Bill Moyers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bill Moyers
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Moyers in 2017
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| 11th White House Press Secretary | |
| In office July 8, 1965 – February 1, 1967 |
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| President | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | George Reedy |
| Succeeded by | George Christian |
| White House Chief of Staff | |
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De facto
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| In office October 14, 1964 – July 8, 1965 |
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| President | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Walter Jenkins (de facto) |
| Succeeded by | Jack Valenti (de facto) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Billy Don Moyers
June 5, 1934 Hugo, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Judith Suzanne Davidson
(m. 1954) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education |
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Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers; June 5, 1934) is a famous American journalist and political commentator. A journalist is someone who gathers and reports news. A political commentator shares their opinions on political events.
Moyers worked for the United States government. From 1965 to 1967, he was the eleventh White House Press Secretary. This job involves speaking for the President to the news media. He also worked for many years as a TV news commentator. Moyers is well-known for his work with public broadcasting. He produced many documentaries and news shows. He has won many awards for his investigative journalism. This means he digs deep to find facts and uncover important stories.
Contents
- Early Life and School
- Working for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
- Journalism Career
- Disagreement with CPB
- Organizations and Groups
- Personal Life
- Published Books
- Images for kids
- See also
Early Life and School
Bill Moyers was born in Hugo, Oklahoma. His parents were John Henry Moyers and Ruby Johnson Moyers. He grew up in Marshall, Texas.
Moyers started his journalism career very young. At 16, he was a cub reporter for the Marshall News Messenger newspaper. He studied journalism at the University of North Texas. In 1954, he worked as an intern for Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a U.S. Senator at the time. Moyers later managed Johnson's personal mail.
He then went to the University of Texas at Austin. There, he wrote for the student newspaper, The Daily Texan. In 1956, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. While in Austin, he also worked for radio and TV stations. These stations were owned by Lady Bird Johnson, Senator Johnson's wife. He also studied in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh. In 1959, he earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Moyers was a top helper for Senator Johnson in 1960. Johnson was trying to become the Democratic candidate for president. Moyers also helped connect Johnson with John F. Kennedy during the 1960 presidential election.
Working for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
Starting the Peace Corps
The Peace Corps was created by President Kennedy in March 1961. It is a program where American volunteers help people in other countries. Bill Moyers and Sargent Shriver worked hard to get money to start the organization. The Peace Corps Act was signed into law in September 1961.
Moyers later said that the Peace Corps was "a way of being in the world." He also said that his years at the Peace Corps were "the best years of our lives." Moyers first worked as an associate director for public affairs. Then he became Sargent Shriver's deputy director. In November 1963, he became a special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Creating Public Broadcasting
Moyers played a big part in creating the public broadcasting system. In 1961, a government official named Newton N. Minow said that TV was a "vast wasteland." He meant that TV needed more shows that were good for the public. President Johnson's team then studied this idea.
Bill Moyers was on a committee that looked into non-commercial educational television. This committee released a report in 1967. Moyers said that public broadcasting became "a central part of the American consciousness." He also said it became "a valuable institution within our culture."
Moyers helped create the law that made public broadcasting possible. In 1967, President Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. This law said it was important to help public radio and TV grow. It also said these media should be used for teaching, education, and culture.
Working for President Johnson
When Lyndon B. Johnson became president after the Kennedy assassination, Moyers became his special assistant. He worked for Johnson from 1963 to 1967. Moyers is the last person still alive who can be seen in the famous photo of Johnson's swearing-in.
He helped organize Johnson's "Great Society" plans in 1964. He was also a main planner for Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign. Moyers was like Johnson's informal chief of staff from October 1964 to July 1965. From July 1965 to February 1967, he was also the White House press secretary.
Moyers approved a famous political advertisement called the "Daisy Ad." This ad was against Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential campaign. Some people say this ad was the start of negative campaign ads today.
A journalist named Morley Safer wrote in his book that Moyers and President Johnson met with Safer's boss at CBS. They were upset about Safer's news report on the Vietnam War. Moyers said that Safer's claims were because Moyers had reported tough stories about later presidents.
In 1966, Moyers said about working for President Johnson: "I work for him despite his faults and he lets me work for him despite my deficiencies." In 1967, he said that Johnson saw the Vietnam War as his most important legacy. Moyers felt that continuing the war would hurt the country. He even said he might wish for Johnson to lose if he ran again. The exact reasons for his disagreement with Johnson were not fully known. However, a tape from 1968 showed they were still in touch. Moyers even encouraged Johnson to change his mind about not running for president again.
Journalism Career
Newsday Newspaper
Moyers worked as the publisher for the Newsday newspaper from 1967 to 1970. This newspaper used to be more conservative. Moyers changed it to be more progressive. He brought in famous writers and added more investigative reporting. The newspaper's sales went up, and it won 33 major journalism awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes.
However, the owner of the paper, Harry Guggenheim, was a conservative. He was not happy with the newspaper's new liberal direction. They disagreed about the Vietnam War and the 1968 presidential election. Moyers resigned a few days later.
Working for CBS News
In 1976, Moyers joined CBS News. He worked as an editor and chief reporter for CBS Reports until 1981. Then, he was a senior news analyst and commentator for the CBS Evening News until 1986. He was the last regular commentator for that network news show. Moyers spoke publicly about news standards getting worse at CBS. He decided not to renew his contract, saying he had commitments with PBS.
Working for NBC News
Moyers briefly worked for NBC News in 1995 as a senior analyst. The next year, he became the first host of MSNBC's Insight program. He was also the last regular commentator on the NBC Nightly News.
