Barbara Walters is arguably as fascinating as the politicians, dictators and celebrities she interviewed over her long and storied career. Hired in 1961 to write “women’s features” for NBC’s “Today Show,” she was eager to expand beyond the “soft, fluffy” stories and to be taken seriously as a journalist. In 1974, she became the first woman co-host on "The Today Show," before taking a $1 million salary to move to ABC to co-anchor “The Evening News with Harry Reasoner.”
At ABC, Walters faced alienation and sexism, but she also scooped her rivals (Walter Cronkite among them) by securing major interviews, such as one with Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. It was also at ABC where Walters became the go-to for special interview programs where she talked candidly with newsmakers — from former presidents to famous celebrities. Her approach, which often involved probing questions, intended to humanize her subjects, including Monica Lewinsky to Moammar Gadhafi. In her third act, she co-hosted and produced the wildly successful talk show, “The View.”
