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JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, family, 
friends, our "NewsHour" 
family, past and present, said

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goodbye to our 
co-founder Jim Lehrer.

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He died last week at age 85. 
There was a memorial held today 
at the National United Methodist

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Church in Washington, 
D.C. It was a lovely 
and touching service.

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Here are just a few moments.

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LEE CULLUM, Journalist: Of 
course, everybody loved Jim 
Lehrer. We all loved Jim Lehrer.

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And I think the reason 
is this. He certainly, 
for me, confirmed 
something I have always

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believed, or wanted to 
believe. And that is that 
nice guys finish first.

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Let's just say he was 
disciplined, without 
overdoing it. He was 
ambitious without avarice.

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He was gifted without guile. 
He was a golden boy who had no 
goose to lay golden eggs for

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him. But he was self-made. 
He was. And he was 
never self-conscious.

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ROGER ROSENBLATT, Author: He 
loved the lives of others. He 
was devoted to the lives of

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strangers.

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If you heard Jim's end of a 
conversation with someone, you 
couldn't tell whether he was

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speaking to a Supreme Court 
justice or to the kid who 
parked cars at the restaurant,

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so democratic was his mind 
and his soul, and so genuine 
was his interest in others.

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JAMES RUSSELL LEHRER NASH, 
Grandson of Jim Lehrer: We 
were all sitting around in the

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kitchen, when he got up and 
told my brother, sister, and I 
that he was going to teach us

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how to march like Marines.

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(LAUGHTER)

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JAMES RUSSELL LEHRER NASH: 
We jumped up immediately 
and started to follow him.

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He shouted out his march cadence 
as we trailed behind him in 
as straight of a line as three

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kids could manage, which 
isn't very straight.

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And I remember stretching my 
legs and listening intently to 
try and match his stride. Being

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7 years old, when I realized I 
couldn't match him perfectly, 
I started to jump around and

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fall out of line. But 
he continued to march 
with my siblings in 
circles until I fell back

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into step.

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While this may feel like such 
a small moment, as I look back 
on it, it exemplifies perfectly

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how generous my grandfather 
was with his time.

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MARY GRAHAM, Author: Each 
Jim decision was a family 
decision. Time to buy a house? A

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family consensus would 
be required. Moderate 
a presidential debate? 
Wait a day until I

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consult with Kate and the girls.

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This is a side of Jim the world 
didn't see, the creative work 
that mattered most to him,

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as Kate's partner in building 
this strong and enduring family.

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(MUSIC)

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JUDY WOODRUFF: It was 
a beautiful service 
for a beautiful man.

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And before we go tonight, we 
also wanted to take a little 
time to hear from some of the

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producers and correspondents 
who worked alongside 
Jim for decades and 
at the earliest stages

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of this program.

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Here are a few of their 
thoughts about Jim, his 
values and his legacy.

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LINDA WINSLOW, Former Executive 
Producer, "PBS NewsHour": 
I met Jim in 1972, and the

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first thing I noticed 
about him were his eyes.

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I think his eyes were the 
secret to his success. They were 
honest eyes. And they said: You

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can trust me.

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JIM LEHRER, Co-Founder and 
Former Anchor, "PBS NewsHour": 
To criticize you personally,

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is that a crime?

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LINDA WINSLOW: It didn't matter 
who Jim was interviewing. It 
didn't matter what the color

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of their skin was. It didn't 
matter where they went to 
school. It didn't matter how

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much money was in 
their bank account.

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What mattered was what that 
person, that unique individual 
had to say. And when he turned

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those big brown eyes on you 
and asked you what was usually 
a very simple question, you

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tried very hard to be as 
open and honest with him 
as he had been with you.

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I think that's why he was 
such a great interviewer and 
also such a great friend.

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JIM LEHRER: Good 
evening. I'm Jim Lehrer.

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On the "NewsHour" tonight...

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CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, Special 
Correspondent, "PBS NewsHour": 
He taught by example, so I

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learned to watch him. And one 
of the things I learned from 
him was that you could have

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a list of prepared 
questions, but you had to 
listen to the person who 
was being interviewed.

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And so, if they said something 
you hadn't anticipated, you 
had to figure out how to

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pick up on that, because it 
might have been more important 
than the question you asked.

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ANNETTE MILLER, Vice President, 
NewsHour Productions: It was our 
job to present all sides of the

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issue, even the shades of gray. 
He taught me the objectivity 
of not picking a horse

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in the race.

