( CNN ) -- NBC News veteran John Palmer -- who worked the White House beat during two presidential administrations and anchored the network 's initial coverage of the space shuttle Challenger disaster -- died Saturday , the network announced . The Kingsport , Tennessee , native , 77 , passed away after a brief illness , according to NBC . `` John was a brilliant , brave and tireless journalist who guided viewers through many of the most significant events of the past half-century -- from the early days of the civil rights movement through the tragedy of 9/11 , '' NBC News said in a statement . `` He covered five presidents and traveled to every corner of the world , always showing the empathy and compassion that helped set him apart . '' A graduate of Northwestern University and Columbia University , Palmer joined NBC in 1962 . He spent considerable time overseas earlier in his tenure with the network , including in Beirut during the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war and in Paris between 1976 and 1979 . By 1980 , Palmer was back in the United States -- including his reporting on the failed attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran , which earned him the Merriman Smith Memorial Award for presidential news coverage -- as a White House correspondent . He was a news anchor on NBC 's `` Today '' from 1982 to 1989 . Palmer interviewed the likes of Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat , legendary medical researcher Jonas Salk and Presidents Gerald Ford , Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan as the anchor of `` Instant Recall , '' a nationally syndicated news program , starting in 1990 . That was the year he left NBC , going on to work parts of three years with Monitor Radio and Television as an anchor and correspondent . Palmer rejoined NBC in January 1995 , staying with the network through his retirement in 2002 . News of Palmer 's death spurred an outpouring of admiration from people around the news media landscape . The Washington Post 's Dan Balz called the late NBC stalwart `` a terrific journalist '' and `` very good man . '' Deborah Norville , who replaced Palmer as news anchor on the `` Today '' show , recalled via Twitter him being `` kind , welcoming ( and ) helpful to me years ago . '' CBS News ' Mark Knoller echoed many in calling Palmer a `` great gentleman and a great reporter , '' while former Atlantic and Bloomberg reporter Jared Keller described him as `` a wonderful friend and one of my journalistic role models . '' `` There was no one in the news business kinder than John Palmer , '' Keller tweeted . `` No one . '' People we 've lost in 2013 .
Palmer : I recall Palmer as a ` ` great gentleman and a great reporter '' . Palmer returned after a brief illness , NBC News . He worked for NBC between 1979 - 1990 , then from 1995 - 2002 . Palmer distinguished himself in world events , multiple presidents .