Lesley Stahl is one of America's most honored and experienced broadcast journalists. Her rich career has been marked by political scoops, multiyear investigations, hard-hitting newsmaker interviews, revealing and uncharted features and award-winning foreign reporting. Stahl has been recognized with countless journalism awards including 13 Emmys, one for Lifetime Achievement; the Edward R. Murrow Award, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton, the Founders Award for Journalistic Excellence from the International Center for Journalists and Radio Television Digital News Association's highest honor, the Paul White Award.
During her more than 30-year career as a 60 Minutes correspondent, Stahl has covered significant news stories and interviewed world leaders from around the globe. This past season, Stahl reported from Israel four separate times, leading up to and following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack; and was one of the few Western journalists to enter China for a reporting trip since foreign media has had limited access to the county under Chinese President Xi Jinping. She has traveled to Tehran to interview Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in his presidential complex - his first interview with a Western reporter; pressed President Donald Trump on the many issues facing him in his presidency in four interviews, including the one when he stormed off; and interviewed the late Sen. John McCain at his ranch in Arizona weeks before he died of cancer. Stahl has reported on the plight of Kurdish refugees in Iraq and the black market for babies in Romania.
Stahl will enter her 35th season with 60 Minutes for the 2024-25 broadcast. She joined the CBS newsmagazine in 1991 and CBS News in 1971. Since becoming a member of the Tiffany Network, Stahl served as CBS News White House correspondent from 1972 to 1991, and host of "Face the Nation," CBS News' long-running Sunday public affairs program, from 1983 to 1991 - the first woman at CBS to hold each of these jobs. Stahl reported from the White House during the Carter, Reagan and Bush administrations, and her reports appeared frequently on the "CBS Evening News," first with Walter Cronkite and then with Dan Rather. While moderating "Face the Nation," Stahl interviewed prominent figures such as Margaret Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin, Yasser Arafat and virtually every top U.S. official, including George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle.
Stahl is the author of two bestselling books: "Reporting Live" (Simon & Schuster, 2000), about her work as a White House correspondent, and New York Times bestseller, "Becoming Grandma: The Joys and Science of the New Grandparenting" (Blue Rider Press, 2017).
More recently on 60 Minutes, Stahl took a unique look at the collapse of Afghanistan under Taliban rule by profiling the girls of SOLA, a group of Afghan girls who fled their country in a harrowing escape to continue their education in the African nation of Rwanda. She reported from the mountains of Rwanda on a growing population of gorillas and their conservation success story. Stahl traveled to Taiwan to report on the island's progressive, thriving democracy amid rising tensions with China. She interviewed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ahead of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Stahl introduced viewers to the new world of AI chatbots and reported on Microsoft's new AI search feature, Bing. She interviewed IMF head Kristalina Georgieva on the issues facing the global economy. Stahl conducted a two-part report on Sharswood, where an Air Force veteran discovered his new house was the seat of a plantation where his ancestors were enslaved. She reported an investigation into military vehicle training accidents, many of which are fatal, that revealed faulty equipment and poor training are to blame.
Stahl has interviewed Donald Trump four times, first as a presidential candidate and then as President of the United States - her last interview drawing 18 million viewers. She profiled controversial Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on her rise from the far-right fringe to the Republican Party's front row, interviewed Liz Cheney on being a Republican while opposing Trump and led a post-January 6 tour of the Capitol with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose office was ransacked by the rioters.
Additional highlights of Stahl's extensive reporting for 60 Minutes include her revealing discussion with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, under the Trump administration - the subject of headlines and political talk shows. She broke news in interviews with former National Security Council official Fiona Hill who warned about Russian political meddling and Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny on his poisoning and why he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind it. Stahl reported from Jordan on how Sesame Street and the International Rescue Committee joined forces to help Syrian refugee children, interviewed former President Jimmy Carter, and conducted the first major television interview of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Stahl has put a spotlight on fascinating science and behavioral stories including a report on people who have "superior autobiographical memory," a phenomenon in which certain individuals have the ability to recall almost every day of their life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she reported on the chaotic PPE market where there were persistent shortages of critical supplies.
Stahl won her 13th Emmy for her 2016 interview with the widow of a slain hostage that offered a rare look inside the technically illegal process of negotiating with terrorists. In 2015, Stahl earned an Emmy for a shocking report on how some police recruit vulnerable young people for dangerous jobs as confidential informants. In 2014, she won an Emmy, one for an eye-opening story about China's huge real estate bubble. Later that year, she was honored by the International Center For Journalists with its Founders Award for Journalistic Excellence. In 2013, Stahl gained unprecedented access to the U.S.' Guantanamo Bay prison facilities for a two-part series honored with an Edward R. Murrow award.
Stahl has profiled numerous Hollywood actors, musicians, artists and prominent cultural figures for 60 Minutes, including filmmaker Steven Spielberg, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, composer Hans Zimmer and comedian Trevor Noah. She also holds an impressive portfolio of interviews with CEOs, featuring Tesla's Elon Musk, Google's Larry Page, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, YouTube's Susan Wojcicki, Netflix's Reed Hastings and more.
She has paid tribute to her 60 Minutes colleagues in special reports on Mike Wallace, Morley Safer and Bob Simon. She interviewed Steve Kroft on his retirement in 2019.
Stahl has been honored with a collection of awards. In 1996, she was awarded the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award by Quinnipiac College in recognition of her journalistic achievements. In 1990, she was honored with the Dennis Kauff Journalism Award for Lifetime Achievement by Boston University. In 2015, the Society of Professional Journalists' New York Chapter, Deadline Club, inducted Stahl into their New York Journalism Hall of Fame.
Stahl was born and raised in Swampscott, Massachusetts. She attended Wheaton College where she studied History and graduated cum laude in 1963. She later served on their board of trustees. Stahl is a patron of the New York City Ballet and formerly served on their board.
Stahl lives in New York City. Her late husband was screenwriter and author Aaron Latham. Together they had one daughter and two grandchildren.
