James Charles Lehrer (; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. Lehrer was the executive editor and a
news anchor
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
for the ''
PBS NewsHour
''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virg ...
'' on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
and was known for his role as a
debate moderator during U.S. presidential election campaigns, moderating twelve presidential debates between
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
and
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
. He authored numerous fiction and non-fiction books that drew upon his experience as a newsman, along with his interests in history and politics.
Early life and education
James Charles Lehrer was born on May 19, 1934, in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
.
His mother, Lois Catherine (), was a teacher and bank clerk, and his father, Harry Frederick Lehrer, was a bus station manager.
His paternal grandparents were German immigrants. His maternal grandfather was
J. B. Chapman, a prominent
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa within Johnson County, Kansas. With its members co ...
figure. Jim had an older brother, Fred, who was a Baptist minister. He attended school in Wichita,
middle school in
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...
, and graduated from
Thomas Jefferson High School in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
, where he was a sports editor for the ''Jefferson Declaration''. He graduated with an
associate degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree.
The fi ...
from
Victoria College, and a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in journalism from the
Missouri School of Journalism
The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...
at the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
in 1956.
After graduating from college, Lehrer followed his father and older brother, and joined the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
serving for three years as an infantry officer in the late 1950s.
He attributed his service and travels with helping him to look beyond himself and feel a connection to the world that he would not have otherwise experienced.
Career
In 1959, Lehrer began his career in journalism at ''
The Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'' in Texas. Later, he worked as a reporter for the ''
Dallas Times Herald
The ''Dallas Times Herald'', founded in 1888 by a merger of the ''Dallas Times'' and the ''Dallas Herald'', was once one of two major daily newspapers serving the Dallas, Texas (USA) area. It won three Pulitzer Prizes, all for photography, and t ...
'', where he covered the
assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...
in 1963. He was a political columnist there for several years, and in 1968 he became the city editor.
Lehrer began his television career at
KERA-TV
KERA-TV (channel 13) is a PBS member television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. Owned by North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc., it is sister to National Public Radio (NPR) member statio ...
in Dallas, Texas, as the executive director of Public Affairs, an on-air host, and editor of a nightly news program. In 1972, he moved to
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
in Washington, D.C., to become the Public Affairs Coordinator, a member of Journalism Advisory Board, and a Fellow at the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...
(CPB).
He worked as a correspondent for the National Public Affairs Center for Television (NPACT), where he met
Robert MacNeil
Robert Breckenridge Ware MacNeil, OC (born January 19, 1931) is a Canadian-American journalist and writer. He is a retired television news anchor who partnered with Jim Lehrer to create ''The MacNeil/Lehrer Report'' in 1975.
Early life and ed ...
. In 1973, they covered the
Senate Watergate hearings
The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inv ...
and the revelation of the
Watergate Tapes
The Nixon White House tapes are audio recordings of conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and Nixon administration officials, Nixon family members, and White House staff, produced between 1971 and 1973.
In February 1971, a sound-ac ...
broadcast, live on PBS (This coverage of the hearings would later help lead to and be the inspiration for what would eventually become ''The MacNeil/Lehrer Report'').
Lehrer covered the
House Judiciary Committee
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...
's
impeachment inquiry of President Richard Nixon.
In October 1975, Lehrer became the Washington correspondent for ''The Robert MacNeil Report'' on Thirteen/
WNET
WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...
New York. Two months later on December 1, 1975, he was promoted to co-anchor, and the program was accordingly renamed ''The MacNeil/Lehrer Report''. In September 1983, Lehrer and MacNeil relaunched their show as ''The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour'', which was renamed ''The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer'', following MacNeil's departure in 1995. The program was renamed the ''
PBS NewsHour
''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virg ...
'' in 2009.
In order to maintain objectivity, Lehrer chose not to vote.
Lehrer underwent a heart valve surgery in April 2008, allowing
Ray Suarez
Rafael Suarez, Jr. (born March 5, 1957), known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist and author. He is currently a visiting professor at NYU Shanghai and was previously the John J. McCloy Visiting Professor of American Studies at Am ...
,
Gwen Ifill
Gwendolyn L. Ifill ( ; September 29, 1955 – November 14, 2016) was an American journalist, television newscaster, and author. In 1999, she became the first African-American woman to host a nationally televised U.S. public affairs program ...
, and
Judy Woodruff
Judy Carline Woodruff (born November 20, 1946) is an American broadcast journalist who has worked in network, cable, and public television news since 1976. She is the anchor and managing editor of ''PBS NewsHour''. Woodruff has covered every presi ...
to anchor in their stead until Lehrer's return on June 26, 2008. He had recovered from a minor heart attack in 1983 when he was 49 years old.
Lehrer stepped down as anchor of the ''PBS NewsHour'' on June 6, 2011, but continued to moderate the Friday news analysis segments and be involved with the show's production company, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions.
Lehrer received several awards and honors during his career in journalism, including several
Emmys
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
; the
George Foster Peabody Broadcast Award; a
William Allen White
William Allen White (February 10, 1868 – January 29, 1944) was an American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became a spokesman for middle America.
At a 1937 ...
Foundation Award for Journalistic Merit; and the
University of Missouri School of Journalism
The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...
's Medal of Honor. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Journalism degree by
McDaniel College
McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to the college. ...
.
