Editing Barbara Walters (section)

=== ''ABC Evening News'' and ''20/20'' ===
Walters signed a five-year, $5&nbsp;million contract with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], establishing her as the highest-paid news anchor, either male or female.<ref name=stanley_12302022/> She and [[Harry Reasoner]] co-anchored the ''[[ABC Evening News]]'' from 1976 to 1978, making her the first American female network news anchor.<ref name=bbc_12312022/> Reasoner had a difficult relationship with Walters because he disliked having a co-anchor, even though he worked with former CBS colleague [[Howard K. Smith]] nightly on ABC for several years. Walters said that the tension between the two was because Reasoner did not want to work with a co-anchor and also because he was unhappy at ABC, not because he disliked Walters personally.<ref>{{cite web|title=Barbara Walters on working with Harry Reasoner on ABC News| date=August 27, 2009 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTdot_qjcts| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/LTdot_qjcts| archive-date=October 30, 2021|access-date=February 15, 2021|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 1981, five years after the start of their short-lived ABC partnership and well after Reasoner returned to CBS News, Walters and her former co-anchor had a memorable (and cordial) ''20/20'' interview on the occasion of Reasoner's new book release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.today.com/popculture/barbara-walters-legendary-career-offers-view-back-today-2D79669608|title=Barbara Walters' legendary career offers a 'View' back to Today|website=Today.com|date=May 16, 2014|language=en|access-date=February 24, 2019|archive-date=February 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225225449/https://www.today.com/popculture/barbara-walters-legendary-career-offers-view-back-today-2D79669608|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1979, Walters reunited with former ''The Today Show'' host Downs as a correspondent on the ABC newsmagazine ''[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]''. She became Downs' co-host in 1984, and remained with the program until she retired as co-host in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |first=Frazier |last=Moore |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/barbara-walters-says-goodbye-20-20-wbna6011614 |title=Barbara Walters says goodbye to '20/20' |date=September 15, 2004 |publisher=Today.com |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231061017/https://www.today.com/popculture/barbara-walters-says-goodbye-20-20-wbna6011614 |url-status=live }}</ref> Throughout her career at ABC, Walters appeared on ABC news specials as a commentator, including presidential inaugurations and the coverage of the [[September 11 attacks]]. She was also chosen to be the moderator for the third and final debate between candidates [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Gerald Ford]], held on the campus of the [[College of William and Mary]] at [[Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall]] in [[Williamsburg, Virginia]], during the [[1976 United States presidential election|1976 presidential election]].<ref name=CNN>[https://web.archive.org/web/20001006083517/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/debates/history.story/1976.html CNN: 1976 Presidential Debates]. Retrieved June 14, 2008.</ref> In 1984, she moderated a presidential debate which was held at the Dana Center for the Humanities at [[Saint Anselm College]] in [[Goffstown, New Hampshire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VkIsAAAAIBAJ&pg=3623,1412416&dq=barbara+walters+saint+anselm&hl=en|title=Herald-Journal|via=Google News Archive Search|access-date=November 11, 2022|archive-date=November 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111212140/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VkIsAAAAIBAJ&pg=3623%2C1412416&dq=barbara%20walters%20saint%20anselm&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Interviews ====
[[File:Barbara Walters-The Fords.jpg|left|thumb|Walters interviewing President [[Gerald Ford]] and [[Betty Ford]] in 1976]]
Walters was known for "personality journalism"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/barbara-walters-changed-the-way-we-saw-news-ourselves/ |title=Barbara Walters changed the way we saw news, ourselves |work=The Seattle Times |date=May 16, 2014 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101013218/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/barbara-walters-changed-the-way-we-saw-news-ourselves/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and her "scoop" interviews.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Madarang |first=Charisma |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/barbara-walters-dead-obituary-1234654751/ |title=Barbara Walters, Legendary TV Icon, Dies at 93 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=September 25, 1929 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101013218/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/barbara-walters-dead-obituary-1234654751/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1976, she first aired her highly rated, occasional, primetime ''Barbara Walters Specials'' interview program. Her first guests included a joint appearance by President-elect Jimmy Carter and [[Rosalynn Carter]], and a separate interview with singer-actress [[Barbra Streisand]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 22, 2017 |title=Barbara Walters Specials |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/barbara-walters-specials |access-date=January 1, 2023 |website=Television Academy Foundation |language=en |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101205357/https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/barbara-walters-specials |url-status=live }}</ref> In November 1977, she landed the first joint interview with Egyptian president [[Anwar Al Sadat]] and Israeli prime minister [[Menachem Begin]], while they were working out the terms of the eventual [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty]].