Working for PBS
Bill Moyers Journal (1972–1981)
In 1971, Moyers started working for the PBS. His first PBS show was called This Week with Bill Moyers.
His show Bill Moyers Journal ran on PBS from 1972 to 1981. He later hosted another show with the same name from 2007 to 2010. In 1975, Bill Moyers Journal showed a documentary called Rosedale: The Way It Is. It was about the anger after the first Black family moved into a neighborhood in Queens, New York.
Special Programs (1982–2006)
From 1982 to 2006, Moyers produced and hosted 70 different documentaries and interview series on PBS. These shows often featured interviews with famous people.
Some of the people he interviewed or featured included:
- Joseph Campbell (Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, 1988)
- Elie Wiesel (Facing Hate, 1991)
- Pete Seeger (Pure Pete Seeger, 1994)
- Desmond Tutu (Archbishop Tutu, 1999)
- George Lucas (The Mythology of Star Wars, 1999)
Moyers also hosted a series called A World of Ideas from 1988–1990. This series had many interviews with thinkers and writers.
His shows covered many different topics, such as:
- History (like A Walk Through the 20th Century)
- Religion (like Genesis: A Living Conversation)
- Morality (like Beyond Hate)
- Politics (like Money Talks)
- The media (like Free Speech for Sale)
- Current events (like the 9/11 attacks)
- Healthcare (like Healing and the Mind)
- Poetry (like The Language of Life)
- The environment (like Earth on Edge)
- Money (like Sports for sale)
- Youth issues (like All Our Children)
- Immigration (like Becoming American)
Moyers and his wife, Judith Suzanne Davidson Moyers, often produced these shows through their company, Public Affairs Television.
Frontline (1990–1999)
Between 1990 and 1999, Moyers produced and hosted seven episodes of the PBS journalism show Frontline. These episodes covered topics like toxic waste, the Gulf War, pesticides in food, and campaign finance.
NOW with Bill Moyers and Wide Angle (2002–2005)
Moyers hosted the TV news show NOW with Bill Moyers on PBS for three years, starting in 2002. He left the show in December 2004. He then returned to PBS to host Wide Angle in 2005. When he left NOW, he said he wanted to finish writing a book about Lyndon B. Johnson.
Bill Moyers Journal (2007–2010)
On April 25, 2007, Moyers returned to PBS with Bill Moyers Journal. In the first episode, called "Buying the War," Moyers looked into how the media reported before the Iraq War. This episode won an Emmy award. On November 20, 2009, Moyers announced he would retire from his weekly show in April 2010.
Moyers & Company (2012–2015)
In August 2011, Moyers announced a new weekly interview show called Moyers & Company. It started in January 2012. He also launched his website, BillMoyers.com. The show was praised for bringing news and views that were not often seen on commercial TV. The program ended on January 2, 2015.
Moyers on Democracy Podcast
In 2020, Moyers started a series of podcasts called Moyers on Democracy. He had conversations with different people about important topics. These included the Post Office, racism in American society, and a new telling of Moby Dick. The series ended in early 2021.
Awards and Honors
Bill Moyers has received many awards for his work. In 1995, he was put into the Television Hall of Fame. He also won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism that year. In 2006, he received a Lifetime Emmy Award. The award announcement said he had spent his life exploring important issues and ideas. It also said his broadcasts had been honored many times.
He has won over thirty Emmys and almost every other major TV journalism prize. These include a gold baton from the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards and a lifetime Peabody Award. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has received many honorary degrees from universities.
Disagreement with CPB
In 2003, the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), Kenneth Tomlinson, said that NOW with Bill Moyers was not balanced enough. In 2005, Tomlinson ordered a study of the show without telling the CPB board. The study was done by someone who had worked for a conservative group.
Tomlinson said the study showed the show had a "left-wing bias." Some people agreed, saying Moyers used his show to attack conservatives. However, others disagreed. The Reporters Committee on the Freedom of the Press said it was dangerous for the CPB chairman to interfere with TV shows. A poll by the CPB itself found that 80 percent of Americans thought PBS was "fair and balanced." Moyers said he had invited Tomlinson to talk about it on TV, but Tomlinson ignored him. Tomlinson resigned from the board in November 2005.
Organizations and Groups
Moyers used to be a director of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a member of the Bilderberg Group. Since 1990, he has been the president of the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy.
Personal Life
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Bill Moyers married Judith Suzanne Davidson on December 18, 1954. She is also a producer. They have three children and five grandchildren.
His daughter, Suzanne Moyers, is a former teacher and editor. She wrote a historical novel. His son, William Cope Moyers, is a producer for CNN. His other son, John Moyers, helped start TomPaine.com, which is a website for progressive ideas.
Published Books
Bill Moyers has written or co-written several books, including:
- Listening to America: A Traveler Rediscovers His Country (1971)
- The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis (1988), which looked at the Iran-Contra affair
- The Power of Myth (1988), with Joseph Campbell
- A World of Ideas : Conversations With Thoughtful Men and Women About American Life Today and the Ideas Shaping Our Future (1989)
- Healing and the Mind (1993)
- The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets (1995), which included conversations with 34 poets
- Genesis: A Living Conversation (1996)
- Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times (2004)
- Moyers on Democracy (2008)
- Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues (2011)
Images for kids
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Moyers in 2017
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President Johnson (right) meets with special assistant Moyers in the White House Oval Office, 1963
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Moyers giving a press conference at the White House in 1965
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Moyers at the LBJ Presidential Library in 2018
See also
- Path to War
