he was one of the original hosts of the cbs program 60 minutes and hammered politicians, celebrities and newsmakers with his famously tough interviews. why was it so important to him at that moment? why was it so important to his father that he wanted to sue this illegitimate and his employer abc for $50 million? i didn t expect you to be a candidate s wife tonight. did you? no, i heard it over the television. my old friend nancy reagan. and with nancy reagan, the feeling was mutual. the statement from the former first lady today saying, quote, my heart is broken today over the death of my dear friend mike wallace. his longtime colleague dan rather says, mike wallace was from the beginning and for many years the heart and soul of 60 minutes. and the chairman of cbs news speaks for his entire network when he says, quote, we loved him, and we will miss him very much. a short time ago i talked to mike wallace s colleague on 60 minutes, leslie stahl. she said those
for 30 years. tom, first of all, of course, many of us are sorry about the loss, but what an incredible life, what an incredible career. did i understand that he passed away in a care facility. did you and many others know that his condition or his ailment was, you know, he was waning? yes, we knew that mike was not doing well in recent years. but he had fought a very gallant battle for some time. as much as he had been an extraordinary force throughout much of his professional and personal career. so many remember him for these kind of dogged interviews, but at the same time, they remember the kind of softness, the gentler side. we saw early this morning his good friend, morely safer gave a beautiful tribute to him on face the nation this morning, and he talked about how for mike wallace, one of miss most famous interviews was of a pianist, vladimir horowitz. what was it about that softer side of mike wallace that most people didn t seem to be as accustomed to seeing