Sunday, May 31, 2015 Bob Schieffer hosted his last 'Face the Nation' show before heading into retirement.
The 'Face the Nation' anchor announced in April that he would retire after more than 50 years of working in journalism.
Schieffer said his final farewell on his last show:
"As I prepared for this last broadcast as moderator of "Face the Nation," I thought back to when I was in the ninth grade and saw my byline in the school newspaper and decided right then I wanted to be a reporter.
I got a chance to do that.
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.
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 loved the news, but at the time, I thought every job I ever had was the best job in the world -- going behind police lines, talking to cops and soldiers, and then senators, and even presidents.
I 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. But the one thing I will never forget is the trust you placed in me, and how nice you were to have me as a guest in your home over so many years.
That meant the world to me, and it always will. Thank you."
Schieffer worked for CBS News for 46 years. 2015 marked his 24th year anchoring "Face the Nation," which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.
"Because that was where it all started for me, I wanted this to be the place, and I wanted you all to be the first to know that this summer I'm going to retire," he said at the annual Schieffer Symposium at Texas Christian University, his alma mater. "It's been a great adventure. You know, I'm one of the luckiest people in the world because as a little boy, as a young reporter, I always wanted to be a journalist, and I got to do that. And not many people get to do that, and I couldn't have asked for a better life or something that was more fun and more fulfilling."
He has interviewed every president since Richard Nixon as well as most of those who sought the office. Schieffer most recently interviewed President Obama last November, his third interview with the president on "Face the Nation."
Schieffer also moderated three debates for the Presidential Commission on Debates in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
"He's been an inspiration and a mentor to so many colleagues-- and frankly, to me. You could see at TCU tonight how that inspiration extends to a wider community of reporters and editors and academics," said CBS News President David Rhodes.
Prior to joining CBS in 1969, Schieffer was a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram where he was the first reporter from a Texas newspaper to report from Vietnam.
Schieffer has won virtually every award in broadcast journalism, including eight Emmys, the overseas Press Club Award, the Paul White Award presented by the TV News Directors Association, the Edward R. Murrow Award given by Murrow's alma mater Washington State University and in 2008 he was named a living legend by the Library of Congress. In 2013, he was inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame along with CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, actor Ron Howard, sportscaster Al Michaels and writer/producer Dick Wolf.
In 2014, "Face the Nation" was the highest rated Sunday talk show for the third consecutive year and the broadcast won an Emmy for its show covering the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination in 2013. Schieffer also received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence from the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Writing from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) in the Network Radio and Television category for a CBS Radio News commentary about "the ghost of Congress future."
In 2005, his alma mater Texas Christian University named its journalism school in his honor and in 2013 named the College, in which the journalism school is located, the Bob Schieffer College of Communication. Schieffer is one of the few reporters in Washington to have covered all four of the major beats: the Pentagon, the White House, Congress and the State Department. He became the network's chief Washington correspondent in 1982 and was named the anchor and moderator of "Face the Nation", CBS News' Sunday public affairs broadcast, in 1991.
Schieffer anchored the Saturday edition of the "CBS Evening News" for 23 years. In March 2005, with the departure of Dan Rather, Schieffer served as interim anchor of "The CBS Evening News," until August 2006 - a period that saw a substantial increase in ratings.
Schieffer has written four books: The New York Times bestsellers "This Just in" and "Bob Schieffer's America" as well as "Face The Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-winning News Broadcast" and "The Acting President."
He was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Fort Worth where he graduated from North Side High School and Texas Christian University. He served three years in the U.S. Air Force.
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