Bob Schieffer | |
|---|---|
 Schieffer in 2009 | |
| Born | Bob Lloyd Schieffer (1937-02-25)February 25, 1937 (age 88) Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Education | Texas Christian University |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist,anchor |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Notable credits |
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| Title | Chief Washington Correspondent; Anchor,Face the Nation |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives |
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| Website | CBS News Bio |
Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937) is an American television journalist.[1] He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability.[2] Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all four of the major Washington national assignments: theWhite House,the Pentagon,United States Department of State, andUnited States Congress. His career with CBS has almost exclusively dealt with national politics. He has interviewed every United States President sinceRichard Nixon, as well as most of those who sought the office.[1]
Schieffer has been withCBS News since 1969, serving as the anchor on the Saturday edition ofCBS Evening News for 20 years, from 1976 to 1996, as well as the ChiefWashington Correspondent from 1982 until 2015, and moderator of the Sunday public affairs show,Face the Nation, from 1991 until May 31, 2015. From March 10, 2005, to August 31, 2006, Schieffer was interim weekday anchor ofCBS Evening News, and was one of the primary substitutes forDan Rather,Katie Couric andScott Pelley.
Following his retirement fromFace the Nation, Schieffer has continued to work forCBS as a contributor, making many appearances on air giving political commentary covering the2016 presidential election. Schieffer is currently releasing episodes of a new podcast, "Bob Schieffer's 'About the News' withH. Andrew Schwartz".
Schieffer has written three books about his career in journalism:Face the Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-Winning News Broadcast,This Just In: What I Couldn't Tell You on TV, andBob Schieffer's America. He co-authored a book aboutRonald Reagan,The Acting President, with Gary Paul Gates, that was published in 1989.[3] In his memoir,This Just In, Schieffer credits the fact he was a beat reporter at CBS for his longevity at the network.
Schieffer has won virtually every award in broadcast journalism, including eight Emmys, the overseas Press Club Award, thePaul White Award presented by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, and theEdward R. Murrow Award given by Murrow's alma mater, Washington State University.[1][4]
Schieffer was inducted into theBroadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2002, and inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2013.[5] He was named aliving legend by theLibrary of Congress in 2008.[1]
Schieffer is currently serving as the Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow atHarvard Kennedy School'sShorenstein Center.[1]
Schieffer was born on February 25, 1937, inAustin, Texas, to John Emmitt Schieffer and Gladys Payne Schieffer, and grew up inFort Worth, Texas. He is an alumnus ofNorth Side High School, and received a B.A. in journalism and English in 1959 from Texas Christian University (TCU).[6] In university he was a member of theAir Force Reserve Officer Training Corps and thePhi Delta Theta fraternity.[7] The College of Communication at TCU was renamed in Bob Schieffer's honor in 2013.[8]
After graduating from TCU, Schieffer served in theUnited States Air Force for three years as a public information officer stationed atTravis Air Force Base and laterMcChord Air Force Base.[9] He was honorably discharged and joined theFort Worth Star-Telegram as a reporter, with one of his key assignments being a trip toVietnam to profile soldiers from the Fort Worth area. Schieffer was the first reporter from a Texas newspaper who reported from Vietnam.[6]
It was at theStar Telegram that he received his first major journalistic recognition when John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963.[10] Shortly afterPresident Kennedy wasshot inDallas, Texas, Schieffer was in theStar-Telegram office and received a telephone call from a woman in search of a ride to Dallas. The woman was Marguerite Oswald,Lee Harvey Oswald's mother, whom he accompanied to the Dallas police station, where he spent the next several hours. In the company of Oswald's mother, Marguerite, and his wife, Marina, he was able to use the phone in the police station to call in dispatches from otherStar-Telegram reporters in the building. This enabled theStar-Telegram to create four "Extra" editions on the day of the assassination.[citation needed] Schieffer later joined theStar-Telegram's television station,WBAP-TV in Fort Worth, before taking a job with CBS in 1969.[6]
Schieffer was anchor of theCBS Sunday Night News from 1973 to 1974, theCBS Sunday Evening News in 1976, and of theSaturday Evening News broadcast for twenty years from 1976 until 1996. He also anchoredthe weekday CBS morning show at the time called "Morning", which was titled in accordance to the day of the week (Monday Morning, Tuesday Morning, etc.) from 1979 to 1980. One of his best known roles was as moderator of the Sunday public affairs show,Face the Nation, from 1991 until May 31, 2015.[6]
Schieffer was also known for his reporting duties. Between 1970 and 1974, he was assigned to the Pentagon. From 1974 to 1979, he was the White House correspondent for CBS, and in 1982 he became Chief Washington Correspondent, in addition to his anchor duties.[11]
In the wake ofDan Rather's controversial retirement,[12][13] he was named interim anchor for the weekdayCBS Evening News.[14] He assumed that job on March 10, 2005, the day following Rather's last broadcast.[15]
Under Schieffer, theCBS Evening News gained about 200,000 viewers, to average 7.7 million viewers, reversing some of the decline in ratings that occurred during Rather's tenure; whileNBC Nightly News was down by 700,000 viewers, and ABC'sWorld News Tonight lost 900,000.[16] Schieffer closed the gap with ABC'sWorld News Tonight when co-anchorBob Woodruff was injured in late January 2006.[17]
Schieffer made his lastCBS Evening News broadcast on August 31, 2006,[18] and was replaced byKatie Couric.[19] On Couric's second broadcast, he returned to provide segments for the evening news as chief Washington correspondent. Schieffer was also a substitute anchor for Couric andScott Pelley when he became anchor of the evening news in June 2011.
