He also anchored PBS coverage of inaugurations and conventions, dismissing criticism from other TV news organizations that the latter had become too scripted to yield much in the way of real news.
Naturally, Lehrer came in for some knocks for being so low-key in the big televised events. After a matchup between George W. But the real-life Lehrer — who had a tradition of buying a new tie for good luck before each debate — was more colorful than he might have seemed on PBS. On the side, he was also a novelist and sometime playwright. He did a whole series of novels about the adventures of an Oklahoma politician known as The One-Eyed Mack.
Lehrer was born in Wichita, Kansas, in , the son of parents who ran a bus line. After graduation from college in , he served three years in the Marines, later calling the experience so valuable that he thought all young people should take part in national service. Lehrer jumped to television for a Dallas nightly newscast.
Lehrer wrote that it was ironic that the Watergate hearings helped establish the importance of public TV, since President Richard Nixon hated public broadcasting. He also recalled that the lengthy hearings gave him the chance to practice his new craft, and MacNeil, already a veteran, gave him valuable pointers on how to speak on camera clearly and conversationally.
I've looked up to him as the standard for fair, probing and thoughtful journalism and I know countless others who feel the same way. Read More. Lehrer held the record for presidential debate moderating: He helmed 12 general election debates, "more than any other person in U. In his book "Tension City," named for his apt description of what debate nights felt like, Lehrer said he had "pre-debate anxieties" no matter how many times he moderated.
Anyone entrusted as a moderator must "keep the event fair and moving while staying out of the way," he wrote. Fox News anchor Bret Baier called Lehrer "a legend in our business and a very genuine, gracious man" who inspired a generation of political journalists. Lehrer grew up in Kansas and Texas. Upon graduation from the Missouri School of Journalism in , he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served as an infantry officer.
In a speech at Harvard , he said he expected to be drafted if he did not enlist. Not for my country's sake, but for my own," Lehrer said in I learned to be dependent on others. I learned there was more to life than me, me, me, me. That same year, while speaking at a Marine museum dedication in Quantico, Virginia, Lehrer said that his service also trained him to remember that decisions about U. He also appeared 12 times as a presidential debate moderator. Politics, international relations, economics, science, even developments in the arts all received lengthy, detailed coverage.
And we were certain they could and would hang in there more than 35 seconds for information about those subjects if given a chance. He conducted interviews with presidents and numerous foreign leaders, including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the s. Among his most memorable interviews was one with President Clinton in January Lehrer was the first person to question the president after news of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky broke.
Lehrer earnestly began the question by stating that Kenneth Starr, then an independent counsel, was investigating whether Clinton had suborned perjury by encouraging the former White House intern to lie under oath during a civil deposition. President, is that true? The poker-faced Lehrer moderated his first presidential debate in and was a frequent consensus choice for the task in subsequent presidential contests.
He also anchored PBS coverage of inaugurations and conventions, dismissing criticism from other TV news organizations that the latter had become too scripted to yield much in the way of real news. Lehrer endured criticism for being so low-key in the big televised events. After a matchup between George W. But the real-life Lehrer — who had a tradition of buying a new tie for good luck before each debate — was more colorful than the version he projected to viewers at home.
He was a playwright in addition to being a novelist. He did a whole series of novels about the adventures of an Oklahoma politician known as the One-Eyed Mack. James Charles Lehrer was born in Wichita, Kan. His parents once owned a modest bus line that transported passengers from farm communities in rural Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas that were too small for Greyhound. After graduation from college in , he served three years in the Marines — and later called the experience so valuable he thought all young people should take part in national service.
Lehrer jumped to television on a Dallas nightly newscast. After that, the pair launched their program. Lehrer -- who had suffered a heart attack in and in April underwent heart valve surgery -- then began his gradual exit. He later told the Los Angeles Times that in , he began making plans for his succession at the show. He retired two years later , bringing an end to the longest run of a national anchorman. Meg James is a corporate media reporter for the Los Angeles Times, covering the business of television and digital disruption in the entertainment industry.
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