Billy Don Moyers

Billy Don Moyers, former White House press secretary who became one of television’s most honored journalists, passed away June 26, 2025 in Manhattan, at the age of 91. Billy was born on June 5, 1934 in Hugo, Okla., the son of John Henry Moyers, a laborer, and Ruby Johnson Moyers. He was reared in Marshall, Texas.

Moyers began his journalism career at 16 as a cub reporter at the Marshall News Messenger. In college, he studied journalism at the North Texas State College in Denton, Texas. In 1954, U.S. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson employed him as a summer campaign intern and eventually promoted him to manage Johnson’s personal mail. Soon after, Moyers transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, where he wrote for The Daily Texan newspaper. In 1956, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism. While in Austin, Moyers served as assistant news editor for KTBC radio and television stations, owned by Lady Bird Johnson, Senator Johnson’s wife. During the 1956–1957 academic year, he studied issues of church and state at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland as a Rotary International Fellow. In 1959, he completed a Master of Divinity degree at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Moyers served as Director of Information while attending SWBTS. He was also a Baptist pastor in Weir, Texas, near Austin.

Moyers’ career ranged from Baptist minister to deputy director of the Peace Corps, from press secretary to newspaper publisher, senior news analyst for “The CBS Evening News” and chief correspondent for “CBS Reports.”

When Lyndon B. Johnson took office after the Kennedy assassination, Moyers became a special assistant to Johnson, serving from 1963 to 1967. Moyers was the last surviving person identifiable in the photograph taken of Johnson’s swearing in. He played a key role in organizing and supervising the 1964 Great Society legislative task forces and was a principal architect of Johnson’s 1964 presidential campaign. Moyers acted as the President’s informal chief of staff from October 1964 until July 1965. In 1995, Moyers was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. The same year, he also won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. When he became a recipient of the 2006 Lifetime Emmy Award, the official announcement noted that “Bill Moyers has devoted his lifetime to the exploration of the major issues and ideas of our time and our country, giving television viewers an informed perspective on political and societal concerns,” and that “The scope of and quality of his broadcasts have been honored time and again. It is fitting that the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honor him with our highest honor—the Lifetime Achievement Award.” He had received 26 Emmy nominations, 13 wins, and virtually every other major television journalism prize, including a gold baton from the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, a Peabody Award and a George Polk Career Award (his third George Polk Award) for contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Philosophical Society, and has been the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, including a doctorate from the American Film Institute. In 2011, Moyers received the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from Whittier College.

Moyers married Judith Suzanne Davidson (a producer) on Dec. 18, 1954. They had three children and five grandchildren.

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