CBS News’ Bob Schieffer, one of the few anchors in America who has not, as far as we know, lied about being in a helicopter that crash landed in Iraq, will be leaving the network this summer and retiring. The Hollywood Reporter says he made the announcement during a speech at Fort Worth’s Texas Christian University, presumably because he just found out that he’s not getting the Daily Show gig.
Schieffer became the anchor for the weekend editions of the CBS Evening News in 1973, and he held that position until 2005, when he took over the regular CBS Evening News after Dan Rather’s resignation. He then became the organization’s chief Washington correspondent during Katie Couric’s reign as the CBS Evening News anchor. Schieffer has also hosted CBS’ Face The Nation since 1991, and he has interviewed every president since Richard Nixon. As THR notes, Schieffer said in his speech that he wanted to leave CBS News while it was in a good place, saying, “We, like any large organization, have had our ups and downs; we’re on a high right now.” Like most things, we’re just going to assume that’s a dig at NBC.