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Jim Lehrer

Anchor, "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer"

Born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1934, Jim Lehrer attended Victoria College. In 1956, he received a Bachelor's journalism degree from the University of Missouri before joining the Marine Corps, where he served three years as an infantry officer. For the following decade, Lehrer worked as a reporter in Dallas, before moving on to a local experimental news program on public television.

He came to Washington with PBS in 1972 and teamed up with Robert MacNeil in 1973 to cover the Senate Watergate hearings. In 1975, they started what became "The MacNeil/Lehrer Report" and then the "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" in 1983, the first 60-minute evening news program on television.

The program became The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in 1995 when MacNeil retired. Lehrer has received numerous awards for his work, including a presidential National Humanities Medal in 1999. He also has moderated ten of the nationally televised candidate debates in the last five presidential elections.

Lehrer is the author of 17 novels, including Eureka (2007), The Phony Marine (2006), The Franklin Affair (2005), and Flying Crows (2004). He has also written two memoirs and three plays. Lehrer and his wife, Kate, have been married since 1960. They have three daughters and six grandchildren.

What is your counsel?

You have to get involved.

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6 min

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How did your childhood shape you?

Because of the Depression and World War II, Lehrer grew up not taking anything for granted.

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3 min

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The Media Today

Lehrer’s organization in PBS is a Quaker monarchy.

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11 min

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Everyone’s an optimist!

You can’t just be cynical and be a journalist.

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3 min

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The Aspen Ideas Festival

The Aspen Ideas Festival brings people together.

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2 min

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The One Man Jim Lehrer Wishes He Could Interview

Jim Lehrer explains his lifelong love for the work of J.D. Salinger, and describes what he would ask in a dream interview with the literary legend.

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1 min

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What should be the big issues of the 2008 US presidential election?

Lehrer says we should actually act on our pledges to improve education.

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2 min

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How has America changed in your lifetime?

Unlike the America of his childhood, the country no longer has a shared experience to draw upon.

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America’s Place in the World

As an American, Jim Lehrer is worried about what is done in his name.

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5 min

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The Road to Iraq

If we’d had a mandatory military service, Lehrer wonders, would we still have invaded Iraq?

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Where is America today?

Lehrer, on Americans’ lack of cohesion.

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2 min

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Jim Lehrer talks about duty, shared experience, and what it means to serves one’s country.

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12 min

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What are the recurring themes in your work?

Jim Lehrer writes about people fighting like hell to be successful.

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4 min

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How do you write?

Jim Lehrer, on why and how he writes.

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3 min

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Do you have a creative process?

Jim Lehrer talks about what goes into a broadcast, or a novel.

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Jim Lehrer reflects on the impact of Ms. Litton.

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2 min

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What is your question?

Who do you blame?

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Get involved, says Jim Lehrer

Get involved, Lehrer says.

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3 min

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What is your outlook?

Jim Lehrer is optimistic that the next president will get a handle on today’s problems.

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Everything flows from how America exercises its power.

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6 min

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America has suffered, Lehrer says, because we no longer have a shared experience and a sense of collective responsibility.

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7 min

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What do you believe?

Jim Lehrer always assumes the good.

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7 min

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What inspires you?

Jim Lehrer is of the Hemingway generation: he just sits down, and writes.

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6 min

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How do you contribute?

Jim Lehrer’s legacy is one of fostering civilized dialogue.

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8 min

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What do you do?

Jim Lehrer talks about his work in TV journalism and how the media consumer should be more actively critical.

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7 min

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Jim Lehrer talks about being a child of the Depression.

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