On October 13, 2004, Schieffer was the moderator of the thirdpresidential debate betweenPresidentGeorge W. Bush andSenatorJohn Kerry in Tempe, Arizona.[20] On October 15, 2008, Schieffer moderated the third presidential debate between SenatorBarack Obama and SenatorJohn McCain atHofstra University in Uniondale, New York.[21] Schieffer also moderated the third debate of the presidential candidates in 2012, between President Obama and former Massachusetts GovernorMitt Romney, on October 22, inBoca Raton, Florida.[22]
In 2013, Schieffer won theNational Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award and theWalter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.[23][24]
On April 8, 2015, Schieffer announced his intention to retire as host ofFace the Nation while speaking at his alma mater, Texas Christian University. Schieffer departed after working in journalism for 52 years, 46 of those years with CBS.[25][26] On the April 12 broadcast of the program, he announced thatJohn Dickerson, the political director for CBS, would succeed him, beginning in June 2015.[27]
As he prepared to retire fromFace The Nation, Schieffer reflected on the acclaim that came his way during the latter stages of his career. "The interesting thing about my life — a lot of the recognition I got was after most people retired," he toldThe New York Times, going on to add, "I think that people just became familiar with me just because I had been there and others had come and gone."[28]
Schieffer's final broadcast as moderator ofFace the Nation was on May 31, 2015.[29]
Since leaving the anchor desk atCBS Evening News in 2006, Schieffer has entertained his longstanding interest in songwriting by collaborating with musicians in New York and Washington, D.C. His latest efforts have resulted in four songs with the Washington area band,Honky Tonk Confidential, all of which appear on their CD,Road Kill Stew and Other News (with Special Guest Bob Schieffer). Schieffer sings "TV Anchorman", and wrote the lyrics for the other songs.[30][31]
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Schieffer married Patricia Penrose in 1967; they have two daughters and three granddaughters.[10]
Schieffer is the older brother ofTom Schieffer, a long time Texas state legislator and friend and former business partner of PresidentGeorge W. Bush, who was appointed U.S. Ambassador toAustralia from 2001 to 2005 by President Bush,[32] and served as U.S. Ambassador toJapan from 2005 through 2009.[33] In 2009, Tom Schieffer campaigned for the Democratic nomination for governor but withdrew from the race on November 23, 2009, citing an inability to raise enough cash to fund an effective campaign.[34]
Schieffer has a sister, Sharon Schieffer Mayes, who is a retired teacher and school administrator who taught science for 17 years before becoming the Vice Principal ofDunbar High School inFort Worth, Texas. Sharon Mayes eventually became the high school principal atKeller High School at a time when only 2 percent of the principals in the largest high schools in Texas were women.[35]
Schieffer is a survivor of grade IIIbladder cancer. He was diagnosed in 2003 and has been cancer-free since 2004.[36] He has been diagnosed as havingtype 2 diabetes, and is on insulin therapy.[37]
Schieffer, having being born on February 25, 1937, is apisces.[38]
After fellow CBS newscaster and TexanDan Rather was switched from the White House beat to hosting the documentary show,CBS Reports, in 1974, the October 13, 1974, edition of theDoonesbury comic strip featured a joking fantasy scene in which Schieffer, his successor, haltingly comments on the transition: "It was the affiliates – they just couldn't take him.[39] I mean let's face it, Dan wasn't exactly MR. TACT!. I dunno.... Maybe it's just as well in the long run, I mean, you know? Anyway, this is Robert Schieffer at the White House...." (Schieffer notes that "The strip was right on except for one thing. My real name is Bob, not Robert").
Schieffer had a cameo appearance besideHarrison Ford in the 2010 film,Morning Glory, along with hisCBS News colleagueMorley Safer as well asMSNBC'sChris Matthews.[40]He also had a cameo appearance on television seriesMadam Secretary in the episode named"Face of Nation".[41]
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| Preceded by | Face the Nation Moderator May 26, 1991 – May 31, 2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | CBS Evening News anchor March 10, 2005 – August 31, 2006 | Succeeded by |
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