Who was the first woman to host the "Today" show?

For over a decade, Barbara Walters had been writing, producing, and conducting interviews in a role NBC referred to as its "Today Girl." Frank McGee was so against having a female co-host that he wouldn't let her ask a question until he had asked at least three, and it wasn't until after he died that NBC officially called Walters a co-host on "Today." The network was so nervous about the arrangement that they initially paid her less than half of what they offered male co-hosts, but Walters proved she could handle everything from breaking news to celebrity interviews without missing a beat. Her success opened the door for future female hosts like Jane Pauley and Katie Couric, though it took ABC offering her a record-breaking million-dollar-a-year contract in 1976 to really prove her doubters wrong.