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Jim Lehrer

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James Charles Lehrer (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was the executive editor and a news anchor for the PBS News Hour on PBS and was known for his role as a debate moderator during U.S. presidential election campaigns, moderating 12 presidential debates between 1988 and 2012. Lehrer authored numerous fiction and non-fiction books that drew upon his experience as a newsman, along with his interests in history and politics.<ref name="PBSbio" />

Early life and educationEdit

James Charles Lehrer was born on May 19, 1934, in Wichita, Kansas.<ref name=":0" /> His mother, Lois Catherine (Template:Nee), was a teacher and bank clerk, and his father, Harry Frederick Lehrer, was a bus station manager.<ref name="NYT2020-01-23">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":1" /> His paternal grandparents were German immigrants. His maternal grandfather was J. B. Chapman, a prominent Church of the Nazarene figure.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jim had an older brother, Fred, who was a Baptist minister.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He attended school in Wichita,<ref name="NYT2020-01-23"/> middle school in Beaumont, Texas, and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, where he was a sports editor for the Jefferson Declaration. He graduated with an associate degree from Victoria College, and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in 1956.<ref name = NYT2020-01-23 />

After graduating from college, Lehrer followed his father and older brother, and joined the United States Marine Corps serving for three years as an infantry officer in the late 1950s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>

CareerEdit

In 1959, Lehrer began his career in journalism at The Dallas Morning News in Texas. Later, he worked as a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald, where he covered the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. He was a political columnist there for several years, and in 1968 he became the city editor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lehrer began his television career at KERA-TV in Dallas, Texas, as the executive director of Public Affairs, an on-air host, and editor of a nightly news program.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1972, he moved to PBS 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 (CPB).<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> He worked as a correspondent for the National Public Affairs Center for Television (NPACT), where he met Robert MacNeil. In 1973, they covered the Senate Watergate hearings and the revelation of the Watergate Tapes 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).<ref name=maclehrergate>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lehrer covered the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry of President Richard Nixon.<ref name=maclehrergate />

In October 1975, Lehrer became the Washington correspondent for The Robert MacNeil Report on Thirteen/WNET 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 in 2009.<ref name=PBSbio>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In order to maintain objectivity, Lehrer chose not to vote.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lehrer underwent a heart valve surgery in April 2008, allowing Ray Suarez, Gwen Ifill, and Judy Woodruff to anchor in their stead until Lehrer's return on June 26, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had recovered from a minor heart attack in 1983 when he was 49 years old.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lehrer received several awards and honors during his career in journalism, including several Emmys; the George Foster Peabody Broadcast Award; a William Allen White Foundation Award for Journalistic Merit; and the University of Missouri School of Journalism's Medal of Honor. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Journalism degree by McDaniel College.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>The Baltimore Sun – "McDaniel's Commencement is Saturday; Jim and Kate Lehrer to Get Honorary Degrees", May 16, 2004.</ref>

Presidential debate moderatorEdit

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Nicknamed "The Dean of Moderators" by journalist Bernard Shaw, Lehrer moderated twelve presidential debates between 1988 and 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2016, Lehrer served on the board of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The debate was held at the University of Denver 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Debates Moderated by Jim Lehrer
Date Debate

Type

Democratic

Candidate

Republican

Candidate

Independent

Candidate

Sunday, September 25, 1988 Presidential Michael Dukakis George H. W. Bush —
Sunday, October 11, 1992 Bill Clinton Ross Perot
Monday, October 19, 1992
Sunday, October 6, 1996 Bob Dole —
Wednesday, October 16, 1996
Wednesday, October 9, 1996 Vice Presidential Al Gore Jack Kemp
Tuesday, October 3, 2000 Presidential George W. Bush
Wednesday, October 11, 2000
Tuesday, October 17, 2000
Thursday, September 30, 2004 John Kerry
Friday, September 26, 2008 Barack Obama John McCain
Wednesday October 3, 2012 Mitt Romney

Personal lifeEdit

File:Jim Lehrer 2011.jpg
Lehrer signing copies of his book, Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, From Kennedy–Nixon to Obama–McCain, at the National Press Club Book Fair in 2011

For six decades until his death, Lehrer was married to Kate Lehrer, who is also a novelist. They had three daughters and six grandchildren.<ref name="PBSbio" /> His father was a bus driver who briefly operated a bus company. Lehrer was an avid bus enthusiast, a hobbyist, and a collector of bus memorabilia, including depot signs, driver caps, and antique toy buses.<ref>Lehrer, Jim – "A Bus of My Own", New York: Putnam – 1992. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Hari Sreenivasan – "Jim Lehrer's 'Super' Office Tour", On the Road, PBS, April 16, 2010.[1]</ref> As a college student in the 1950s, he worked as a Trailways ticket agent in Victoria, Texas. He also was a supporter of the Pacific Bus Museum in Fremont, California, and the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, Pennsylvania.<ref name="PBSbio" />

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.<ref>Lehrer, Jim – "Top Down: A Novel of the Kennedy Assassination", New York: Random House, 2013. Template:ISBN.</ref> His last play, Bell, was produced by the National Geographic Society as part of their 125th anniversary celebration.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

DeathEdit

On January 23, 2020, Lehrer died from a heart attack at his home in Washington, D.C., at the age of 85. His remains were cremated.<ref name="NYT2020-01-23" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honors and awardsEdit

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BibliographyEdit

NovelsEdit

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MemoirsEdit

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ScreenplaysEdit

  • An adaptation of White Widow has been written by Luke Wilson<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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PlaysEdit

  • The Will and Bart Show<ref name=playbill>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Church Key Charlie Blue<ref name=playbill />
  • Chili Queen<ref name=playbill />
  • Bell<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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Further readingEdit

  • Art at Our Doorstep: San Antonio Writers and Artists featuring Jim Lehrer. Edited by Nan Cuba and Riley Robinson (Trinity University Press, 2008).

External linksEdit

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