NewsNational News

Actions

Longtime CBS News correspondent Bill Plante passes away at 84

Bill Plante
Posted
and last updated

Former CBS News White House correspondent Bill Plante passed away on Wednesday at the age of 84, according to CBS News and The Washington Post.

His wife, Robin Smith, told The Post that he died of respiratory failure at his home in Washington, D.C..

During his tenure with CBS News, which began in 1964, Plante reported from the White House for 35 years, having covered four presidents, and documented the civil rights movement, the news outlets reported.

"Bill was a friendly rival, always willing to share insights,” former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw wrote in an email to The Post.

He retired from CBS News in 2016.

"He was brilliant, as a reporter and as a human being," 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl told CBS News.

CBS News reported that he also covered the State Department during George H.W. Bush's administration.