Jim Lehrer in Conversation with David Kennedy Wednesday

As the “man in the middle seat,” legendary broadcaster Jim Lehrer has presided over more than 11 presidential and vice-presidential debates. Drawing on his own experiences and interviews with candidates and moderators, Lehrer will give an insider account of all of the backstage drama.  He will also reflect on some of the “major moments” and “killer questions” that have defined each historical debate for the past forty years of televised political debate in America.  

In the last six presidential elections, Lehrer has served as a moderator for eleven of the nationally televised debates among the candidates.

For over 30 years Lehrer has worked in public television as an executive director of public affairs, host, editor and producer.   In 1975 he began his long-term Emmy-winning collaboration with Robert MacNeil.  "The MacNeil/Lehrer Report" won over 30 awards for journalistic excellence and after their 20th year, Lehrer headed the program himself.  He has been honored with countless awards for journalism, including the Chairman’s Award at the 2010 National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences News & Documentary Emmy Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award. In 1999, Lehrer was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Lehrer began his career as a newsman in print working at The Dallas Morning News and The Dallas Times-Herald.  Lehrer received an A.A. degree from Victoria College and a B.J. in 1956 from the University of Missouri before joining the Marine Corps.

David M. Kennedy is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning historian specializing in American history.  Born in Seattle, Kennedy received his A.B. in History from Stanford and MA and PhD from Yale. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.