Bob Schieffer
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Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937 in Austin, Texas) is an American journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973-1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since 1991, and, between March of 2005 and August 31, 2006, interim weekday anchor of the CBS Evening News. Katie Couric, formerly of NBC's Today show, succeeded Schieffer as anchor on September 5, 2006.
Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all four of the major Washington national assignments, the White House, The Pentagon, United States Department of State, and United States Congress. His career with CBS has almost exclusively dealt with national politics.
Schieffer is a survivor of grade III bladder cancer; he was diagnosed in 2003 and is currently cancer-free.[1]
In 2004, he was the moderator of the third presidential debate between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry.
Schieffer is married to the former Patricia Penrose Bishop and has two daughters.
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[edit] Youth
Bob Schieffer grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and is a Texas Christian University alumnus, and an alumnus of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. The journalism school at TCU was later named after him. After graduating, he served in the U.S. Air Force as a captain and information officer. He was honorably discharged and joined the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as a reporter, with one of his key assignments a trip to Vietnam to profile soldiers from the Fort Worth area. At the Star Telegram he also covered the JFK Assassination. He then joined WBAP in Dallas before taking a job with CBS in 1969.
[edit] Rise to the anchor's desk
He was anchor of the Sunday broadcast from 1973 to 1976 and of the Saturday broadcast until 1996. Between 1970 and 1974, he was assigned to the Pentagon, from 1974 to 1979 he was CBS's White House correspondent, and in 1982 he became chief Washington correspondent in addition to his anchor duties.
In the wake of Dan Rather's controversial retirement, he was named interim anchor for the weekday CBS Evening News. He assumed that job on March 10, 2005, the day following Rather's last broadcast. Under Schieffer, the CBS Evening News reversed some of the decline in ratings during Rather's tenure, gaining about 200,000 viewers, although remaining in third place. Some of this was attributed to the Schieffer family's closeness with President George W. Bush; Bush had previously refused to grant an interview to Rather. Schieffer closed the gap with ABC's World News Tonight when co-anchor Bob Woodruff was injured in late January 2006. He made his last CBS Evening News broadcast on August 31, 2006, and was replaced in the anchor chair by Katie Couric. On Couric's second broadcast, he returned to provide segments for the evening news as Chief Washington Correspondent.
Schieffer has been praised by longtime CBS anchor Walter Cronkite and some others for his style. Schieffer has won six Emmy awards, won two Sigma Delta Chi awards, was named Broadcaster of the Year in 2002 by the National Press Foundation, and was named to the Broadcasting/Cable Hall of Fame.
[edit] Books
Schieffer has written two books about his career in journalism: 'Face the Nation : My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-Winning News Broadcast, and This Just In: What I Couldn't Tell You on TV. He is a regular guest on the Don Imus morning radio show.
[edit] Other Interests
Since leaving the anchor desk at CBS 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 latest CD, Road Kill Stew and Other News (with Special Guest Bob Schieffer). Schieffer sings “TV Anchorman,” and wrote the lyrics for the others.
[edit] Family
Schieffer is the older brother of Tom Schieffer, a friend and former business partner of President George W. Bush, who was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Australia 2001-2005 by President Bush and as of November, 2005 is currently the U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
[edit] Legacy
Despite the trend of the last 30 years of news anchors being big media stars, Schieffer has bucked this trend by maintaining his focus on his roots as a reporter and writer. In his most recent memoir, Schieffer credits the fact he has been a beat reporter at CBS for his longevity at the network and his lack of involvements in the office politics of TV journalism. In This Just In, Schieffer noted a rare off-camera appearance in the comics. After fellow CBS newscaster and Texan Dan Rather was switched from the White House beat to hosting the documentary show CBS Reports in 1974, the Doonesbury 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. 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's recollection of the comic strip for This Just In contains this postscript: "The strip was right on except for one thing. My real name is Bob, not Robert." And he noted wife Pat's reaction to the drawing: "Who would have thought you'd be the star of television and the funny papers?"
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Bob Schieffer (TV Interview)
- Stephen Colbert Interview March 6th 2006
- CBS News Bio
- Bob Schieffer at the Notable Names Database
- Bob Schieffer at the Internet Movie Database
| Preceded by Dan Rather |
CBS Evening News anchor March 10, 2005–August 31, 2006 |
Succeeded by Katie Couric |
| Anchors of The CBS Evening News |
|---|
| Douglas Edwards • Walter Cronkite • Dan Rather • Connie Chung • Bob Schieffer (Interim) • Katie Couric |
