Ann Compton

Ann Compton is now covering a sixth President for ABC News in a career that has taken her to the White House, Capitol Hill, and through seven presidential campaigns, from the height of the Cold War to the Internet revolution and the era of global terrorism.

On Sept 11, 2001, Compton was the only broadcast reporter allowed to remain onboard Air Force One during the dramatic hours when President Bush was unable to return to Washington. Her reports during the crisis were cited as one reason ABC News received the prestigious Alfred I. DuPont Columbia University award for its coverage. Compton was also part of the team that received an Emmy award for Sept. 11th reporting.

Weeks after the Watergate scandal came to an end, Compton became the first woman assigned to cover the White House on a fulltime basis by a network television news organization, and she was one of the youngest to receive the assignment.

She has traveled around the globe and through all 50 states with presidents, vice presidents, and First Ladies, reporting for all ABC News broadcasts. Twice during campaigns Compton was invited to serve as a panelist for presidential debates and has covered the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.

In the year 2000, as television made a transition to the Internet, Compton became Chief Washington correspondent for ABCNews.com where she wrote and anchored a daily political column. Currently she also holds the title of National Correspondent for ABC Radio News.

Compton began her broadcasting career in Virginia where an internship at Hollins College led to a fulltime job reporting for CBS in Roanoke. In 1973, ABC News hired Compton and she reported from New York until December 1974 when she was assigned to the White House.

In June 2000, Compton was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame . She has served as chair of the governing board of the Radio Television Correspondents Association and has served on the advisory board of the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center in New York.

She is the mother of three sons and daughter.