Portrait of Jim Lehrer

Birthday profile

Jim Lehrer

Jim Lehrer, American journalist and author (died 2020)

Born
May 19, 1934
Died
January 23, 2020
Zodiac sign
Taurus
Birth year
1934

About Jim Lehrer

James Charles Lehrer was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. He was the executive editor and a news anchor for the PBS News Hour on PBS and was known for his role as a debate moderator during U.S. presidential election campaigns, moderating 12 presidential debates between 1988 and 2012. Lehrer also wrote numerous fiction and non-fiction books that drew upon his experience as a newsman, along with his interests in history and politics. In 2004, Lehrer was awarded an honorary Doctor of Journalism degree by McDaniel College. The last debate that Lehrer moderated was the first general election debate of the 2012 election. Lehrer was a political columnist there for several years, and he became the city editor in 1968. In October 1975, Lehrer became the Washington correspondent for The Robert MacNeil Report on Thirteen/WNET New York.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Jim Lehrer timeline

  1. Lehrer was a political columnist there for several years, and he became the city editor in 1968.
  2. In October 1975, Lehrer became the Washington correspondent for The Robert MacNeil Report on Thirteen/WNET New York.
  3. In 2004, Lehrer was awarded an honorary Doctor of Journalism degree by McDaniel College.
  4. The last debate that Lehrer moderated was the first general election debate of the 2012 election.

The world when Jim Lehrer was born

Jim Lehrer was born in 1934. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1934

  • #1 song"Stars Fell on Alabama"
  • Top movieIt Happened One Night
  • Best-selling bookTender Is the Night – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst Masters Tournament held at Augusta National
  • Top headlineFBI kills John Dillinger outside a Chicago theater
  • Technology milestoneFirst streamlined passenger train (Burlington Zephyr)
  • Defining fadShirley Temple mania
  • Notable inventionLaundromat
  • World population2.20 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population126.4M

1934 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Jim Lehrer's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19342026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$4,900$435,000
Average income$2,500$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.20$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population126.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.