Ed Fouhy was a journalist and news executive at ABC, NBC and CBS. He won five Emmy Awards for his work and produced two presidential debates — between candidates Michael Dukakis and George H.W. Bush in 1988 and candidates Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot in 1992 — during a 35-year career, retiring in 2004.
Born in Boston in 1934, he started out as a freelance sports journalist for the Boston Globe while studying at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His work in broadcasting began with a job as news director for WBZ-TV in Boston, while attending graduate school at Boston University’s College of Communications.
He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1956-59, and in 1966 he joined CBS Morning News as a producer. He went on to become the network's West Coast bureau chief; the Saigon bureau chief, covering the Vietnam War; and as a producer for the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite from 1969-74. After covering Richard Nixon’s presidency and serving as vice president for news at CBS’s headquarters, Fouhy left CBS in 1982.
He also worked for NBC News as a producer and executive, and as deputy Washington bureau chief from 1974-1977. For ABC News from 1982-1985 he served as Washington bureau chief and vice president for news. In 1985 he returned to NBC, where he started the newsmagazine program American Almanac.
He retired from full-time enws work in 2004, and in 2011 he produced the documentary short Chatham Radio Goes to War.
Fouhy died May 13, 2015, in Chatham, Massachusetts. He was 80.