Bob Schieffer Signs Off

'Face the Nation' moderator retires after 24 years, 46 with CBS
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 31, 2015 11:39 AM CDT
Bob Schieffer Signs Off
Bob Schieffer interviews former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, May 30, 2015.   (Rob Hendin/CBS News via AP)

Bob Schieffer won't see you next Sunday when CBS' Face the Nation airs with a new lineup of politicians and pundits. He moderated his final broadcast today after 24 years, ending a journalism career that started at age 20 at a radio station in Fort Worth, Texas. During the show, the 78-year-old Schieffer said he tried to "remember that the news is not about the newscaster, it's about the people who make it and those who are affected by it. I'll be honest, I'm going to miss being in the middle of things." He said he would never forget the trust that he said viewers placed in him and "how nice you were to have me as a guest in your home over so many years."

It's been the news that mattered for Schieffer, and today's show reflected that—timely interviews with CIA Director John Brennan and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. In recent years, Face the Nation has been highly competitive in the ratings with network rivals. From the time he was in the 9th grade and saw his byline in the school newspaper, Schieffer wanted to be a reporter. "When I was a young reporter, I wanted to work for CBS because Walter Cronkite was my hero, and I got a chance to do that," he said. "And after I was here a while, I wanted to be the moderator of Face the Nation and I got to do that, and did it for 24 years. Maybe it's because I just love the news, but at the time I thought every job I ever had was the best job in the world." (More Bob Schieffer stories.)

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