Charles Gibson

Diane Sawyer had twice been passed over for the job of anchoring ABC's evening news broadcast, first after the death of Peter Jennings, and then following the abrupt end of the Bob Woodruff-Elizabeth Vargas pairing that led the network to put the avuncular Charles Gibson in the anchor chair. But after announcing Gibson's retirement Wednesday, ABC News President David Westin rewarded Sawyer's forbearance by naming her to the network's top news post, saying she has "more than paid her dues and waited her turn appropriately."