Before his first broadcasting gig with an Ontario radio station, Peter attended several universities but never graduated, appeared in several musical theatre productions, worked as a bank teller, and hosted Club Thirteen, a local program modeled after American Bandstand.

His job with the Canadian radio station led to a job as a national news co-anchor with CTV, during which he covered the infamous John F Kennedy assassination. In 1964, Jennings was hired as a correspondent with ABC and shortly after was rewarded with reporting opportunities. This would be the beginning of Jennings’s successful climb to the rank of news icon.

His reporting skills soon led to a position as a news anchor with ABC News, the youngest person to ever take on this role in America. Unfortunately, he couldn’t compete at the time with the experience of the likes of Walter Cronkite, which led to his replacement. Jennings persisted however, staying on with ABC as a foreign correspondent as he reported from dangerous war zones.

After working on the short-lived AM America, Jennings joined Frank Reynolds and Max Robinson as a co-anchor on World News Tonight in 1978. In 1983, he took on the position of main news anchor, a position he held until 2005. During his reign as one of the top newsmen, he traveled to and reported from every world capital, every war zone, and every US state. From 1989 to 1997, Jennings was the number one American news personality.

After Bill Clinton was elected as president in November 1992, Jennings featured the new administration in two of his specials for children; he anchored President Clinton: Answering Children's Questions in February 1993.

He was also a driving force behind the reporting of the September 11th terrorist attacks, spending more than sixty hours calmly explaining the occurring disaster.

After two decades, Jennings anchored World News Tonight for the last time on April 1st of 2005. Later that week, he revealed to viewers through a taped message that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and would begin chemotherapy treatments shortly. Although he hoped to return to his position, he sadly died in August of 2005.

His death was felt by the viewing public as well as his colleagues, inspiring a two hour special featuring highlights of his incredible career as well as a tribute at that year’s Emmy Awards. During his career, Jennings was honored with numerous awards, including 14 Emmys, two George Foster Peabody Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Washington State University, and three Anchor of the Year awards from the Washington Journalism Review.

Peter was married to four women during his lifetime. After marriages to Annie Malouf and Valerie Godsoe, Peter married Hungarian actress and journalist Kati Marton in 1979. Before their divorce in 1994, the couple had daughter Elizabeth and son Christopher. Jennings’ final marriage was to Kayce Freed in 1997. The couple remained together until the time of Peter’s death.

The anchor's ABC colleagues, including Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, and Ted Koppel shared their thoughts on Jennings' passing. The next morning, Brokaw and Rather fondly remembered their former rival on the morning news shows.