Schieffer to Face the Nation a Bit Longer

Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer is having serious second thoughts about leaving the Sunday morning TV circuit. After announcing in January that he'd retire with the swearing-in of the next president, the 71-year-old anchor now says he probably spoke too soon. "My bosses have asked me to stay around for a while," Schieffer told our Dan Gilgoff in an interview in CBS's Washington bureau. "I'm just going to reduce my schedule a little bit, but I guess I'm going to stay around a little while longer than I anticipated."

The Lone Star state native, who's led Face the Nation for 17 years, survived a brush with cancer several years back and has been diagnosed with Type II diabetes. But he says he's more than up to the task of anchoring. "As long as my health stays good — and every sign now is that it is — I'm going to keep working," he tells us. "I love this. It's a great way to spend your life." Schieffer's 18-month stint as the anchor of CBS Evening News between the Dan Rather and Katie Couric eras — when he managed to goose the show's drooping ratings suggests means viewers will be happy he's sticking around. And he might not roll out retirement plans again for a long time. "I don't know what else I'd do," he says. "I could never retire totally, and I never really planned to do that."

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