Here’s a little trivia question for you: Who was the first person to interview Richard Nixon live following his resignation?
Walter Cronkite would be a good guess. Paul J. Schneider would be a better one.
Schneider was a Boise Broadcasting icon for some 50 years. He was on TV now and then but is best remembered as the voice of BSU Bronco football for 35 years. He and Lon Dunn also did a legendary two-man morning show on KBOI. He was such a part of that station that they named the building after him when he retired.
But Richard Nixon?
Speaking at an Idaho Broadcast History group gathering Schneider told how that came about. He said that he had been interviewing his friend, baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. Killebrew asked Schneider afterward if he wanted to go somewhere else in his career. Paul J. said that he was quite happy right where he was. Killebrew pressed him, asking if there was one thing he’d like to do in radio. Schneider answered that he’d like to interview former President Richard Nixon. Killebrew said, “I can make that happen.”
Schneider was skeptical, but a few days later, Killebrew called and said he’d set it up. Schneider was to call Nixon on his birthday for the live interview. One condition: No questions about politics.
“So, we had him predict the Super Bowl,” Schneider said.
Newspeople worldwide were eager to get a Nixon interview. Apparently, none of them knew Harmon Killebrew.
Walter Cronkite would be a good guess. Paul J. Schneider would be a better one.
Schneider was a Boise Broadcasting icon for some 50 years. He was on TV now and then but is best remembered as the voice of BSU Bronco football for 35 years. He and Lon Dunn also did a legendary two-man morning show on KBOI. He was such a part of that station that they named the building after him when he retired.
But Richard Nixon?
Speaking at an Idaho Broadcast History group gathering Schneider told how that came about. He said that he had been interviewing his friend, baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. Killebrew asked Schneider afterward if he wanted to go somewhere else in his career. Paul J. said that he was quite happy right where he was. Killebrew pressed him, asking if there was one thing he’d like to do in radio. Schneider answered that he’d like to interview former President Richard Nixon. Killebrew said, “I can make that happen.”
Schneider was skeptical, but a few days later, Killebrew called and said he’d set it up. Schneider was to call Nixon on his birthday for the live interview. One condition: No questions about politics.
“So, we had him predict the Super Bowl,” Schneider said.
Newspeople worldwide were eager to get a Nixon interview. Apparently, none of them knew Harmon Killebrew.
That’s Tom Scott on the left with Nixon interviewer Paul J. Schneider on the right. Photo courtesy of the History of Idaho Broadcasting Foundation.
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