Preview: I Am Geraldo 50 Years: Willowbrook

In the wake of 9/11, no longer did the big network money seem enough for Geraldo. Taking a pay cut from NBC, Geraldo reinvented himself as Fox News' Chief War Correspondent and set off, determined to cover the ugliness and heroism of the war on terror.

Booted from ABC for a story alleging Kennedy’s relationship with Marilyn Monroe and following a live coverage of the opening of Al Capone’s secret vault, Geraldo was offered his own show which ran salacious and intriguing stories and made him millions.

Once Geraldo exposed Willowbrook, forever changing the treatment of mentally ill individuals, his career soared. No longer just a rebel with a cause, he mingled with everyone from Warhol to Sinatra, relaunching his career into a dizzyingly higher orbit.

In 1972, 28-year-old reporter Geraldo Rivera snuck into an institution on Staten Island and acquired proof of a dangerously overcrowded, filthy and poorly maintained facility. Scenes from inside Willowbrook were beyond comprehension, and the local news story was watched by millions.