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Mike Wallace responds to questions during an interview Tuesday, March 21, at the New York Press Club where he announced his retirement.

Mike Wallace steps down from long-time reporting role

Veteran broadcaster leaves behind legacy of hard-hitting journalism

Gideon Oakes Scroll Staff

Long-time CBS newsman Mike Wallace recently announced his upcoming retirement from 60 Minutes this spring, signaling the end of a career spanning over half a century.

The Columbia Broadcasting System introduced 60 Minutes in 1968. Wallace was there covering the Nixon-Humphrey presidential race. Thirty-eight years later, his name remains synonymous with that of 60 Minutes.

When asked when he would retire, Wallace has often been quoted as saying “when my toes turn up.” While he hasn’t quite reached that point, Wallace is quick to note that his 87-year-old body is not what it used to be.

“As I approach my 88 birthday, it’s become apparent to me that my eyes and ears, among other appurtenances, aren’t quite what they used to be,” Wallace said to reporters Tuesday, March 14. “The prospect of long flights to wherever in search of whatever are not quite as appealing.”

Throughout his 60-plus years in the broadcast business, Wallace has been noted for his uncompromising interviewing techniques. Equally notable is the list of people Wallace has interviewed, from heads of state and popes to conmen and alleged law-breakers.

“Those days are way behind me,” said Wallace. “I’ve got two hearing aids and a pacemaker. My eyes don’t function as well as they used to and there’s a pain in my knees. And frankly, the job, with all the travel, is not as much fun as it used to be.”

His career hasn’t been without its own set of hardships and ordeals. In 1985, CBS was forced to settle a $120 million libel lawsuit resulting from Wallace’s interview with General William Westmoreland.

Following the lawsuit, Wallace slipped into a deep depression.

“I had to sit there every day and listen to myself publicly being called, in effect, a liar, a cheat and many other words to attack one’s ethics and self-pride,” Wallace said to CBS Cares.

Wallace again made headlines when, in 2004, he was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct for lunging at two New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission inspectors.

Recently, Wallace — who has interviewed every U.S. president since Kennedy with the exception of George W. Bush — ruffled more feathers, taking to task the Bush administration in no uncertain terms over the war in Iraq.

Wallace’s son, Chris Wallace, an anchor for rival news network Fox News, made no apologies for his father when he told WRKO Boston radio host Howie Carr, “He’s lost it. The man has lost it. What can I say?”

Wallace plans to stay on with CBS as a “correspondent emeritus”, taking on only certain stories, according to cbs.com.