<ref name=macaskill_12312022/><ref>{{cite web|first=Brooke|last=Master|title=Barbara Walters, journalist, 1929–2023|date=January 7, 2023|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/e30133ba-a479-4532-947f-d5097afe4ac6|access-date=January 29, 2023|archive-date=January 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125205808/https://www.ft.com/content/e30133ba-a479-4532-947f-d5097afe4ac6|url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', when she competed with [[Walter Cronkite]] to interview both world leaders, at the end of Cronkite's interview, he is heard saying: "Did Barbara get anything I didn't get?"<ref>{{cite news|last=Maselin|first=J.|date=May 5, 2008|title=Hard sell, soft touch, and the right question|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/books/05masl.html|access-date=January 31, 2017|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220192328/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/books/05masl.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Walters had sit-down interviews with world leaders, including the Shah of Iran, [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]], and his wife, the Empress [[Farah Pahlavi]];<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/asia/article/farah-pahlavi-interview-on-marriage-to-the-shah-her-unseen-art-collection-and-the-future-of-iran-d6x799hnq|title=Farah Pahlavi interview: on marriage to the Shah, her unseen art collection and the future of Iran|first=Charles|last=Bremner|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=January 1, 2023|archive-date=January 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101014734/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/farah-pahlavi-interview-on-marriage-to-the-shah-her-unseen-art-collection-and-the-future-of-iran-d6x799hnq|url-status=live}}</ref> Russia's [[Boris Yeltsin]] and [[Vladimir Putin]];<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/90428152 |title=Barbara Walters Tells Her Story |publisher=NPR |date=May 14, 2008 |access-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref> China's [[Jiang Zemin]]; the UK's [[Margaret Thatcher]];<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/barbara-walters-has-some-wisdo |title=Barbara Walters on Her Retirement |publisher=Glamour |date=May 16, 2014 |access-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref> Cuba's [[Fidel Castro]],<ref>{{cite web |first=Cynthia |last=Littleton |url=https://variety.com/2022/biz/news/barbara-walters-best-interviews-monica-lewinsky-castro-katharine-hepburn-1235476758/ |title=Barbara Walters Most Memorable Interviews: Monica Lewinsky and More |work=Variety |date=December 31, 2022 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231222402/https://variety.com/2022/biz/news/barbara-walters-best-interviews-monica-lewinsky-castro-katharine-hepburn-1235476758/ |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as India's [[Indira Gandhi]],<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/12/i-have-to-ask-barbara-walters |title=Becoming Barbara Walters |magazine=The New Yorker |date=May 5, 2008 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101020231/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/12/i-have-to-ask-barbara-walters |url-status=live }}</ref> Czechoslovakia's [[Václav Havel]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=Walter |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/02/arts/vaclav-havel-discusses-new-role-with-barbara-walters.html |title=Vaclav Havel Discusses New Role With Barbara Walters |work=The New York Times |date=February 2, 1990 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101014725/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/02/arts/vaclav-havel-discusses-new-role-with-barbara-walters.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Libya's [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]],<ref>{{cite web |first=Mikey |last=O'Connell |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/moammar-gadhafi-barbara-walters-251933/ |title=Moammar Gadhafi's 1989 Interview With Barbara Walters Released by ABC News (Video) |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=October 21, 2011 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101014729/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/moammar-gadhafi-barbara-walters-251933/ |url-status=live }}</ref> King [[Hussein of Jordan]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Buckley |first=Tom |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/29/archives/a-barbara-walters-special-on-abctv-tonight-love-and-romance-is.html |title=A Barbara Walters Special on ABC-TV Tonight |work=The New York Times |date=November 29, 1978 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101015350/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/29/archives/a-barbara-walters-special-on-abctv-tonight-love-and-romance-is.html |url-status=live }}</ref> King [[Abdullah of Saudi Arabia]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/International/story?id=1214706&page=1|title=Transcript: Saudi King Abdullah Talks to Barbara Walters|website=ABC News|access-date=January 1, 2023|archive-date=January 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101015351/https://abcnews.go.com/2020/International/story?id=1214706&page=1|url-status=live}}</ref> Venezuelan President [[Hugo Chávez]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/03/reporters-notebook-barbara-walters-rare-interview-with-hugo-chavez|title=Reporter's Notebook: Barbara Walters' Rare Interview with Hugo Chavez|website=ABC News|access-date=January 1, 2023|archive-date=January 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101015353/https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/03/reporters-notebook-barbara-walters-rare-interview-with-hugo-chavez|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq's]] [[Saddam Hussein]] and many others. Walters interviewed other influential people including pop icon [[Michael Jackson]], [[Katharine Hepburn]], ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' editor [[Anna Wintour]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Kevin |last=Fallon |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/barbara-walterss-biggest-interviews-from-castro-to-bieber-video |title=Barbara Walters's Biggest Interviews, From Castro to Bieber (Video) |newspaper=The Daily Beast |date=March 29, 2013 |publisher=Thedailybeast.com |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101015351/https://www.thedailybeast.com/barbara-walterss-biggest-interviews-from-castro-to-bieber-video |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Laurence Olivier]] in 1980.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/05/05/barbara-walters-strip/8728815/ |title=Barbara Walters can sniff a great interview out of anyone |work=USA Today |date=May 5, 2014 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101015352/https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/05/05/barbara-walters-strip/8728815/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Walters considered [[Robert Smithdas]], a deaf-blind man who spent his life improving the lives of other individuals who are deaf-blind, as her most inspirational interviewee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/interviews-barbara-walters-forget/story?id=23734421|title=7 Interviews Barbara Walters Will Never Forget|website=ABC News|access-date=January 1, 2023|archive-date=January 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101015351/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/interviews-barbara-walters-forget/story?id=23734421|url-status=live}}</ref>

Walters was widely lampooned for asking actress Katharine Hepburn, "If you were a tree, what kind would you be?" On the last ''20/20'' television episode in which she appears, Walters showed a video of the Hepburn interview, showing the actress saying that she felt like a strong tree in her old age. Walters followed up with the question, "What kind of a tree?", and Hepburn responded "an oak" because they do not get [[Dutch elm disease]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Cynthia |last=Littleton |url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/barbara-walters-probing-questions-and-a-tall-tale-of-the-tree-1201152684/ |title=Barbara Walters: Probing Questions and a Tall Tale of the Tree |work=Variety |date=April 8, 2014 |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231044329/https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/barbara-walters-probing-questions-and-a-tall-tale-of-the-tree-1201152684/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Walters, for years Hepburn refused her requests for an interview. When Hepburn finally agreed she said she wanted to meet Walters first. Walters walked affably, while Hepburn was at the top of the stairs and said, "You're late. Have you brought me chocolates?"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livingmgz.com/life/we-all-loved-to-watch-her-unique-interviews-this-is-barbara-walters/|title=We All Loved to Watch Her Unique Interviews: This Is Barbara Walters – Page 6 of 25|date=September 14, 2020|website=Living Magazine|access-date=January 1, 2023|archive-date=August 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828130227/https://www.livingmgz.com/life/we-all-loved-to-watch-her-unique-interviews-this-is-barbara-walters/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:President Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, and Rex in the residence during an interview with Barbara Walters.jpg|thumb|right|Walters with President [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Nancy Reagan]] in 1986]]

Walters had not but said she never showed up without them from then on. They had several other meetings later, mostly in Hepburn's living room where she would give Walters her opinions. These included that careers and marriage did not mix, as well as her feeling that combining children with careers was out of the question. Walters said Hepburn's opinions stuck with her so much, she could repeat them almost verbatim from that point onward.<ref name="Walters, Barbara 2008" />

