Peter Hackes, Former NBC Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Former NBC Washington correspondent Peter Hackes, known for his coverage of Capitol Hill, the State Department and the space program, has died of a heart attack. He was 69.

Mr. Hackes died Sunday at Georgetown University Hospital.

He worked for CBS for three years in Washington, D.C., before joining NBC in 1955. From 1956, he covered every national political convention until his retirement in 1986.

Since 1987, Mr. Hackes had been the "Voice of the AARP" - the American Association of Retired Persons - on a daily radio program called "Mature Focus."

After three decades as a correspondent, he appeared in two films about Washington - as a gruff network executive in "Broadcast News" in 1987 and in "True Colors," a film about politics.