From CBS News:Â
Bob Schieffer, the anchor of CBS News' "Face the Nation," announced Wednesday that he will retire this summer after more than 50 years of working in journalism.
Schieffer, who is 78, has been with CBS News for 46 years. 2015 marked his 24th year anchoring "Face the Nation," which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.
"Because this is where my professional career began, this is where I wanted all of you to be the first to know, this summer I am going to retire," he said at a symposium at Texas Christian University.
He has interviewed every president since Richard Nixon as well as most of those who sought the office. Schieffer most recently interviewed President Obama last November.
Schieffer also moderated three debates for the Presidential Commission on Debates in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
Prior to joining CBS in 1969, Schieffer was a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram where he was the first reporter from a Texas newspaper to report from Vietnam.
Schieffer has won virtually every award in broadcast journalism, including eight Emmys, the overseas Press Club Award, the Paul White Award presented by the TV News Directors Association, the Edward R. Murrow Award given by Murrow's alma mater Washington State University and in 2008 he was named a living legend by the Library of Congress. In 2013, he was inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame along with CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, actor Ron Howard, sportscaster Al Michaels and writer/producer Dick Wolf.
In 2014, "Face the Nation" was the highest rated Sunday talk show for the third consecutive year and the broadcast won an Emmy for its show covering the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination in 2013. Schieffer also received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence from the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Writing from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) in the Network Radio and Television category for a CBS Radio News commentary about "the ghost of Congress future."
In 2005, his alma mater Texas Christian University named its journalism school in his honor and in 2013 named the College, in which the journalism school is located, the Bob Schieffer College of Communication. Schieffer is one of the few reporters in Washington to have covered all four of the major beats: the Pentagon, the White House, Congress and the State Department. He became the network's chief Washington correspondent in 1982 and was named the anchor and moderator of "Face the Nation", CBS News' Sunday public affairs broadcast, in 1991.
Schieffer anchored the Saturday edition of the "CBS Evening News" for 23 years. In March 2005, with the departure of Dan Rather, Schieffer served as interim anchor of "The CBS Evening News," until August 2006 - a period that saw a substantial increase in ratings.
Schieffer has written four books: The New York Times bestsellers "This Just in" and "Bob Schieffer's America" as well as "Face The Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-winning News Broadcast" and "The Acting President."
He was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Fort Worth where he graduated from North Side High School and Texas Christian University. He served three years in the U.S. Air Force.
Face The Nation, CBS News
From CBS News President David Rhodes:Â
Bob Schieffer will retire this summer. Â Our Chief Washington Correspondent and anchor of Face the Nation made the announcement here in Fort Worth tonight at TCU's Schieffer College of Communication.
I know what you're thinking: Bob's thought about retiring before, is he really retiring now? Â And of course with his long connection to CBS News we'd be happy to learn that he's not leaving now-- or that he can be seen by our viewers in the future. Â
But speaking at the annual Schieffer Symposium here with colleagues Gayle King, Holly Williams, and a large audience of students and friends from his home community, Bob said he wanted to end it where it began. Â He graduated from TCU and before long went to work at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Bob's been with CBS since 1969... Chief Washington Correspondent since 1982... and host of Face the Nation since 1991. Â That broadcast is in its 60th year and has never been better or more powerful, ranking consistently number one this season.
He's been an inspiration and a mentor to so many colleagues-- and frankly, to me. Â You could see at TCU tonight how that inspiration extends to a wider community of reporters and editors and academics... Not to mention the example he sets as a father and husband with his wife Pat and his whole family here and elsewhere.
It's not over yet. Â Bob will be on the air this Sunday from the Washington bureau. Â And for a number of Sundays to come. Â We'll have more to report soon about the plans for this important broadcast and for the Washington bureau as a whole. Â An important 2016 campaign season is beginning. Â But this is Bob's night and I hope we can all celebrate with him the remarkable achievement which is his career here at CBS.
David
