Lewis Shollenberger
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Lewis Winnbert Shollenberger (October 12, 1916 – March 15, 1994) was a correspondent for
United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
,
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, and
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
in Washington, D.C. from 1940 to 1963. He covered the White House and the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
as well as coordinated network coverage of presidential news briefings and debates. He went on to work for
Radio Liberty Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
, the
Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stren ...
, and the
Advertising Council The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-governme ...
.


Early life

Shollenberger was born in
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
to Joseph H. and Edith D. Shollenberger. He had at least one brother, named Joseph. He attended high school in
Lock Haven, Pennsylvania Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area, ...
and Washington, D.C. He graduated from
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
where he was a member of
Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...
fraternity. He also took special courses at Ravensbourne College in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and at Grunewald Gymnasium in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, before graduating. His first
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
job was with the ''Lock Haven Express'' newspaper. He married Florence E. Long in 1939. They had two children, Lewis Jr. and Carol.


Early career

He moved to
Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...
in 1939 where he was able to get a job in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
with United Press. He left United Press in 1942 when he began working for CBS. For the first part of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
he covered wartime conferences between
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
. In 1943 he joined the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
where he served in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
as a
Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), is ...
.


CBS

At the end of the war Shollenberger returned to CBS where he covered the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
and was a director and producer of special projects. He served in that capacity until 1961. On March 1, 1952, he was in the
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
at the time of a
terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
by the
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party The Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico ( es, Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico, PNPR) is a Puerto Rican political party founded on September 17, 1922, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its primary goal is to work for Puerto Rico's independence. The P ...
. He was quickly on the air to report the attack. Shollenberger was the co-producer of the first transcontinental television program originating from
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
in 1951 and the first telecast of a Presidential Cabinet meeting in October, 1954. He had the distinction of cutting a president off air on live TV. In 1954,
Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
was making a paid political speech from
Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
and went over the time that had been agreed on. Shollenberger was not sure what to do so he ran a commercial before going back to programming. The next year, he was assigned to cover President Eisenhower's heart attack. By 1960, Shollenberger was named to coordinated network coverage of the first presidential debate between Senator
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. He was the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Radio and Television Correspondents Gallery and had been assigned by CBS News to cover
VIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples inc ...
s and delegations at both political conventions during the presidential election. He was also a member of the
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities Executive Order 10555, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 23, 1954, established a Seal for the ''President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped''. The Committee was succeeded by the President's Committee on Em ...
. In 1961, he produced President Kennedy’s first live news conference broadcast. Later that year he left CBS to become a News Director for ABC. He stayed there until 1963.


Radio Liberty

In 1963, Shollenberger left ABC to become the executive director of Radio Liberty in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
. He was hired by Howland Sargeant to replace Richard Bertrandias. His time at Radio Liberty did not go well. He did not have the international reporting background or decisive leadership style that the position required. After an independent audit of the Munich office, Sargeant let him go in 1966.


Later career

After leaving Radio Liberty, Shollenberger moderated one episode of the TV show '' Firing Line'' with
William F. Buckley William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
and Senator
Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
. He was then hired to be the director of the information office of the Small Business Administration, where he stayed until 1971. He then became vice president of the Advertising Council. He was with this group until his retirement in 1981.


Memberships

Shollenberger was a president of the
Radio and Television Correspondents' Association The Radio and Television Correspondents' Association of Washington, D.C. (RTCA) is an American broadcast journalism group of news reporters from around the world who cover the United States Congress.National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...
,
Sigma Delta Chi The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...
, the
Radio Television News Directors 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 ...
, and the
National Presbyterian Church The National Presbyterian Church is a Christian congregation of approximately 1,500 members of all ages from the greater metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. The mission statement of the church is "Leading People to Become Faithful Followers of J ...
.


Later life

Shollenberger was interviewed by the
American Journalism Historians Association Founded in 1981, the American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA) seeks to advance education and research in mass communication history. Through its annual meeting, regional conferences, committees, awards, speakers and publications, members ...
for its
oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
project. His son, Lewis Jr., died in 1986, and his wife in 1991. He moved to