Seib retiring after 45 years at Wall Street Journal

Dear All:

Immediately after a single of the most storied journalistic operates of the fashionable (or any) era, our possess Jerry Seib has made a decision to retire from The Wall Avenue Journal.

Jerry may perhaps be a Washington Nationals fan, but he has been the Journal’s Cal Ripken Jr., and it is tricky to visualize the area without his standard byline. He joined the Journal 45 several years back as a summer time intern in Dallas, and in the course of his vocation below, he has place in 29 many years as a weekly columnist, 12 as Washington bureau main (above two stints), six as govt Washington editor and three as a Middle East correspondent (in which, in 1987, he was famously kidnapped and held in an Iranian prison for four times).

Jerry has interviewed 7 presidents, moderated 3 presidential debates, lined 18 nationwide political conventions, prepared practically 1,500 columns, authored two textbooks and represented the Journal thousands of times on tv and at gatherings. Considering that he joined, the Journal has had 7 editors, the Dow has gone from under 1,000 to approximately 36,000 and the U.S. inhabitants has developed by 50 p.c. Jerry has written about and helped information protection for quite a few of the most major national tales of our periods, from the Gulf War to the Iraq War, from presidential impeachments to the 2000 election standoff, from the rise of the digital economic system to the tumble of the Soviet Union and the emergence of China. Amongst his honors are the Merriman Smith Award for coverage of the presidency, the Aldo Beckman Award for protection of the White Dwelling, the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Prize and a Gerald Loeb Life time Accomplishment Award. On 9/11, when the assault on the Planet Trade Middle pressured the evacuation of our New York newsroom, he performed a central part in directing coverage from Washington and acquiring the paper out in complicated situations, and he owns a substantial share of the Pulitzer Prize awarded to the Journal for Breaking Information that year.

Most importantly, generations of readers have come to rely on Jerry’s byline for deep reporting and consistently educated and considerate judgment and probity in tumultuous instances, he normally has served as a barometer for navigating the landscape. His get the job done ethic and dedication to the Journal is extraordinary. Beyond his expertise and drive, countless numbers of colleagues have known Jerry as a sherpa, counselor and a single of the kindest and most generous people to ever wander by our doorways. Above several a long time in Washington, he has averted starting to be a captured creature of the capitol and stayed real to the roots and values of his beloved Kansas.

Although Jerry and his spouse, Barb, who is herself a former Journal reporter, will be pursuing new adventures after his official May 13 retirement date–including paying out extra time with their adorable granddaughter—he will carry on to operate with Aaron Zitner on constructing out our new polling regime, and ideas to generate occasionally for Assessment. We also will have chances in the months ahead to thank and rejoice him. For now, I know all of you be part of me in hailing Jerry Seib and in expressing admiration of his accomplishments, gratitude for the instance he has established and our deepest passion and regard.

-Matt