R.I.P.: Bill Moyers, Legendary Public Affairs Broadcaster

Bill Moyers, former White House press secretary under President Lyndon B. Johnson and a pioneering broadcast journalist, died on June 26, 2025, at a Manhattan hospital. He was 91. His son, William Cope Moyers, cited complications from prostate cancer as the cause.

Raised in Texas, Moyers began his career in 1954 as a summer intern in Johnson’s U.S. Senate office, quickly rising to handle the senator’s personal correspondence. By 1960, he served as a key liaison between Johnson’s vice-presidential campaign and John F. Kennedy’s team. After Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Moyers, then under 30, became a trusted aide to President Johnson, shaping Great Society initiatives but growing disillusioned with the Vietnam War’s escalation. He left the White House in 1967, reportedly estranged from Johnson.

Moyers then became publisher of Newsday, steering the Long Island newspaper toward progressive causes and earning two Pulitzer Prizes, though conflicts with its conservative owner ended his tenure in 1970. 

Transitioning to television, he joined PBS in 1971, later working at CBS from 1976 to 1986, and earned over 30 Emmy Awards, including a lifetime achievement honor, for his thought-provoking journalism.

His 40-year broadcasting career brought both timely and timeless ideas to audiences, cementing his legacy as a public television icon.