Jim Lehrer

James Charles Lehrer (/ˈlɛərə/ LAIR-ə; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. 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 also wrote numerous fiction and non-fiction books that drew upon his experience as a newsman, along with his interests in history and politics.

Lehrer was born on May 19, 1934, in Wichita, Kansas. His mother, Lois Catherine Lehrer (née Chapman), was a teacher and bank clerk, and his father, Harry Frederick Lehrer, was a bus station manager. Lehrer's paternal grandparents were German immigrants. His maternal grandfather was J. B. Chapman, a prominent Church of the Nazarene figure. Lehrer had an older brother, Fred, who was a Baptist minister. He attended school in Wichita, 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. Lehrer 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.

After graduating from college, Lehrer followed in his father and older brother's footsteps by joining the United States Marine Corps, serving for three years as an infantry officer in the late 1950s. Lehrer 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.

In 1959, Lehrer began his career in journalism at The Dallas Morning News in Texas. Later, Lehrer worked as a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald, where he covered the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Lehrer was a political columnist there for several years, and he became the city editor in 1968.

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. In 1972, Lehrer 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). 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). Lehrer covered the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry of President Richard Nixon.

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.

In order to maintain objectivity, Lehrer chose not to vote.

Lehrer underwent a heart valve surgery in April 2008, allowing Ray Suarez, Gwen Ifill, and Judy Woodruff to anchor in his stead until Lehrer's return on June 26, 2008. He had recovered from a minor heart attack in 1983 at age 49.