He was the son of James Garfield Moses (1881-1931) and Ruth Leonard Moses Harrison (1888-1981).
On April 25, 1942 as William A. Leonard, he married Adele Wilde at Manhattan, New York City, New York. Their marriage later ended in divorce.
They were the parents of five children.
In 1957, he married Norma Kaphan Wallace.
William Augustus Leonard II was best known for choosing Dan Rather, a 60 Minutes correspondent to succeed Walter Cronkite as anchor of the CBS Evening News in 1981. He also created Sunday Morning which was one of the longest running and most successful news program. He was born William Leonard Moses, the son of James Garfield Moses (1881-1931) and Ruth Leonard Moses Harrison (1888-1981). His father was the son of Rabbi Adolph Moses with Temple Adath Israel. After the death of his father in 1931 his mother reverted to her maiden name with her three children adopting the same surname. She later married Richard Compton Harrison (1881-1960). In 1937 he graduated from Dartmouth College. He was the managing editor of the Daily Dartmouth, a performer with the Dartmouth Players and president of the college amateur radio association. In 1941 he joined the United States Navy with a commission as an ensign. From 1943 to 1944 he served on destroyers in the Mediterranean and was officer in charge of radio guided missile countermeasures for the 8th Fleet. He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He then joined CBS as an radio anchorman for This Is New York on flagship station WABC, which later became WCBS. He remained with the show when it moved to television on WCBS-TV, renamed as Eye on New York. He was the host for 15 years. He was a floor reporter for the 1952, 1956 and 1960 political conventions. In 1959 he became a full-time CBS news correspondent and joined the group that would later produce the award winning CBS Reports documentary series. He helped produce and narrated for Hunger in America about the Department of Agriculture and The Selling of the Pentagon about the Defense Department’s public opinion efforts for the military. He also interviewed General Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic before the fall of his government. From 1961 to 1965, he led the election unit at CBS which worked with pollster, Louis Harris to develop exit-poll methodology. By 1965 he was a vice president and later senior vice president of CBS news programming and supervised political coverage at CBS until 1972. In 1975 he became the vice president of government relations for CBS in the District of Columbia. In 1979 he became the first on air broadcaster to become President of CBS News. In 1982 he retired after being the second to remain after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. William S. Paley, the chair of the network had also been allowed to remain past retirement age. He retired to the District with his second wife, Norma Kaphan Wallace who he married in 1957. He died at age 78 on October 23, 1994 at Laurel Regional Hospital in Laurel, Maryland of a stroke. Survivors included his wife; five sons (from his first marriage) of Panama City, Florida; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Hawaii and the District; 15 grandchildren and one stepson.
Sources: The New York Sun, Tuesday, February 17, 1942; The Brooklyn Eagle, Thursday, April 19, 1951 and The New York Times, Monday, October 24, 1994.
On April 25, 1942 as William A. Leonard, he married Adele Wilde at Manhattan, New York City, New York. Their marriage later ended in divorce.
They were the parents of five children.
In 1957, he married Norma Kaphan Wallace.
William Augustus Leonard II was best known for choosing Dan Rather, a 60 Minutes correspondent to succeed Walter Cronkite as anchor of the CBS Evening News in 1981. He also created Sunday Morning which was one of the longest running and most successful news program. He was born William Leonard Moses, the son of James Garfield Moses (1881-1931) and Ruth Leonard Moses Harrison (1888-1981). His father was the son of Rabbi Adolph Moses with Temple Adath Israel. After the death of his father in 1931 his mother reverted to her maiden name with her three children adopting the same surname. She later married Richard Compton Harrison (1881-1960). In 1937 he graduated from Dartmouth College. He was the managing editor of the Daily Dartmouth, a performer with the Dartmouth Players and president of the college amateur radio association. In 1941 he joined the United States Navy with a commission as an ensign. From 1943 to 1944 he served on destroyers in the Mediterranean and was officer in charge of radio guided missile countermeasures for the 8th Fleet. He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He then joined CBS as an radio anchorman for This Is New York on flagship station WABC, which later became WCBS. He remained with the show when it moved to television on WCBS-TV, renamed as Eye on New York. He was the host for 15 years. He was a floor reporter for the 1952, 1956 and 1960 political conventions. In 1959 he became a full-time CBS news correspondent and joined the group that would later produce the award winning CBS Reports documentary series. He helped produce and narrated for Hunger in America about the Department of Agriculture and The Selling of the Pentagon about the Defense Department’s public opinion efforts for the military. He also interviewed General Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic before the fall of his government. From 1961 to 1965, he led the election unit at CBS which worked with pollster, Louis Harris to develop exit-poll methodology. By 1965 he was a vice president and later senior vice president of CBS news programming and supervised political coverage at CBS until 1972. In 1975 he became the vice president of government relations for CBS in the District of Columbia. In 1979 he became the first on air broadcaster to become President of CBS News. In 1982 he retired after being the second to remain after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. William S. Paley, the chair of the network had also been allowed to remain past retirement age. He retired to the District with his second wife, Norma Kaphan Wallace who he married in 1957. He died at age 78 on October 23, 1994 at Laurel Regional Hospital in Laurel, Maryland of a stroke. Survivors included his wife; five sons (from his first marriage) of Panama City, Florida; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Hawaii and the District; 15 grandchildren and one stepson.
