#18: Sam Donaldson
Sam Donaldson turned shouting questions into a recognizable journalistic craft while covering the White House for ABC. Stationed near presidents who preferred walking away, he developed enough volume to make distance largely irrelevant. Donaldson’s exchanges with Ronald Reagan became television staples, mixing persistence, theater, and genuine accountability. Beneath the famous voice was a skilled political reporter who understood that access meant little unless correspondents used it to ask what officials would rather avoid answering publicly.
