CBS Journalist Dies: Bill Moyers Was 91

Bill Moyers, known for his work in the White House and on television, has died. He was 91.

He passed away from prostate cancer complications at a hospital in Manhattan last Thursday, according to his son William Cope Moyers in a recent Washington Post article.

Moyers was the chief White House spokesman for Lyndon B. Johnson during his presidency and then starred on CBS for over forty years.

The Texas-raised Moyers was one of LBJ’s top aides, as Johnson gave Moyers a U.S. Senate job during 1954 when he was in college. Famously, Moyers arrived in D.C. and went through 275,000 envelopes addressed to Johnson without even unpacking his bags, which led to several promotions.

When Johnson was named John F. Kennedy’s running mate, Moyers became the liaison between the teams of the two men. After JFK’s assassination and LBJ’s rise to the presidency, Moyers became “LBJ’s young man in charge of everything,” according to TIME Magazine, and became White House press secretary in 1965.

After Johnson’s escalation of the Vietnam War, Moyers left the White House, unhappy with how the President had managed the situation. He became the publisher of Newsday and shifted the newspaper leftward, supporting and reporting on various anti-war demonstrators in New York City, eventually winning the paper two Pulitzer Prizes.

After his time at Newsday, Moyers went to PBS and eventually CBS. He is well known for his documentary series that was shown on CBS Reports.

Moyers is survived by his wife, three children, six grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.