After 24 years at the helm of Face the Nation, Bob Schieffer has decided to retire. In his place at the head of the news show’s roundtable will be John Dickerson, a veteran political reporter.
Dickerson, 47, will take over for Schieffer this summer.
“John is first and foremost a reporter — and that’s what he’ll be as anchor of Face the Nation,” said CBS News president David Rhodes in a statement. “He has earned the respect of newsmakers across the political spectrum.”
Here are the five things to know about the new face of Face the Nation.
• He’s been working in politics for more than 20 years. Dickerson was tapped as CBS News’ political news director in 2011, but has been a contributor for the net since 2009. He also put time in at Time from 1993 until 2005. During the last four years of his run there he covered the George W. Bush White House. Dickerson is also Slate’s chief political correspondent.
• Speaking of Slate, Dickerson plans to keep up double duty between hosting Face the Nation and contributing to the website. He will transition to a political columnist position and also continue his involvement with the magazine’s podcasts Political Gabfest— with New York Times Magazine’s Emily Bazelon and Atlas Obscura CEO David Plotz — and Whistle Stop.
• Dickerson won’t be new to Face the Nation once he takes over hosting duties. Dickerson has been on the show 83 times, Schieffer said.
• The social media fan, who already has almost 1.4 million followers on Twitter, is also on blogging site Tumblr where he posts Instagram photos of everything from coffee mugs to moments with his family, old clips and newspaper stories he enjoys.
• The longtime newsman is a second-generation CBS journalist, or as Schieffer said on Nation Sunday, “Sure has the right bloodlines.” His mother, Nancy, joined Face the Nation in 1954 as an associate producer of the show. In 1960 she become CBS News’ first woman correspondent. In 2006, Dickerson wrote On Her Trail: My Mother, Nancy Dickerson, TV News’ First Woman Star about his mother and their relationship.
