Bill Moyers dead: PBS journalist and former White House aide dies

Bill Moyers, a soft-spoken former White House aide turned journalist who became a standard bearer of quality in TV news, died Thursday in New York. He was 91.

Moyers’ son William told the Associated Press his father died at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital after a long illness.

Moyers began his TV career in 1971 during the early years of PBS after serving as a leading advisor and press secretary to President Johnson. He spent 10 years in two stints at CBS News in the 1970s and ‘80s. He was editor and chief correspondent for “CBS Reports,” the network’s prestigious documentary series, and an analyst for the “CBS Evening News.”

He also did a turn as a commentator on “NBC Nightly News” and was a host of the MSNBC program “Insight” in 1996.

But Moyers was often frustrated with the restraints of corporate-owned media and returned to non-commercial PBS each time.

At PBS, “Bill Moyers Journal” was the first news program on the service, launched in 1972 just as the Watergate scandal was heating up. His documentaries and series, which included “Now With Bill Moyers” and the weekly interview show “Moyers & Company, ” often examined complex issues and offered serious discussion. He earned top prizes in television journalism, including more than 30 Emmy Awards. His final program for PBS aired in 2013.

Moyers made a posthumous star out of a literature professor at Sarah Lawrence College with the landmark 1988 PBS series “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,” an exploration of religious and mythological archetypes. The series was watched by 30 million viewers.

His 2006 series “Faith and Reason,” where Moyers interviewed authors about the role of religion in their lives, was the kind of programming that distinguished public television, even as audiences had more viewing options on cable.

Moyers also fronted tough investigative programs such as “The Secret Government,” a deep dive into the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration. He often focused on the influence of money in the nation’s politics.

A believer in liberal causes, Moyers aggravated Republican administrations who often cited his programs when they accused PBS of bias and attempted to cut its federal funding.

PBS President Paula Kerger, who worked closely with Moyers for decades, said he always embodied the aspirations of public television.

“Bill was always of service: as a journalist, a mentor, and a fierce champion for PBS,” Kerger said in a statement. “He fought for excellence and honesty in our public discourse, and was always willing to take on the most important issues of the day with curiosity and compassion.”

Moyers was born June 5, 1934 in Hugo, Okla., the son of a dirt farmer and day laborer. He attended high school in Marshall, Texas, where he covered sports for the local newspaper.

After graduating from the University of Texas, he earned a master’s in divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and became an ordained minister. He preached at small rural churches.

While in college, he established a relationship with Johnson, who hired him to work on his 1954 reelection campaign for U.S. Senate. He worked as a news editor for KTBC radio and television, the Austin, Texas, outlets owned by Johnson’s wife, Lady Bird.

Moyers stuck with Johnson when the senator was elected as John F. Kennedy’s vice president, becoming his personal assistant and later serving as a deputy director of the Peace Corps.

After Johnson was sworn in as president on Nov. 22, 1963, following the assassination of Kennedy, Moyers ascended as well. He was a top Johnson aide with a wide range of duties including press secretary.

According to a 1965 profile in Time magazine, Moyers was a key figure in assembling Johnson’s ambitious domestic policy initiatives known as the Great Society. He shaped legislation and edited and polished the work of Johnson’s speechwriters.

When Johnson underwent anesthesia for a gall bladder operation, Moyers was given responsibility to decide whether then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey should take over the president’s powers in the event of a crisis.

Moyers had a major impact on political communication when in 1964 he signed off on the creation of the “Daisy” ad for Johnson’s presidential election campaign.

The ad showing a girl counting petals she pulls from a daisy blends into a countdown for the launch of nuclear missile. Moyers expressed regret for the spot — an attack on Johnson’s Republican opponent Barry Goldwater’s views on the use of nuclear weapons. He believed the use of visceral imagery harmed the country’s politics in the long term.

Moyers left the Johnson White House in 1967 as he was disenchanted with the escalation of the Vietnam War. He went on to become publisher of the Long Island, N.Y., daily newspaper Newsday, raising its stature in the journalism industry, before his first tenure at PBS.

When he rejoined PBS in 1986, he formed his own production company called Public Affairs Television.

Moyers’ preacher-like delivery and emphasis on high moral standards in his commentaries led some people to criticize him as being a pious scold. But as cable news brought a more raucous style of current affairs discussions to TV, Moyers’ gentler approach was an oasis for many.

“His mission has always been to make things better, not louder,” Neil Gabler wrote in an appreciation of Moyers for The Times in 2009. “In a world of ego and bombast, he has always been modest and self-effacing.”

Moyers is survived by his wife Judith; three children, Suzanne Moyers, John D. Moyers and William Cope Moyers; six grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.