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James Charles Lehrer (pronounced ) (born May 19, 1934) is the news anchor for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. Lehrer is also an acclaimed author, writing both non-fiction and fiction which draws on his life experiences and his interests in history and politics.

History

Lehrer was born in Wichita, Kansas, and attended middle school in Beaumont, Texas. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas, where he was one of the three sports editors at the Jefferson Declaration. He also graduated from Victoria College and the University of Missouri.

After three years in the United States Marine Corps, he began his news career in Dallas, first as a newspaperman, covering the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 and then later as the anchor on a local news show. Lehrer started work with PBS in 1972, and in 1975 started The MacNeil/Lehrer Report with Robert MacNeil. The show was later renamed The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, and in its most recent incarnation is known as The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

Nicknamed the "Dean of Moderators"[1] by CNN's Bernard Shaw, Lehrer has been the moderator for ten debates among candidates vying for President of the United States of America. Most recently he moderated the first presidential debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry during the 2004 election campaign on September 30, 2004.

Lehrer is well known as a bus enthusiast. He is a major supporter of the Pacific Bus Museum in Williams, California, and the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, Pennsylvania. His father was a bus driver and also briefly operated a bus company. As a college student, he worked as a Trailways ticket agent.

He is married to the novelist Kate Lehrer, and has three children and six grandchildren. He was awarded the Presidential National Humanities Medal in 1999.

Written works

Note: This list is incomplete.

Books

• The Phony Marine (Random House, 2006) ISBN 1-4000-6486-4
• The Franklin Affair (Random House, 2005) ISBN 1-4000-6198-9
• False Moves (Random House, 2005) ISBN 1-4000-6198-9
• Flying Crows: A Novel (Random House, 2004) ISBN 1-4000-6197-0
• 20 Good Reasons to Study the Civil War by John C. Waugh, Jim Lehrer (McWhiney Foundation Press, 2004) ISBN 1-893114-46-5
• No Certain Rest (Random House, 2002) ISBN 0-375-50372-2
• The Special Prisoner (Random House, 2000) ISBN 0-375-50371-4
• White Widow (Random House, 1999) ISBN 0-517-36148-5
• Purple Dots (Random House, 1998) ISBN 0-679-45237-0
• The Last Debate (Random House, 1997) ISBN 0-517-17761-7
• Fine Lines (Random House, 1995) ISBN 0-517-16435-3
• Blue Hearts (Random House, 1993) ISBN 0-679-42216-1
• A Bus of My Own (Putnam, 1992) ISBN 0-399-13765-3
• Short List (Putnam, 1992) ISBN 0-399-13665-7
• Lost and Found (Putnam, 1991) ISBN 0-399-13601-0
• The Sooner Spy (Putnam, 1990) ISBN 0-399-13536-7
• Crown Oklahoma (Putnam, 1989) ISBN 0-399-13434-4
• Kick the Can (Putnam, 1988) ISBN 0-399-13350-X
• We Were Dreamers (Atheneum, 1975) ISBN 0-689-10693-9
• Viva Max!

Films

Viva Max! (1970) writing credit with Elliott Baker

Plays

• The Will and Bart Show
• Church Key Charlie Blue
• Chili Queen

References

External links

• PBS biography

External links

• Homepage of PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
• The Newshour with Jim Lehrer Biography
• Archive of American Television interview

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