Journalism at Its Best
The well-known CBS and PBS journalist and political commentator Bill Moyers passed away on June 26. For a generation of attentive news junkies, he was one of the most respected and trusted voices in America when it came to human interest stories and political events. Whether I listened to him report on a politically sensitive topic or a religious perspective or read one of his columns, I always came away with a much better understanding and appreciation of the subject. More than once his insights dislodged me from what I thought I knew to a deeper and wider perspective.
Bill Moyers, 1934–2025
In today’s political environment where tabloid journalism dominates the news cycle, Bill Moyers was a breath of fresh air. His journalism was truthful, fair, inspiring, compassionate, and always informative. He was a brilliant communicator who spent his professional career shining light on important political, cultural, and religious issues facing Americans today.
He was born in Hugo, Oklahoma, to a working class family. His father drove a truck and had only a 4th grade education. Not long after he was born, his family moved to Marshall, Texas, where he graduated from high school. His family was religious and he learned from his parents the importance of community, religion, integrity, and hard work. Years later, in 1963, when he became Press Secretary to President Johnson, he asked his dad for some advice. His dad wired him with the simple message, “Tell the truth, and if you can’t tell the truth, don’t lie.”
Before Moyers entered into the field of journalism and politics he was ordained a minister, but he never felt the call to fill a pulpit. Still, the theological education significantly influenced his career, especially in the rough and tumble world of American politics. For example, he worked tirelessly with President Johnson to help pass the Medicare and Medicaid bills in 1964. He knew the legislation would make lives better for millions of Senior Adults and the less fortunate in our country. It was an uphill climb, to say the least, to get the bill passed.
Moyers with LBJ, ideally from his time as Press Secretary.
Moyers recounts how Presidents Truman and Kennedy tried to pass health care legislation but the bills always stalled. The passing of health legislation was crucial for Moyers because he knew that only half of adults 65 and over had adequate health care insurance. Moreover, those who were fortunate enough to have medical coverage paid extremely high rates. Senior adults, who struggled with poor health, frequently died because they could not afford to see a doctor. Moyers religious beliefs convinced him that for the richest country in the world not to have a national health plan for America’s aging population and the very poor was a blight on our national character.
Yet, as humane as health legislation is, the bill appeared to be doomed as once again the legislation hit roadblocks. President Johnson, frustrated with the lack of progress in Congress, finally exclaimed to the nation, “You can’t treat grandma that way.” That simple but powerful statement moved Congress to realize that Senior Adults, by the millions, were being harmed by not being able to afford health care.
Soon after, both Medicare and Medicaid passed in 1964, with the only dissenting voices coming from conservative Republicans and Dixie Democrats. Today, these programs enjoy wide approval from the vast majority of Americans and have made life better for countless people. Moyers believed that the passing of this legislation was President Johnson’s finest hour.
In November 1963, Moyers was in Austin, Texas, when he received word that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. Immediately, he managed to charter a flight to Dallas and arrived in time to travel back to Washington on Air Force One with President Kennedy’s body. He was present when then Vice-President Johnson was sworn in as president. According to Moyers, the mood on the plane was surreal. “It was as though everyone was in a stupor.” The day had started with such optimism only to end with incomprehensible sorrow.
Historical photo of Lyndon B. Johnson being sworn in aboard Air Force One
On the flight back to Washington Moyers went to the part of the plane where President Kennedy’s casket was located. He stood silently for several minutes before the dead president, not fully able to absorb what had happened. President Kennedy’s wife Jacqueline, still in her blood-stained dress, looked dazed. The shock of the eventful day had overwhelmed her senses.
The experience in Dallas had a profound impact on Moyers. Although he was not a stranger to death, as many within in his family circle had met untimely deaths, he grew to realize that death was a difficult subject for many Americans. A number of years later, he presented a PBS special on death titled, “On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying” which focused on improving care for those in the final stages of life. The series also opened up dialogue about death which had been a little discussed issue.
Moyers visited with dying patients, their families, doctors and other care-givers to provide an in-depth view of the dying process. He even discussed the controversial issue of physician-assisted suicide. It is, perhaps, the most intimate view of death ever portrayed on television.
Moyers religious convictions also led to him working with President Johnson to pass the Civil Rights Act in 1964 which ended public segregation in America. The final straw for the president took place during a visit to his ranch house near Houston. When his housekeeper drove to the ranch, she was forced to stay a great distance away, in a dingy motel, because she was not allowed to stay in motels that were for Whites only. After that embarrassing experience, Moyers wrote that President Johnson said, “It’s time to end the shame.” Soon, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. President Johnson knew that the legislation would hand over the South to the Republicans for the next 100 years, but he also knew that discrimination based on race was an intolerable evil that the nation could no longer bear.
Moyers spent his last years worried about America’s democracy. The Supreme Court’s ruling, Citizens United, allowed wealthy donors to contribute obscene amounts of money to political campaigns that were doing incalculable damage to American democracy. In his opinion, America had become an oligarchy, where the ultra-rich controlled the political decision process. According to Moyers, it was now virtually impossible to effect change within America due to the outsized power of the billionaires. The poor would feel the effects of an oligarchic government the most, but eventually, unless the laws were changed, America’s democratic republic would be lost and everyone would suffer.
The country will miss Bill Moyers’ moral and ethical commentaries. His value-laden journalism reminded Americans to listen to their better angels, to be more concerned with being good citizens than greedy consumers, to be angrier with injustice than with neighbors who have different skin colors or political views. Moyers’ religious faith shaped his political views but not in a heavy-handed or rash way. He once said, “To be furious in religion is to be furiously irreligious.” Moyers’ religion was guided by concern for the sick, poor, disadvantaged, under-represented, and forgotten of our nation.
Moyers understood well the teachings of Jesus. Religion is about loving God and loving your neighbor. The rest is mere commentary.
