Lehrer, Jim (1934—)

James Charles Lehrer was born May 19, 1934, in Wichita, Kansas. A news anchor for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, he is an author of nonfiction and fiction novels, films, and plays. At Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas, he was one of the three sports editors at the Jefferson Declaration. Lehrer graduated from Victoria College and the University of Missouri. After serving 3 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, his journalism career began at the Dallas Morning News and then the Dallas Times-Herald. Lehrer covered the Kennedy assassination in 1963. He was also a political columnist at the Dallas Times-Herald and became the paper's city editor in 1968.

Lehrer's newspaper career led him to Dallas KERA-TV to work as executive director of public affairs, anchor, and editor of a nightly news program. His work with the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) began in 1972 when he moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as the public affairs coordinator. Lehrer was also a fellow at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and a member of PBS's Journalism Advisory Board. His work as a correspondent for the National Public Affairs Center for Television (NPACT) led to his relationship with Robert MacNeil. In 1973, Lehrer and MacNeil provided continuous live coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings on PBS, which won them an Emmy. He also covered the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry of Richard Nixon as a solo anchor on PBS.

In 1975, Lehrer became the Washington correspondent for the half-hour Robert MacNeil Report, which was renamed The MacNeil/Lehrer Report. The news program won more than 30 awards for journalistic excellence. The collaboration became The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in 1983 and continued until 1996, when MacNeil departed from the news program. Lehrer began hosting The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in 1996.

Lehrer's awards include the 1999 National Humanities Medal, presented by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, two Emmys, the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award, the George Foster Peabody Broadcast Award, the William Allen White Foundation Award for Journalistic Merit, and the University of Missouri School of Journalism's Medal of Honor. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Frame with MacNeil and inducted into the Silver Circle of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He was also elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Lehrer has served as a moderator for 10 of the nationally televised debates in the past four presidential elections.