Prior to joining NBC, Williams served as a press official on Capitol Hill for many years. In 1986 he joined the Washington, D.C. staff of then Congressman Dick Cheney as press secretary and legislative assistant. In 1989, when Cheney was named Secretary of Defense, Williams was appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. He also served as spokesperson for the Pentagon. While in that position, Williams was named Government Communicator of the Year in 1991 by the National Association of Government Communicators. While serving as a Pentagon spokesperson he allegedly worked to conceal military atrocities during the Panama Invasion. This activity was featured in the documentary The Panama Deception. That same year, Williams was outed as gay by liberal gay activist and author Michelangelo Signorile in an apparent effort to embarrass the Bush Administration.

Pete started at KATI 1400 am in Casper, WY. A 1971 graduate of Casper, Wyoming's Natrona County High School, Williams won the national Radio Speaking event at the 1970 National Forensics League competition. He graduated from Stanford University in 1974 and worked thereafter as a reporter and news director at KTWO-TV and Radio in his hometown of Casper, Wyoming until 1985. Working with the Radio and Television News Directors Association, for which he served as a member of the board of directors, he successfully lobbied the Wyoming Supreme Court to permit broadcast coverage of its proceedings and twice sued Wyoming judges over pre-trial exclusion of reporters from the courtroom. For these efforts, he received a First Amendment Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.