Presidential debate moderator
Lehrer was involved in several projects related to U.S. presidential debates, including the ''Debating Our Destiny'' documentaries in 2000 and 2008, which feature excerpts of exclusive interviews with many of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates since 1976. Nicknamed "The Dean of Moderators" by journalist
Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
, Lehrer moderated twelve presidential debates between
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
and
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
. In 2016, Lehrer served on the board of the
Commission on Presidential Debates
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1987 under the joint sponsorship of the Democratic and Republican political parties in the United States. The CPD sponsors and produces debates for U.S. pre ...
(CPD).
The last debate that Lehrer moderated was the
first general election debate of the 2012 election. He had originally sworn off moderating any debates after 2008; however, the CPD persisted, and he accepted as he was interested in the new format. The debate was held at the
University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
and covered domestic policy issues. Lehrer's performance as a moderator, in which he frequently allowed the candidates to exceed the given time limits, received mixed reviews; while he received criticism for his lenient enforcement of time rules and open-ended questions, his approach also received praise for letting the candidates have some control in the debate on their own terms.
Personal life
![Jim Lehrer 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Jim_Lehrer_2011.jpg)
For six decades until his death, Lehrer was married to
Kate Lehrer
Kate Lehrer (born Kate Tom Staples; December 17, 1939) is an American writer, novelist and book reviewer from Washington, D.C., and a panelist on the Diane Rehm Book Club on National Public Radio. She is the widow of fellow writer and journalist ...
, who is also a novelist. They had three daughters and six grandchildren.
His father was a bus driver who briefly operated a bus company. Lehrer was an avid
bus enthusiast
Bus spotting is the interest and activity of watching, photographing and tracking buses throughout their working service lives within bus companies. A person who engages in these activities is known as a bus spotter, bus fan, bus nut ( colloquia ...
, a hobbyist, and a collector of bus memorabilia, including depot signs, driver caps, and antique toy buses. As a college student in the 1950s, he worked as a
Trailways
The Trailways Transportation System is an American network of approximately 70 independent bus companies that have entered into a brand licensing agreement. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.
History
The predecessor to Trailwa ...
ticket agent in
Victoria, Texas
Victoria is a small city in South Texas and county seat of Victoria County, Texas. The population was 65,534 as of the 2020 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 as of the 2000 censu ...
. He also was a supporter of the
Pacific Bus Museum in
Williams, California
Williams (formerly Central) is a city in Colusa County, California. The population was 5,643 at the time of the 2010 census, up from 3,670 at the 2000 census.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ...
, and the
Museum of Bus Transportation
The AACA Museum is a transportation museum located in Hershey, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum dedicated to the preservation of American automobile history. Despite its name the museum is not affiliated with ...
in
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to The Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey.
The community is lo ...
.
Lehrer was a prolific writer and authored numerous novels, as well as several plays, screenplays, and three personal memoirs. His book, ''Top Down'', is a novel based on the events surrounding the Kennedy assassination. His last play, ''Bell'', was produced by the
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...
as part of their 125th anniversary celebration.
Death
On January 23, 2020, Lehrer died from a heart attack at his home in Washington, D.C., at the age of 85.
Honors and awards
*
Paul White Award,
Radio Television Digital News Association
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA, pronounced the same as " rotunda"), formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), is a United States-based membership organization of radio, television, and online news dire ...
(1990)
* Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...
(1990)
*
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
member (elected in 1991)
* University of Missouri School of Journalism's Medal of Honor
* William Allen White Foundation Award for Journalistic Merit
*
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
* Fred Friendly First Amendment Award
* Two Emmy Awards
* Silver Circle of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
(1999)
* Television Hall of Fame
(1999)
*
National Humanities Medal
The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...
(1999)
*
Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism
The Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism is an annual award presented by Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The recipient is deemed to represent a leading figure in the journalism ...
(2008)
Bibliography
Novels
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Memoirs
*
*
*
Screenplays
* An adaptation of ''White Widow'' has been written by
Luke Wilson
* ''
Viva Max!
''Viva Max!'' is a 1969 comedy film directed by Jerry Paris and starring Peter Ustinov, Jonathan Winters and John Astin. The film was written by Elliott Baker and based on the 1966 novel of the same name by James Lehrer.
Plot
Riding a white h ...
'' (1969) writing credit with
Elliott Baker
Elliott Baker (December 15, 1922 – February 9, 2007), born Elliot Joseph Cohen, was a screenwriter and novelist. He died from cancer.
Baker was born in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from Indiana University. He was the author of the com ...
* ''
The Last Debate'' (2000) writing credit with Jon Maas
Plays
* ''The Will and Bart Show''
* ''Church Key Charlie Blue''
* ''Chili Queen''
* ''Bell''
References
Further reading
*''Art at Our Doorstep: San Antonio Writers and Artists'' featuring Jim Lehrer. Edited by Nan Cuba and Riley Robinson (
Trinity University Press, 2008).
External links
*
Remembering Jim Lehrer - PBS*
*
*
*
Jim Lehreron
InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehrer, Jim
1934 births
2020 deaths
20th-century American journalists
American male journalists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American journalists
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American novelists
American broadcast news analysts
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American people of German descent
American television news anchors
Emmy Award winners
Jefferson High School (San Antonio, Texas) alumni
Journalists from Texas
Military personnel from Texas
Missouri School of Journalism alumni
National Humanities Medal recipients
Novelists from Texas
PBS people
People from Beaumont, Texas
The Dallas Morning News people
United States Marine Corps officers
Writers from Dallas
Writers from San Antonio
Writers from Wichita, Kansas