{{Infobox person |name = Hal Bruno |birth_name = Harold Robinson Bruno Jr. |birth_date = October 25, 1928 |birth_place = Chicago, Illinois |death_date = November 8, 2011 |death_place = Bethesda, Maryland |occupation = {{hlist|Journalist|Political Analyst|Firefighter}} |employer = {{plainlist| * Newsweek (1960-1978) * ABC News (1978-1999) }} |years_active = 1950-2008 <!--please change if inaccurate, it is a guess based off article--> |education = University of Illinois (Bachelor's degree) |spouse = {{marriage|Margaret "Meg" Christian Bruno|1959}} |children = {{hlist|Harold|Daniel}} }}
{{short description|American journalist (1928-2011)}} '''Harold Robinson "Hal" Bruno, Jr.''' (October 25, 1928 – November 8, 2011) was an American journalist and political analyst, who worked as the political director of ABC News from 1980 to 1999. He served as the moderator of the 1992 vice presidential debate between Dan Quayle, Al Gore, and James Stockdale.<ref name=variety>{{cite news|title=Hal Bruno dies at 83, Was ABC political director for two decades |url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118045972?refCatId=14 |work=Variety |date=2011-11-10 |access-date=2011-12-04}}</ref><ref name=wp>{{cite news|first=Matt|last=Schudel |title=Hal Bruno, former ABC News political director, dies at 83 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/hal-bruno-former-abc-news-political-director-dies-at-83/2011/11/10/gIQAPAPr9M_story.html|newspaper=Washington Post |date=2011-11-10 |access-date=2011-12-07}}</ref><ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|first=Bruce |last=Weber|title=Hal Bruno, Director of Election Coverage at ABC, Dies at 83|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/business/media/hal-bruno-director-of-election-coverage-at-abc-dies-at-83.html|work=New York Times |date=2011-11-09 |access-date=2011-12-07}}</ref><ref name=abc>{{cite news|first=Z. Byron|last=Wolf |title=Hal Bruno of ABC News Dies at 83 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/hal-bruno-of-abc-news-dies-at-83/|work=ABC News |date=2011-11-09 |access-date=2011-12-07}}</ref>
==Biography== ===Early life=== Hal Bruno was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 25, 1928.<ref name=wp/> His father sold housewares for a living.<ref name=wp/> He became a volunteer firefighter during the 1940s.<ref name=wp/> Bruno earned his bachelor's degree in 1950 from the University of Illinois, where he worked as a sportswriter for the university's newspaper, ''The Daily Illini'', alongside Shel Silverstein, Bud Karmin, Gene Shalit, Hugh Hough and Robert Novak.<ref name=variety/><ref name=wp/><ref name=nytimes/> He also worked for the ''Champaign News Gazette'' during weekends while in college.<ref name=abc/>
He served in the Korean War as an Army intelligence officer.<ref name=variety/> Bruno then earned a Fulbright scholarship to study in India after the war.<ref name=wp/> He married his wife, Margaret "Meg" Christian Bruno, on November 12, 1959.<ref name=wp/><ref name=nytimes/>
===Career=== Bruno launched his professional career as a reporter for Chicago area newspapers and news agencies. His first job after his graduation was for ''Advertising Age'' before becoming the sports editor of the ''Daily Chronicle''.<ref name=abc/> He temporarily left his profession in order to serve in the Korean War.<ref name=abc/> Bruno returned to Chicago after the war and joined the staff of the ''Chicago City News Bureau'' as a police reporter.<ref name=abc/> He joined ''The Chicago American'' in 1954<ref name=abc/> In 1956, Bruno earned a Fulbright Scholarship in India to study Indian media.<ref name=abc/> He worked as a South Asian correspondent for the International News Service while in India.<ref name=abc/> Bruno covered some of the biggest news stories of the 1950s, including the 1956 Suez Crisis, the Our Lady of the Angels School fire in 1958, and the Cuban revolution in 1959.<ref name=wp/>
He joined the staff of ''Newsweek'' magazine in 1960.<ref name=wp/> Bruno worked as a reporter, foreign correspondent, news editor and chief political correspondent for ''Newsweek'' for 18 years.<ref name=variety/><ref name=nytimes/> One of his first assignments at the magazine was the 1960 presidential election between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.<ref name=variety/> His foreign reports included the 1962 Sino-Indian War.<ref name=abc/> He rose to become ''Newsweek's'' Chicago bureau chief and later the magazine's political editor in Washington D.C.<ref name=wp/>