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Sometimes, when I was 
with friends, they would 
mock me, saying, you 
treat journalism as some

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kind of priesthood. And 
I thought about that. 
And I said, they were 
right, because I learned

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it from the high priest himself.

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JIM LEHRER: The uprising is 
the catalyst that has brought 
this situation to wherever it

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is right now. Would 
you not agree?

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MAN: I would say that's true.

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DAN WERNER, Former President, 
MacNeil/Lehrer Productions: 
Jim Lehrer knew what he wanted.

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From the start, he and Robin 
had a sense of the program 
they wanted to create, and the

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"NewsHour" was a reflection of 
what he wanted and who he was.

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Jim wasn't going to let 
anything get in the way of his 
journalism, as he defined it and

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as he wanted to give it 
to the American people.

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JIM LEHRER: If I hear the two 
of you correctly, neither one 
of you is suggesting any major

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changes in what you want to 
do as president as a result of 
the financial bailout. Is that

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what you're saying?

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BARACK OBAMA, Former President 
of the United States: Well, no, 
there are going to be things

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that end up having to 
be deferred and delayed.

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JIM LEHRER: Like what?

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MARGARET WARNER, Former Foreign 
Correspondent, "PBS NewsHour": 
Jim was a hard man to persuade.

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But if you had earned his trust, 
he was willing to roll the 
dice. One of Jim's great gifts

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as a newsman was that he 
knew when a story was right 
and when it wasn't it.

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In early January '11, when 
protests started breaking out 
in the Arab world, our overseas

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reporting unit was totally out 
of money for the fiscal year.

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Nevertheless, I walked down 
the hallway to his office a 
few days into it, and I said:

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"Jim, I know we're short of 
money. I think these protests 
just starting out could really

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transform, certainly 
the Middle East, and the 
world as we know it."

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He asked a couple of 
questions, and then he gave his 
characteristic, "I hear you."

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I went back to my office. And 
half-hour later, word came, 
get ready to leave for Egypt in

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the next 36 hours.

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NELSON MANDELA, Former 
South African President: 
I stand here before you.

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CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: The 
one time I got a little nervous 
about Jim's reaction was

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when F.W. de Klerk announced 
he was going to release Nelson 
Mandela. This was back in

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1990.

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And I'd already made 
reservations to go to 
South Africa. And Jim 
said, well, the only

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way he would approve it 
is if we could guarantee 
an interview with Mandela.

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Well, I guess it was Jim 
Lehrer in my blood, because 
I said, "I will get it."

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And, sure enough, we flew 
to South Africa, and we 
got the only one of two 
half-hour interviews

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with Mandela.

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Did they do things to you that 
made you feel like a prisoner?

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NELSON MANDELA: Oh, yes.

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JIM LEHRER: House Speaker 
Foley predicted a budget 
deal by the weekend.

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MARGARET WARNER: We called 
ourselves the "NewsHour" family. 
And it really was a family.

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And in a time of personal crisis 
for any of us, there was no 
more empathetic friend than

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Jim Lehrer.

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DAN WERNER: Jim cared about 
me. He cared about my family. I 
took ill in the 1990s, and Jim

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visited me almost every 
day in the hospital.

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MARGARET WARNER: When my husband 
was diagnosed in the early 
stages of a crippling disease,

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I was devastated. 
I went to see him.

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And he said: "First of all, 
take all the time you want. 
Now let's see what we can do to

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help you."

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Within days, I was connected 
to some of the top medical 
people in this field.

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JIM LEHRER: And to our new 
senior correspondent Gwen Ifill.

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Welcome, Gwen.

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GWEN IFILL, Former 
"PBS NewsHour" 
Co-Anchor: Thanks, Jim.

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LINDA WINSLOW: He wasn't 
afraid of strong women. He was 
surrounded by them at home,

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his wife, Kate, and their 
three beautiful daughters. And 
he actually pushed very hard

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to add more women and people of 
color to the "NewsHour" team, 
because he believed strongly

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that diversity is what 
makes the world go around.

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CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: He and 
Robin used to say we do news 
that can be used by people

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to make their own decisions. 
He trusted people's 
intelligence and intellect.

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And I think that's something we 
need to learn from even today.

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ANNETTE MILLER: Jim 
was a great friend to 
have. He's exceedingly 
smart and very funny.

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I know how lucky I was to 
find a boss and a friend like 
Jim so early in life. It was

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a rare and precious gift.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: We're so thankful 
to hear from all of these 
friends and former colleagues.

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Jim truly was our North Star 
here, and we miss him so much.