Leon Daniel (August 8, 1931 – March 19, 2006) was a reporter, manager, and senior editor of United Press International (UPI). He was considered to be the "gold standard" in wire service reporting. Daniel is most well known for his reporting during the Vietnam War where he remained while many foreign correspondents fled the country, as well as for his coverage of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. Daniel wrote one of his more notable pieces, published on June 12, 1977, on the escape from prison of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.