Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary to President Lyndon B. Johnson who later became a fixture on PBS and a darling of the liberal media establishment, has died at the age of 91.
Moyers passed away Thursday at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York after a long illness, according to a statement from his son, William.
Over the course of a six-decade career, Moyers carved out a place for himself not just in television journalism, but as a voice for the American Left—frequently using his taxpayer-supported platform on PBS to promote progressive ideals and criticize conservative leaders and institutions. His resume was impressive: more than 30 Emmy Awards, 11 George Foster Peabody Awards, and numerous other journalism honors. But many on the Right saw him less as a reporter and more as a crusader—one who cloaked his activism in the appearance of “public interest journalism.”
Born Billy Don Moyers in Hugo, Oklahoma, in 1934, Moyers grew up in Marshall, Texas. He had humble beginnings as the son of a truck-driving farmer but found his voice early on through journalism. By 16, he was already writing for the *Marshall News Messenger*, and though he originally wanted to play football, he discovered the pen could get him just as much attention.
Moyers went on to earn a degree from the University of Texas and a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Though he was ordained as a Baptist minister, he later dismissed his own religious calling as a “wrong number,” pivoting instead into politics and media.
His close association with Lyndon Johnson began while Moyers was still in college and eventually led to a role in Johnson’s administration. He served as deputy director of the Peace Corps and, after JFK’s assassination, became a top aide to Johnson and later his press secretary. Moyers tried to manage the spiraling relationship between the White House and the press during the height of the Vietnam War, but ultimately resigned in 1966, later admitting that he had been “too zealous” in defending Johnson’s policies.
After leaving government, Moyers shifted to journalism—quickly finding a home in the liberal-friendly world of public television. He spent time as publisher of *Newsday* and held high-profile roles at both CBS and PBS, although his true influence blossomed on taxpayer-funded programming, where he used his soft-spoken style to pursue left-leaning narratives under the guise of thoughtful inquiry.
Through PBS, Moyers produced documentaries and interviews that targeted what he saw as government corruption, corporate greed, environmental neglect, and religious hypocrisy—common targets for the Left. His 1988 documentary *The Secret Government*, which focused on the Reagan-era Iran-Contra affair, exemplified his one-sided investigative style, often shining a harsh spotlight on Republican administrations while soft-pedaling or ignoring Democratic missteps.
Moyers didn’t shy away from his biases, either. In a 2004 radio interview, he admitted, “I’m an old-fashioned liberal when it comes to being open and being interested in other people’s ideas,” though he preferred the label “citizen journalist.” He was a frequent critic of commercial media, claiming they were beholden to corporate interests and unable to “tell the hard truths about America.” Ironically, his own career was largely funded by the American taxpayer via public broadcasting.
To his credit, Moyers knew how to captivate an audience. His interviews with religious scholar Joseph Campbell in *The Power of Myth* became a PBS sensation, and his discussions with poet Robert Bly helped spark the “Men’s Movement” in the early 1990s. His later projects explored everything from health care to race relations to the presidency of Donald Trump—almost always from a progressive perspective.
He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and continued producing content well into his 80s, often warning of the dangers he believed were posed by conservative politics, economic inequality, and what he saw as the erosion of democracy.
In 1986, Moyers and his wife Judith formed Public Affairs Television, a production company that gave them full editorial control over their projects. Judith, also a producer and creative collaborator, became the president of the company. The couple remained active in media for decades, releasing podcast episodes, documentaries, and books covering hot-button topics like race, voting rights, and the influence of conservative politics.
Moyers is survived by Judith, his wife of over 70 years, and their three children, including author and producer William Cope Moyers.
While many on the Left mourn the loss of a voice they considered principled and profound, conservatives remember Bill Moyers as a man who spent a lifetime using journalism not as a mirror of truth, but as a spotlight pointed squarely in one ideological direction. His soft tone and scholarly interviews masked a sharp political edge—one that helped shape generations of liberal thought under the respectable banner of “public television.”
Moyers’ death marks the end of an era—one in which the mainstream media could no longer deny its bias, and figures like Moyers made clear that objectivity was no longer the goal.