===ABC News=== Bruno joined ABC News in 1978 after leaving ''Newsweek''.<ref name=variety/><ref name=wp/> He oversaw ABC News' election and political coverage during the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name=variety/> Ken Rudin, the current political editor of NPR who worked as Bruno's deputy at ABC News, described Bruno as "...the eyes and ears for Peter (Jennings) and 'World News Tonight' and (Ted) Koppel."<ref name=variety/> As political director, Bruno packaged much of the political headlines presented by ABC's best known reporters, including Ted Koppel, Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson, and Peter Jennings.<ref name=wp/> Colleagues, such as Donaldson, have described Bruno as personally knowing nearly every major party county chairman in the United States.<ref name=wp/>
While much of his work at ABC took place off-screen, Bruno was invited onto news and talk shows owing to his political expertise.<ref name=wp/> Bruno also hosted the weekly radio show, ''Hal Bruno's Washington'', on ABC Radio until 1999.<ref name=variety/><ref name=bloomberg/>
Bruno received public attention as the moderator of the 1992 vice presidential debate in Atlanta on October 13, 1992.<ref name=variety/><ref name=wp/><ref name=nytimes/> The debate took place between incumbent Republican Vice President Dan Quayle, Democrat Al Gore, and Independent retired Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, who was the running mate of Ross Perot.<ref name=nytimes/> The debate would become known for unusual responses and negative rhetoric from the candidates and the audience.<ref name=wp/> It would later be called "the most combative debate in the 32-year history of the televised forums" by the ''Washington Post''.<ref name=wp/> One of the most memorable moments from the debate came early in the night. Bruno, in his capacity as debate moderator, asked James Stockdale, "Admiral Stockdale, your opening statement, please, sir?"<ref name=nytimes/> Stockdale famously replied to Bruno's request: "Who am I? Why am I here?"<ref name=wp/><ref name=nytimes/>
Bruno also scolded the debate's audience when they jeered candidates Quayle and Gore, saying, "There’s no call for that ... so knock that off."<ref name=wp/>
He retired from ABC in 1999 to become the chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.<ref name=abc/><ref name=bloomberg>{{cite news|title=Former ABC News political director dies at 83|url=http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QU30480.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119124737/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QU30480.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 19, 2013|work=Bloomberg Businessweek |date=2011-11-10 |access-date=2011-12-07}}</ref>
===Firefighting=== Bruno said that his interest in firefighting began "after riding as a kid on fire trucks in Chicago."<ref name=abc/> Bruno originally became a volunteer firefighter during the 1940s and remained in firefighting for more than 60 years.<ref name=abc/> He served as the chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation from 1999 to 2008<ref name=bloomberg/> and remained Chairman Emeritus after retiring from the post.<ref name=abc/> He combined his background in journalism and firefighting as a monthly columnist for Firehouse Magazine.<ref name=nytimes/> In 2008, he authored a column for Firehouse about the [http://1958%20Our%20Lady%20of%20Angels%20Fire https://www.firehouse.com/prevention-investigation/fire-protection-systems/news/10493645/eyewitness-to-tragedy-our-lady-of-angels-school-fire] that he responded to with the Chicago Fire Department and later put on his reporter's hat to cover.
Bruno called in coverage of the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.<ref name=nytimes/> He was one of the first rescue workers to respond to the Pentagon attack and remained on site for hours.<ref name=wp/>
===Later life=== Bruno was inducted into the Society of Professional Journalists Hall of Fame in 2008.<ref name=nytimes/>
Bruno died at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, November 8, 2011, of heart arrhythmia caused by a fall at the age of 83.<ref name=variety/><ref name=wp/> He was survived by his wife of nearly 56 years, Margaret; two sons, Harold R. Bruno III and Daniel Bruno; his sister, Barbara; and four grandchildren. Bruno and his wife were residents of Chevy Chase, Maryland.<ref name=nytimes/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{C-SPAN|3230}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruno, Hal}} Category:1928 births Category:2011 deaths Category:American broadcast news analysts Category:American newspaper reporters and correspondents Category:American magazine journalists Category:20th-century American firefighters Category:United States Army personnel of the Korean War Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Category:People from Chevy Chase, Maryland