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Veteran ABC News anchor Sam Donaldson was arrested for DUI in Delaware earlier this month. Creative Commons

Sam Donaldson, the former ABC anchor and political correspondent, was arrested earlier this month in Delaware for driving under the influence.

TMZ reported Donaldson, 78, was arrested on Dec. 1 after driving off the shoulder of a road.

Police said Donaldson failed a sobriety test and was arrested for DUI. He was taken to a nearby police station in Lewes, where he was booked before being released.

According to the report, Donaldson was very cooperative with police throughout the DUI arrest.

The New York Daily News reported that Donaldson, who lives in Virginia, will have to return to Delaware to appear in court.

Donaldson retired from his full-time position at ABC News in 2010, but he still makes guest appearances on political shows, such as the Sunday roundtable "This Week."

Donaldson first joined ABC News in 1967 and worked as a Washington correspondent for many years, covering the Vietnam war and other major political events. From 1973 to 1974, Donaldson was the chief reporter for the Watergate scandal that rocked Richard Nixon's presidency.

Donaldson also made headlines in 2006 when a fight erupted between him and George W. Bush. According to the Washington Post, Donaldson asked Bush if Mel Gibson should be forgiven for an anti-Semitic rant.

"You're a has-been. We don't have to answer has-been's questions," Bush is said to have told Donaldson.

"Better to have been a has-been than a never was," Donaldson shot back.

The El Paso, Texas native continued on as a Chief White House correspondent for ABC until 1989. From 2001 to 2004, Donaldson had his own show called the "Sam Donaldson Show: Live in America."