Legendary PBS & CBS Journalist Bill Moyers Dies at 91

Legendary journalist and political commentator Bill Moyers, who once served as White House Press Secretary and a long-time PBS documentarian, has died. He was 91.

Moyers passed away on Thursday, June 26, at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York after complications from prostate cancer, his son William told the Washington Post.

Born on June 5, 1934, in Hugo, Oklahoma, Moyers started his journalism career at 16 as a cub reporter at the Marshall News Messenger. He went on to study journalism at the North Texas State College, and in 1954, he was hired as a summer intern for then-US Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. Moyers also worked as assistant news editor for KTBC radio and television stations owned by Lady Bird Johnson, Senator Johnson’s wife.

Moyers continued his studies in Scotland for a year before earning a Master of Divinity degree in 1960 from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. After that, he rejoined Lyndon Johnson, who was about to be selected as John F. Kennedy‘s vice president, to help with the 1960 presidential campaign.

Not only did Moyers help create the Peace Corps during the JFK administration, but when Johnson became president after Kennedy’s assassination, he was kept aboard as adviser and special assistant. Following Johnson’s landslide victory, Moyers served as White House Press Secretary from 1965 to 1967.

CBS REPORTS, Bill Moyers (ca. 1970s); Everett Collection

Moyers resigned from his position as White House Press Secretary in 1967 to become publisher of Newsday. After the publication was sold three years later, Moyers began his journey with PBS, where he hosted the current affairs program Bill Moyers Journal on and off throughout the following decades; its final run happened from 2007 to 2010.

He also worked at CBS, becoming editor and chief correspondent for CBS Reports from 1976 to 1980 and senior news analyst and commentator for the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather from 1981 to 1986. He also had a brief stint with NBC News in 1995 and served as the first host of sister cable network MSNBC’s Insight program.

Throughout his career at PBS, Moyers hosted and/or produced several award-winning programs, including Moyers & Company, A World of Ideas, Frontline, Now With Bill Moyers, Creativity With Bill Moyers, and A Walk Through the 20th Century. His work earned him two Peabody Awards, three Humanitas Prizes and four Primetime Emmys.

PBS paid tribute to Moyers on air on Thursday night (June 26), which you can watch in the video below.

Bill Moyers, a legend in the world of journalism and a longtime member of the extended PBS family, has died at the age of 91.

Moyers was perhaps best known for the long-running programs and documentaries he produced at PBS, including “Bill Moyers Journal” and “Joseph Campbell… pic.twitter.com/mrgOYuTvep

— PBS News (@NewsHour) June 26, 2025

He is survived by his wife, Judith Davidson, and three children, William, John, and Alice.

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