Robert Pierpoint: CBS Journalist and White House Correspondent

Early life and training

Pierpoint was born in Redondo Beach, California, and after military service he completed his education at the University of Redlands in 1948. He served in the United States Navy during World War II, an experience that preceded his entry into journalism. Early assignment work included war reporting during the Korean War, where frontline and radio reporting shaped his skills for later television work.

Broadcast career and influences

At CBS Pierpoint learned much from Edward R. Murrow and was counted among the group often called Murrow’s Boys — reporters who emphasized accuracy, skepticism and moral clarity in news coverage. He appeared on the pioneering news program See It Now and handled diplomatic beats such as the State Department, developing a style marked by concise questions and a readiness to seek documents and facts rather than rely on spin.

White House correspondent

Pierpoint served as a White House correspondent across six administrations, from Dwight D. Eisenhower through Jimmy Carter. In that role he covered policy, press briefings and often adversarial exchanges between reporters and officials. He later collected memories and observations in his book At the White House (1981). Pierpoint was known for his verbal sparring with Richard Nixon, an example of the combative reporter–president dynamics that defined political journalism in the 1960s and 1970s.

Notable coverage, appearances and anecdotes

• War reporting: frontline assignments during the Korean War.
• Network reporting: work on See It Now and regular contributions to CBS news programs.
• Popular culture: Pierpoint voiced himself on the radio in the final episode of M*A*S*H, reflecting the public visibility of network correspondents.

An often-repeated personal story captures his profession’s odd hours: once called on air while playing tennis, he reported wearing a coat and tie above the camera but tennis shorts below — a photograph of his legs later amused friends and family and became part of his lore.

Later life and legacy

After formal retirement Pierpoint continued occasional work, including contributions to magazine-style programs and radio retrospectives. He was a fixture on some of CBS’s weekend programming and a mentor to younger reporters. He died in Santa Barbara, California, in 2011. His career illustrates the transition from radio to television journalism, the institutional role of the White House correspondent, and the professional influence of Murrow-era standards on American broadcast news.

Further reading and archival resources: biographical overview, CBS profile, hometown records, naval service, wartime context, Korean War reports, See It Now archives, State Department coverage, Edward R. Murrow connection, M*A*S*H appearance, White House reporting role, Eisenhower years, Carter era, Nixon encounters, tennis anecdote.