public affairs show, Face the Nation, from 1991 until May 31, 2015. Schieffer was also known for his reporting duties. Between 1970 and 1974, he was assigned to the Pentagon. From 1974 to 1979, he was the White House correspondent for CBS, and in 1982 he became Chief Washington Correspondent, in addition to his anchor duties. In the wake of Dan Rather's controversial retirement,Telling It Slant Slate, November 24, 2004 he was named interim anchor for the weekday CBS Evening News. He assumed that job on March 10, 2005, the day following Rather's last broadcast. Under Schieffer, the CBS Evening News gained about 200,000 viewers, to average 7.7 million viewers, reversing some of the decline in ratings that occurred during Rather's tenure; while NBC Nightly News was down by 700,000 viewers, and ABC's World News Tonight lost 900,000. Schieffer closed the gap with ABC's World News Tonight when co-anchor Bob Woodruff was injured in late January 2006. Schieffer made his last CBS Evening News broadcast on August 31, 2006, and was replaced by Katie Couric. On Couric's second broadcast, he returned to provide segments for the evening news as chief Washington correspondent. Schieffer was also a substitute anchor for Couric and Scott Pelley when he became anchor of the evening news in June 2011. On October 13, 2004, Schieffer was the moderator of the third presidential debate between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry in Tempe, Arizona. On October 15, 2008, Schieffer moderated the third presidential debate between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain at Hofstra University in Uniondale, New York. Schieffer also moderated the third debate of the presidential candidates in 2012, between President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, on October 22, in Boca Raton, Florida. In 2013, Schieffer won the National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. Retirement from broadcasting On April 8, 2015, Schieffer announced his intention to retire as host of Face the Nation while speaking at his alma mater, Texas Christian University. Schieffer departed after working in journalism for 52 years, 46 of those years with CBS. On the April 12 broadcast of the program, he announced that John Dickerson, the political director for CBS, would succeed him, beginning in June 2015. As he prepared to retire from Face The Nation, Schieffer reflected on the acclaim that came his way during