• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, May 12, 2011

To the many - very many - Americans who didn't watch the "NewsHour" on PBS, Jim Lehrer was sort of like the Olympics: forgotten most of the time, then suddenly showing up in your living room for the big time. Presidential candidates never agreed on much except that Lehrer had the gravitas and fairness to host their debates every four years.

In each campaign since 1988, he moderated at least one clash, including all three in 2000 as Gore and Bush II faced off. It's been 11 in all.

So, the announcement that Lehrer would be leaving the anchor desk of the PBS newscast after 36 years shows a certain amount of humbleness. It would have been easy to hang on through Election Day next year -- an exciting time for an anchorman in general -- and maybe have another go as debate referee, with the exposure in millions of homes that brings. (That's not to say, he won't be called on as the only one Obama and Gingrich/Trump/etc. can agree on.)

Andrew Tyndall, who follows the nightly newscasts and writes an eponymous report, said Lehrer was less a reporter and "first and foremost an interviewer" and his "preeminence as a questioner" was at least one reason for his debate selections.

"More in the same category as Ted Koppel and Bob Schieffer, rather than a Jennings Brokaw or Rather," Tyndall said of Lehrer's style.

In 1998, Lehrer scored an exclusive with President Clinton as the Lewinsky affair was breaking and Clinton said "that there is not a sexual relationship, an improper sexual relationship or any other kind of improper relationship."

Some of Lehrer's let-them-speak bent was likely developed as a newspaper reporter in Dallas before he segued into TV. Then, for 20 years starting in the mid 1970s, he co-hosted the PBS weekday newscast with Robert MacNeil. Then, he took the role solely. In 2009, in preparation for his departure and as the show took on a multiple anchors, it became the "PBS NewsHour" and Lehrer's name came off the marquee.

In a statement, "NewsHour" executive producer Linda Winslow said: "I don't know another iconic television anchorperson who would be willing to take his name off the program he helped create - while remaining on the air."

With the rotating anchors, Lehrer's departure "won't affect the program itself as much as if it would have done if it happened five years ago," Tyndall said.

Lehrer, an accomplished novelist, would never have made in on network TV with his unexcitable and unassuming style. But he found a niche on PBS, where there was some emphasis in delving more into policy rather than politics.

Even as Lehrer leaves the anchor desk June 6, he will still make Friday appearances as the host of a segment where left-leaning Mark Shields and right-skewing David Brooks try to engage in cordial, rationale discussion about events -- in a contrast to the fireworks on Fox News and MSNBC.

If there ever were questions about government funding of PBS and the "NewsHour" became part of the debate, the Shields-Brooks segment might have helped those wanting to chop subsidies. While it's a good listen and displays Lehrer's interviewing aplomb, if the "NewsHour" looks to offer content unavailable elsewhere, Shields and Brooks don't cut it.

For years, Shields also hosted a show on CNN and Brooks is a frequent commentator on NBC's "Meet the Press." Of course, smart yet somnolent professor-types might not have been worth any differentiation.

Still, anti-PBS politicians weren't likely to focus on the "NewsHour." Even with its lower viewership, they seemed to like the chance to make an appearance. That would be politicos from both parties.