Bob Schieffer-My Story

Here is CBS News Anchor Bob Schieffer Story When you hear the name Bob Schieffer, you immediately think journalist, broadcaster, Emmy Award winner and author. He has been one of the few journalists to cover all four major Washington national assignments: the White House, The Pentagon, United States Department of State, and United States Congress. What you may not know, is that Schieffer is an ulcerative colitis patient, having been diagnosed in 1974. Mr. Schieffer will serve as Honorary Chair for Take Steps throughout the 2014 walk season. “I’ve been dealing with ulcerative colitis since 1974 and we still don’t know all the reasons why people get these terrible diseases,” said Schieffer. “It's very interesting: ulcerative colitis is what we kind of call a 'below-the-belt' disease -- people are reluctant to talk about UC, for the obvious reasons. And that's why I think it is very important for those of us who have suffered from digestive diseases, to talk about it and help raise awareness,” said Schieffer. Before his illustrious career took off, Schieffer served as captain in the United States Air Force. His first job was at the Fort Worth Star Telegram. His big break was in 1963, when shortly after President Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Schieffer received a telephone call from a woman in search of a ride to Dallas. The woman was Marguerite Oswald, Lee Harvey Oswald's mother, whom he accompanied to the Dallas police station. The rest, as they say, is history. Schieffer began his tenure at CBS as anchor for the Sunday broadcasts and frankly, never looked back. He was assigned to the Pentagon from 1970 and 1974 and was the network's White House correspondent from 1974 to 1979. Mr. Schieffer served 23 years as anchor for the Saturday edition of the CBS Evening News from 1973-1996 and was Chief Washington correspondent from 1982. He has been anchoring the popular public affairs show "Face the Nation" since 1991. Raised in Texas, with an inclination toward country music, Schieffer began moonlighting late-in-life as a country singer. “I’m Bob Schieffer of CBS News most of the time,” he said, “but at night I have this fantasy of being a country music singer.” The veteran CBS newsman has led a band that calls itself Honky Tonk Confidential, a D.C.-based country and western band and has written songs himself, including “TV Anchorman,” about a gas station attendant who gets vaulted onto the evening news after being spotted at the pump at Stuckey’s by a highly-paid news consultant. Schieffer said the highlight of playing with the band came in 2008 when they were invited to play at the Grand Ole Opry, country music’s biggest stage. “The next week I was moderating the presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, and I was a lot more nervous at the Grand Ole Opry than I was at that debate,” Schieffer said. For more information on how you can join Mr. Schieffer and get involved with Take Steps for the upcoming spring walk season, please visit www.cctakesteps.org.