“What A Voyage Of Discovery It Was!”

By Brian 

On Tuesday’s CBS Evening News, Bob Schieffer narrated a heartfelt package announcing Mike Wallace‘s retirement.

“Finally tonight, it was once said that the four most dreaded words in the English language are: Mike Wallace is here. Well, we here at CBS heard four words today that we were dreading: Mike Wallace is retiring,” Schieffer said.

In the piece, Wallace listed the reasons he loved the job. “To go around the world. To talk to almost anybody you want to talk to. To have enough time on the air so you could tell the whole story,” he said. “What a voyage of discovery it was!”

The full transcript is after the jump…


BOB SCHIEFFER, anchor:

Finally tonight, it was once said that the four most dreaded words in the English language are: Mike Wallace is here. Well, we here at CBS heard four words today that we were dreading: Mike Wallace is retiring.

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So, Mike Wallace, why did you decide to retire?

Mr. MIKE WALLACE: It was time.

SCHIEFFER: For 38 years, he kept “60 Minutes” ticking. He knew how to track down the toughest interviews, maybe even held a patent. But the important thing was, when his subject stopped running, he knew the right question to ask to make news.

In 1979, he scored a coup. The first American reporter to corner Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini after US hostages were seized in Iran. As always, he dared to ask what no one else would.

Mr. WALLACE: So, I said, `Forgive me, Imam, but Anwar Sadat says…’

(From file footage) Forgive me–his words not mine–“a lunatic.” I know that you have heard that comment.

SCHIEFFER: And know one thing about Mike Wallace. He was every bit as tough as the questions he asked. Just ask the guy who was supposed to be his boss: “60 Minutes ” creator, Don Hewitt.

Could you manage Mike Wallace?

Mr. DON HEWITT: No, nobody could manage Mike Wallace. But you didn’t want to manage Mike Wallace. It was like a race horse, you didn’t want to hold him back. He’s great. He had all the right instincts.

SCHIEFFER: He interviewed them all. Presidents, movie stars, and whistle blowers. But his favorite might surprise you.

Mr. WALLACE: I really loved interviewing Vladimir Horowitz. I mean, the greatest pianist of that century. I was in awe. I mean, come on. And I said, ‘Oh, maestro.’ ‘Mike Wallace, I watch you every Sunday night.’ Can you imagine, with Horowitz?

Mr. HEWITT: When I think about Mike–out in the center field at Yankee Stadium, they’ve got plaques to all the great Yankees. Three names stand out: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio. If they put a plaque up here at CBS, three names would stand out: Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Mike Wallace.

Mr. WALLACE: To go around the world. To talk to almost anybody you want to talk to. To have enough time on the air so you could tell the whole story. What a voyage of discovery it was!

SCHIEFFER: We’re going to miss that young fellow.

LOAD-DATE: March 14, 2006

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