Voting Station

Face the Nation

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TV Series

The Resume

    (November 7, 1954- )
    Broadcast on CBS
    Created by Frank Stanton
    Produced by CBS News Productions
    Moderated by Bill Shadel (1954–1955), Stuart Novins (1955–1960), Howard K. Smith (1960–1961), Paul Niven (1961–1965), Martin Agronsky (1965–1969), George Herman (1969–1983), Lesley Stahl (1983–1991), and Bob Schieffer
    One of the longest-running news programs in the history of television
    Announced John Dickerson as the show's moderator following Bob Schieffer's retirement announcement (Apr. 15, 2015)

Why Face the Nation might be annoying:

    Its first program guest was Senator Joe McCarthy.
    It was the CBS answer to Meet the Press.
    Conservative guests have repeatedly accused Bob Schieffer of relying on Democratic talking points during interviews.
    It was twenty years before the show interviewed a sitting President.
    And it was over fifty years before it was able to beat its main competitor's ratings, and then only in the wake of iconic host Tim Russert's passing.
    Monica Lewinsky's lawyer, William Ginsburg, was a frequent guest during his 15 minutes of fame from President Clinton's impeachment.
    Bob Schieffer's closing monologues tend to be counterproductive calls for unity while simultaneously stoking partisan tension (ex. comparing gun lobbyists to Nazis, accusing Obama and Netanyahu of exhibiting 'pettiness').
    President Eisenhower accused CBS of jeopardizing national security by broadcasting their infamous Nikita Khrushchev interview to boost their ratings for profit (June 2, 1957).
    Ed Sullivan tried to woo CBS execs and Ed Murrow to take him on as a correspondent by beating them out to an exclusive with Fidel Castro in 1959, airing it shortly after their own exclusive, but with a wider audience (not only failing but also getting labelled a Communist sympathizer).
    George Wallace filmed an appearance from his office in a vain attempt to deflect questions about brutal treatment of the Selma protestors, waving newspapers & ranting about brutal police activity in northern states (Mar. 14, 1965).
    A segment of a Teddy Roosevelt biographer responding to Schieffer with 'that's a Bullshit question' went viral, as did his statement calling Americans 'insensitive,' 'lazy', 'obese', 'complacent', and 'perplexed as to why [they] are losing their place in the world to people who are more dynamic and disciplined.'

Why Face the Nation might not be annoying:

    Early broadcasts opened with the finale of Igor Stravinsky's Firebird suite.
    Its early broadcasts more readily resemble modern news programs than early broadcasts of Meet the Press.
    It became the first news program to air an interfview with a known Communist dictator.
    The broadcast was also the first time that Soviet citizens saw one of their leaders interviewed on television.
    The navy blue set design with the CBS woven into the show's title provides for an extremely cool, somber atmosphere.
    The show's producers succeeded in charming a belligerent Che Guevara by asking him to sign their program guest book (until that point, he took exception to every question they asked him).
    John Dickerson, Schieffer's successor, already had a history with the show through his mother, who was associate producer on the show's first broadcast (and was also CBS' first female news correspondent).
    It hosted the first-ever televised Presidential debate between two women, featuring Eleanor Roosevelt and Sen. Margaret Chase Smith debate the merits of the Eisenhower Administration and the Cold War (Nov. 4, 1956).
    Lesley Stahl famously got George Shultz to concede that he did not concede that he did not speak for the Reagan administration as a whole on matters of foreign policy, during the Iran-Contra scandal (Nov. 16, 1986).
    Longtime regular guests included Henry Kissinger, Ted Kennedy, Abba Eban, Ralph Nader, Bob Dole, John McCain, Orrin Hatch, Joe Biden, Joseph Lieberman and Hubert Humphrey .
    Schieffer and the 'Face the Nation' production staff worked in offices neighboring the Pentagon on the day of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 (just as many were working in the Capitol and White House when they were believed to be potential targets).
    Bob Schieffer's closing monologue the Sunday broadcast after 9/11 is still fondly remembered ('Americans came together this week as they have not come together since World War II... Many things happened on Tuesday, and I think one of them may be that we have finally gotten past Vietnam').

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 10 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 23 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 70 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 61 Votes: 54.10% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 20 Votes: 45.00% Annoying