Jim Lehrer, legendary PBS NewsHour anchor, has died at age 85

Former PBS News anchor Jim Lehrer, who co-founded the groundbreaking news show the “MacNeil/Lehrer Report” in 1975 and went on to moderate more presidential debates than anyone in history, has died, Judy Woodruff, the anchor and managing editor of the PBS NewsHour, said. He was 85.

“I’m heartbroken at the loss of someone who was central to my professional life, a mentor to me and someone whose friendship I’ve cherished for decades,” Woodruff said in a statement. “I’ve looked up to him as the standard for fair, probing and thoughtful journalism and I know countless others who feel the same way.”

Lehrer died Thursday in his sleep, PBS said in a release.

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