User:Buaidh/Frank J. Jordan

Frank Jacob Jordan (May 21, 1927 – September 20, 2010) was an American journalist, television news executive, communications and journalism dean whose career spanned the tumultuous years 1944 to 1994. His career began as a journalist for Stars and Stripes during World War II. Joining United Press International as a foreign reporter in Asia, he reported on the rebuilding of Japan, the Korean War, and nation-building in Indonesia. Joining NBC television news, Jordan was named Manager of NBC News National Election Coverage in 1964 and served as NBC News Washington Bureau Chief from 1968 to 1976. He covered the presidencies of John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter for NBC News. After retiring from NBC in 1979, Jordan served as the Dean of the School of Communication at American University American University and then the Dean of the School of Journalism at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Early life and career
Frank Jacob Jordan was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on May 21, 1927, the same day Lindbergh landed in Paris as he would remind listeners. His father Frank was a local newspaper and radio journalist. Upon graduating from high school in Johnstown in 1944, he joined the U.S. Army to serve in World War II. After receiving intense Japanese language training, the Army sent Jordan to Italy where he began his journalism career as a reporter for the Army's Stars and Stripes newspaper.

Upon discharge from the Army, Jordan attended the University of Pittsburgh, first at Johnstown College and later at the main Pittsburgh campus where he earned a bachelors degree in Journalism in 1949. He earned a masters degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City in 1950. Joining United Press International, Jordan served as a foreign reporter in Asia covering Japan, the Korean War, and the birth of Indonesia.

NBC Television News
Joining NBC Television News, Jordan reported from Chicago and New York City before being assigned to the Nation's Capital. Jordan served as an executive producer for many of the top national news stories of the time including the Civil Rights Movement, the 1963 March on Washington, the Assassination of John Kennedy, the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, the escalation of the War in Vietnam, and protests against the War. He was named Manager of NBC National Election Coverage in 1964 where he pioneered exit polling to predict election results. Jordan was named NBC News Washington Bureau Chief. His tenure from 1968 to 1976 corresponded with some of the most turbulent events in American social and political history. The Tet Offensive in Vietnam began on January 30, 1968. On April 4, the Reverend Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, and on June 6, Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles. In August, the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago precipitated massive protests against the War in Vietnam and the subsequent police riot.

On November 5, 1968, Richard Nixon was elected President. Jordan interviewed President Nixon numerous times and accompanied the President on domestic and international travels. The New York Times began publishing Pentagon Papers on June 13, 1971. On April 30, 1970, the United States invaded Cambodia. In February 1972, Jordan lead the 100 member television news pool accompanying President Nixon's visit to China to meet Chairman Mao Zedong. Jordan lead the NBC coverage of the U.S. Senate Watergate Hearings which began on May 17, 1973. On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after pleeding nolo contendere to federal tax evasion, and two days later, President Nixon nominated Gerald Ford as Vice President. Ford was confirmed by the Senate on November 27 and by the House of Representatives on December 6. Jordan was elected President of the Radio and Television Correspondents Association.

On August 9, 1974, President Nixon resigned and Vice President Gerald Ford assumed the Presidency. On August 20, President Ford nominated Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President, and on September 8, Ford issued Proclamation 4311, which gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he might have committed against the United States while President. Rockefeller was confirmed as Vice President by the Senate on December 10 and by the House of Representatives on December 19. On April 30, 1975, the government of South Vietnam collapsed ending the Vietnam War. On April 1, 1976, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians began picketing NBC. President Ford presided over the Bicentennial of the United States on July 4, 1976, but was unable to win reelection. Jordan stepped down as NBC Washington Bureau Chief after the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter to lead NBC's transition from film journalism to live remote television news broadcasts. Jordan retired from NBC News in 1979.

Academic career
Upon his retirement from NBC News, Jordan was named Dean of the School of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C.  Jordan revamped the communications curriculum to keep pace with the rapidly evolving electronic communications of television coverage. Jordan emphasized the importance of the First Amendment to democracy in the United States and the vital role of the news media in modern American society.

Jordan maintained a home on Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and in 1986 he successfully lobbied the University of the Virgin Islands to create a School of Journalism to which he was named dean. Jordan emphasized the importance of journalism to the liberation of previously colonized and minority peoples. His wife, Patricia Clifford Jordan, a retired ABC television executive, died in 1990. In 1992, Jordan was appointed to the Virgin Islands Commission on Status and Federal Relations, which led the public debate on a referendum on the future status of the Virgin Islands. Jordan retired as Dean of the UVI School of Journalism in 1994. He enjoyed his retirement years with his two children, three grandsons, four nieces, and two nephews. Frank Jacob Jordan died at his home on Roosevelt Island in New York City on September 20, 2010.