Sig Mickelson

In his five-hour interview, Sig Mickelson (1913–2000) talks about his long career as an executive with CBS News, which culminated with his appointment as the network's first news president (1959-61). He describes his association with the political conventions from 1948 through 1964, at first as a reporter (1948), then as senior executive in charge of the conventions (1952, 1956, 1960), and finally after retiring from CBS, as executive program director for the Republican National Convention in San Francisco (1964). Mickelson recalls hiring Walter Cronkite for the 1952 conventions and assigning him the role of anchorman, a term he is credited with coining. He describes the way in which footage was collected for the nightly news, documentaries, and public affairs programs and describes news series including See It Now, Face the Nation, and CBS Reports. He discusses how CBS covered the Japanese Peace Conference (the first time the coaxial cable was used), the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, President Eisenhower's press conferences, the Kennedy-Nixon presidential debates, and the 1960 Olympic Games. Don Carleton conducted the two-part interview on August 24 and August 25, 1999 in San Diego, CA.