Tue, 06/05/2012

Bill Moyers on JFK, LBJ, and PBS

He's served as Deputy Director of the Peace Corps, White House Press Secretary, and host of Bill Moyers' Journal, a critically acclaimed news program on public television. In his 2001 Archive interview, Bill Moyers discusses his career in politics and public TV. He describes working with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and in the following clip recalls the mindset with which he entered public broadcasting:

You can catch Moyers on Moyers & Company Sunday nights on your local PBS station, and watch Bill Moyers' full Archive interview here.

Click here for more on Moyers & Company.

About this interview:

In his two hour Archive Interview, Bill Moyers discusses his upbringing in Texas and his early interest in writing and journalism. He explains how he first met Lyndon Johnson and four years later campaigned for Johnson for President in the 1960 election. He describes being present when JFK offered Johnson the Vice-Presidential ticket, shares where he was when JFK was assassinated, and discusses his roles as Deputy Director of the Peace Corps under Kennedy and as White House Press Secretary under President Johnson. He describes his role as publisher of the newspaper "Newsday", speaks of writing about cross-country travels for "Harper's Magazine", and relays how he was approached by National Educational Television to host a show on PBS - what would become This Week/ Bill Moyers’ Journal. Moyers outlines memorable pieces covered on the show, and recounts how the Nixon administration reacted to coverage of Watergate. Don Carleton conducted the interview on May 16, 2001 in New York, NY.