Her television special about Cuban leader Fidel Castro aired on ABC-TV on June 9, 1977. Although the footage of her two days of interviewing Castro in [[Cuba]] showed his personality, in part, as freewheeling, charming, and humorous,<ref>{{cite book |last=Walters |first=Barbara |title=Audition: a memoir |year=2008 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-26646-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_B004FR2X2W/page/324 324]–333 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_B004FR2X2W |url-access=registration }}</ref> she pointedly said to him, "You allow no dissent. Your newspapers, radio, television, motion pictures are under state control." To this, he replied, "Barbara, our concept of freedom of the press is not yours. If you asked us if a newspaper could appear here against socialism, I can say honestly no, it cannot appear. It would not be allowed by the party, the government, or the people. In that sense we do not have the [[freedom of the press]] that you possess in the U.S. and we are very satisfied about that."<ref>{{cite book |last=Walters |first=Barbara |title=Audition: a memoir |year=2008 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-26646-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_B004FR2X2W/page/327 327] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_B004FR2X2W |url-access=registration }}</ref> She concluded the broadcast saying, "What we disagreed on most profoundly is the meaning of freedom—and that is what truly separates us."<ref>{{cite book |last=Walters |first=Barbara |title=Audition: a memoir |year=2008 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-26646-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_B004FR2X2W/page/329 329] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_B004FR2X2W |url-access=registration }}</ref> At the time, Walters did not mention that she had seen New York Yankees owner [[George Steinbrenner]], pitcher [[Whitey Ford]], and several coaches in Cuba who were there to assist Cuban ballplayers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/steinbrenner-lion-baseball-explores-boss-relationship-barbara-walters-article-1.445363 |title='Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball' explores The Boss' relationship with Barbara Walters |work=Daily News |location=New York |date=May 10, 2010 |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231044513/https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/steinbrenner-lion-baseball-explores-boss-relationship-barbara-walters-article-1.445363 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On March 3, 1999, her interview with [[Monica Lewinsky]] was seen by a record 74 million viewers, the highest rating ever for a news program.<ref>{{cite news |last=De Moraes |first=Lisa |title=Monica Lewinsky Beats the Competition |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/tv030599.htm |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=May 12, 2013 |date=March 5, 1999 |archive-date=May 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524103201/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/tv030599.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Walters asked Lewinsky, "What will you tell your children when you have them?" Lewinsky replied, "Mommy made a big mistake," at which point Walters brought the program to a dramatic conclusion, turning to the camera and saying, "that is the understatement of the year."<ref>{{cite news |last=Shales |first=Tom |title=Once More, With Feeling |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/shales030499.htm |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=May 12, 2013 |date=March 4, 1999 |archive-date=May 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524120915/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/shales030499.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

''[[Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People]]'' was aired annually starting in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|first=Matt|last=Brennan|title=Barbara Walters' 12 most influential TV interviews|date=December 30, 2022|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-30/barbara-walters-most-influential-tv-interviews|access-date=January 2, 2023|archive-date=January 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102073913/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-30/barbara-walters-most-influential-tv-interviews|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2000, she quizzed pop star [[Ricky Martin]] about his sexuality years before he publicly [[came out]]. The singer later said that "he felt violated".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2021/06/02/ricky-martin-has-ptsd-barbara-walters-interview-felt-violated/7511961002/ |title=Ricky Martin says he has 'PTSD' from 2000 Barbara Walters interview |work=USA Today |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231192645/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2021/06/02/ricky-martin-has-ptsd-barbara-walters-interview-felt-violated/7511961002/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2010, Walters said that she regretted having pushed him on the issue.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/barbara-walters-my-night_b_492263 |title=Barbara Walters: My Night of Regret With Ricky Martin! &#124; HuffPost Entertainment |date=May 9, 2010 |publisher=Huffpost.com |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231070509/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/barbara-walters-my-night_b_492263 |url-status=live }}</ref>