Frank McGee (journalist)  Frank McGee (September 12, 1921 – April 17, 1974) was an American television journalist, best known for his work with NBC from the late 1950s into the early 1970s. Born in Monroe in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, and raised in Norman, Oklahoma, McGee's father was an oil field worker. He joined the Oklahoma National Guard in 1940, and served in the U.S. Army in World War II, then attended the University of California and the University of Oklahoma. He began his broadcast news career at KGFF in Shawnee, Oklahoma, in 1946 then moved to WKY-TV (now KFOR-TV) in Oklahoma City. In 1955, the owners of WKY purchased WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Alabama, and sent McGee there as news director. WSFA was an affiliate of NBC. As the Civil Rights Movement gained national coverage, McGee's work came to the notice of NBC, which offered him a position with the network. He went on to become "one of television's most prominent newsmen." McGee was a floor correspondent for the national conventions of both political parties in 1960, 1964, and 1968, one member of the so-called "Four Horsemen" that included NBC newsmen John Chancellor, Edwin Newman, and Sander Vanocur. In 1960, he narrated the second debate between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon on October 7 in Washington, D.C.. At that time, the debates were considered by the news media to have swung the election in favor of Kennedy among voters who watched them on television. For the small number of rural residents who listened on radio, the influence was mixed. McGee had a great talent for descriptive language, often giving viewers a vivid word picture of the day's events. When NBC News colleague Chet Huntley broke the news of the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, McGee appeared in the studio with Huntley and Bill Ryan. Correspondent Robert MacNeil reported by telephone from Dallas, but the flash studio in New York was not equipped to put telephone calls on the air. This was eventually accomplished, but for the first hour, MacNeil spoke to McGee over the telephone, and McGee then repeated MacNeil's report to the viewing audience. During MacNeil's report that the president had died, his comments were finally heard over the air, but McGee, unaware of the change, repeated them anyway. The veteran journalist remained on duty for 45 hours with little rest, reporting without a script.