Jim Lehrer (James Charles Lehrer) was a journalist, news anchor, and writer from the United States.
Jim Lehrer Biography
Jim Lehrer (James Charles Lehrer) was a journalist, news anchor, and writer from the United States. Lehrer received multiple honors for his journalism over his career, including the National Humanities Medal, the Peabody Award, and the George Polk Award.
He has also served as the PBS NewsHour‘s Executive Editor and News Anchor in the past. In addition to his experience as a newsman, Lehrer also drew on his interests in history and politics to write a number of fiction and non-fiction novels.
After finishing high school at Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas, Lehrer attended middle school in Beaumont, Texas. He worked as the sports editor for the Jefferson Declaration during high school. He earned an A.A. from Victoria College before earning a B.J. from the University of Missouri’s Missouri School of Journalism in 1956.
Following his college graduation, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps. He then says that his service and travels have given him the ability to look beyond himself and feel a connection to the rest of the world that he otherwise would not have.
Jim Lehrer Age
James C. Lehrer was born on May 19, 1934 in Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Jim Lehrer Family
Lehrer was conceived by Harry Frederick Lehrer, a bus station manager, and Lois Catherine Lehrer (née Chapman), a bank teller. Harry had a bus company for a while.
Jim Lehrer Wife
On June 4, 1960, Lehrer wed novelist Kate Tom Staples. Three daughters and six grandchildren belong to the marriage.
Jim Lehrer Career
At The Dallas Morning News in Texas, Lehrer started his journalism career in 1959. Later, he was a reporter for the Dallas Times-Herald, where he covered John F. Kennedy’s murder in 1963. There, Lehrer worked as a political columnist for a while until being promoted to city editor in 1968.
At KERA-TV in Dallas, Texas, where he started his television career, he worked as the nightly news editor, on-air host, and executive director of public affairs.
Then he relocated to PBS in Washington, D.C., where he currently works as the Public Affairs Coordinator and is a Fellow at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). He is also a member of the journalism advisory board. Lehere met Robert MacNeil while working as a correspondent for the National Public Affairs Center for Television (NPACT).
The two reported live on PBS from the Senate Watergate hearings and the release of the Watergate Tapes. Jim also covered President Richard Nixon’s impeachment investigation by the House Judiciary Committee.
In October 1975, he started working as the Washington Correspondent for the “Robert MacNeil Report” on Thirteen/WNET New York. The program was renamed “The MacNeil/Lehrer Report” as a result of his promotion to co-anchor on December 1, 1975. The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour was the new name for the pair’s program.
Jim Lehrer The Newshour
It was renamed The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer after MacNeil left in 1995, then in 2009 it changed its name to the PBS NewsHour. Journalist Ray Suarez hosted the program until Lehrer returned on June 26, 2008, after undergoing heart valve surgery in April 2008.
On June 6, 2011, Jim gave up his position as host of the PBS NewsHour, but he kept moderating the Friday news analysis parts. He nevertheless kept up his association with MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, the show’s producing firm.
Jim Lehrer Debate
He has worked on various initiatives relating to the American Presidential Debates, such as the Debating Our Destiny documentaries from 2000 and 2008. Extracted from exclusive interviews with many of the presidential and vice presidential candidates since 1976, the documentaries. Bernard Shaw, a former CNN employee, gave him the moniker “The Dean of Moderators” since he presided over 12 presidential debates.
Additionally, he presided over the opening presidential debate for the general election of 2012 in the United States. After 2008, Lehrer initially made a vow not to moderate any debates.
He eventually agreed because he was intrigued by the novel format when the Commission on Presidential Debates insisted. The debate covered domestic policy topics and was conducted at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado.
Jim Lehrer The Last Debate
While Lehrer was attacked for his lack of control and open-ended questions when he came out of semi-retirement to oversee the 12th Presidential Debate, he was praised for giving the candidates some influence over the debate on their own terms.
Jim Lehrer Retirement
In May 2011, Lehrer made his retirement announcement, stating that it would take effect on June 6, 2011.
Jim Lehrer Tension City
Jim Lehrer provides readers with a front-row view of some of the most important political debates of our time, illuminating all the pivotal moments and rhetorical gaffes that influenced the results of the American presidential elections.
Lehrer describes the “Major Moments” and “killer questions” that defined the debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain, drawing on his own experiences as “the man in the middle seat,” in-depth interviews with the candidates and his fellow moderators, and transcripts of significant exchanges. He also provides his insightful analysis of the 2012 Republican primary debates in this paperback edition.
Jim Lehrer Books
Lehere has authored multiple books, plays, screenplays, and three autobiographies.
One-Eyed Mack Series
(1988) – Kick the Can
(1989) – Crown
(1990) – The Sooner Spy
(1991) – Lost and Found.
(1992) – Short List
(1994) – Fine Lines
Charlie Henderson Series
(1993) – Blue Hearts
(1998) – Purple Dots
Stand-alone
(1966) – Viva Max!
(1995) – The Last Debate
(1996) – White Widow
(2000) – The Special Prisoner
(2002) – No Certain Rest
(2004) – Flying Crows: A Novel
(2005) – The Franklin Affair
(2006) – The Phony Marine
(2007) – Eureka
(2009) – Oh, Johnny
(2010) – Super
(2013) – Top Down: A Novel of the Kennedy Assassination.
Memoirs
(1975) – We Were Dreamers
(1992) – A Bus of My Own
(2011) – Tension City
Jim Lehrer Net Worth
The veteran journalist has not made public his net worth, but is estimated to be worth $5million.
