963

After a nearly two year retirement, Bill Downs joined ABC News to cover the immediate aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

These are portions of ABC's coverage of the assassination, including some reports by Downs.

November 22 - November 25, 1963 - Full coverage from ABC News:

November 24, 1963 - Downs on JFK's cortege and the death of Lee Harvey Oswald:

More coverage of JFK's state funeral:

1940s-1950s. Miscellaneous Photographs

Interviews and Exploits

These photographs feature Bill Downs at various points in his career at CBS, as well as memorabilia from his time in Europe during World War II.

From Christmas 1942 to January 1944 Downs was CBS' Moscow correspondent. From 1953 to 1956 he worked as CBS' Rome correspondent, where he covered Italy and the Middle Eastern affairs. He was in a press interview with President Gamal Abdel Nasser in early November 1954, shown below.

Downs in 1942

(From Cloud & Olson) "D-Day team gathers together on a London sidewalk.
 Left to right: Richard Hottelet, Gene Ryder, Bill Downs, Charles Collingwood, and Charles Shaw"

Murrow and Downs in Tokyo

Gamal Abdel Nasser (left) and Bill Downs (right) in 1955

Downs and Richard Nixon

Nazi intelligence entry on Downs

Same entry in German

January 21, 1941 letter addressed to Downs while he worked in London for the United Press (marked with Vichy stamps)