Schieffer Signs On: A “Daunting” Honor

The text of Bob Schieffer’s first CBS Evening News sign-off:
<br /Finally, tonight we begin a new chapter at CBS News.

Only a very few people have held this job, among them Walter Cronkite, who was my hero when I was a young reporter — and Dan Rather, my friend for 40 years.

It is an honor to be asked to follow them.

Dan will be remembered for the remarkable body of work he has compiled over four decades, but I’ll remember him for his love of the news and the fierce determination and courage to go wherever the news was breaking. I wish him the very best. This is a daunting assignment, but I accept it because we have a proud tradition and a terrific news team.

My friend, the great Watergate reporter Bob Woodward was asked the other day what his mindset was when he and his partner, Carl Bernstein, embarked on covering that important story.

Woodward said, “we didn’t have an agenda and we didn’t know how it would end. We were just trying to find out what happened.”

That’s what we’ll try to do — find out what happened and tell you about it in clear and concise language.

If we do that — and do it well — you’ll take it from there.

I’m not exactly a new face. Many of you have known and trusted me over the years. I take that as a high compliment and I promise you this, I’ll never take that trust for granted.

That’s the news. We’ll see you right here tomorrow.