Sources: The New York Sun, Tuesday, February 17, 1942; The Brooklyn Eagle, Thursday, April 19, 1951 and The New York Times, Monday, October 24, 1994.
He was the son of James Garfield Moses (1881-1931) and Ruth Leonard Moses Harrison (1888-1981).
On April 25, 1942 as William A. Leonard, he married Adele Wilde at Manhattan, New York City, New York. Their marriage later ended in divorce.
They were the parents of five children.
In 1957, he married Norma Kaphan Wallace.
William Augustus Leonard II was best known for choosing Dan Rather, a 60 Minutes correspondent to succeed Walter Cronkite as anchor of the CBS Evening News in 1981. He also created Sunday Morning which was one of the longest running and most successful news program. He was born William Leonard Moses, the son of James Garfield Moses (1881-1931) and Ruth Leonard Moses Harrison (1888-1981). His father was the son of Rabbi Adolph Moses with Temple Adath Israel. After the death of his father in 1931 his mother reverted to her maiden name with her three children adopting the same surname. She later married Richard Compton Harrison (1881-1960). In 1937 he graduated from Dartmouth College. He was the managing editor of the Daily Dartmouth, a performer with the Dartmouth Players and president of the college amateur radio association. In 1941 he joined the United States Navy with a commission as an ensign. From 1943 to 1944 he served on destroyers in the Mediterranean and was officer in charge of radio guided missile countermeasures for the 8th Fleet. He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He then joined CBS as an radio anchorman for This Is New York on flagship station WABC, which later became WCBS. He remained with the show when it moved to television on WCBS-TV, renamed as Eye on New York. He was the host for 15 years. He was a floor reporter for the 1952, 1956 and 1960 political conventions. In 1959 he became a full-time CBS news correspondent and joined the group that would later produce the award winning CBS Reports documentary series. He helped produce and narrated for Hunger in America about the Department of Agriculture and The Selling of the Pentagon about the Defense Department’s public opinion efforts for the military. He also interviewed General Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic before the fall of his government. From 1961 to 1965, he led the election unit at CBS which worked with pollster, Louis Harris to develop exit-poll methodology. By 1965 he was a vice president and later senior vice president of CBS news programming and supervised political coverage at CBS until 1972. In 1975 he became the vice president of government relations for CBS in the District of Columbia. In 1979 he became the first on air broadcaster to become President of CBS News. In 1982 he retired after being the second to remain after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. William S. Paley, the chair of the network had also been allowed to remain past retirement age. He retired to the District with his second wife, Norma Kaphan Wallace who he married in 1957. He died at age 78 on October 23, 1994 at Laurel Regional Hospital in Laurel, Maryland of a stroke. Survivors included his wife; five sons (from his first marriage) of Panama City, Florida; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Hawaii and the District; 15 grandchildren and one stepson.
Sources: The New York Sun, Tuesday, February 17, 1942; The Brooklyn Eagle, Thursday, April 19, 1951 and The New York Times, Monday, October 24, 1994.
On April 25, 1942 as William A. Leonard, he married Adele Wilde at Manhattan, New York City, New York. Their marriage later ended in divorce.
They were the parents of five children.
In 1957, he married Norma Kaphan Wallace.
William Augustus Leonard II was best known for choosing Dan Rather, a 60 Minutes correspondent to succeed Walter Cronkite as anchor of the CBS Evening News in 1981. He also created Sunday Morning which was one of the longest running and most successful news program. He was born William Leonard Moses, the son of James Garfield Moses (1881-1931) and Ruth Leonard Moses Harrison (1888-1981). His father was the son of Rabbi Adolph Moses with Temple Adath Israel. After the death of his father in 1931 his mother reverted to her maiden name with her three children adopting the same surname. She later married Richard Compton Harrison (1881-1960). In 1937 he graduated from Dartmouth College. He was the managing editor of the Daily Dartmouth, a performer with the Dartmouth Players and president of the college amateur radio association. In 1941 he joined the United States Navy with a commission as an ensign. From 1943 to 1944 he served on destroyers in the Mediterranean and was officer in charge of radio guided missile countermeasures for the 8th Fleet. He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He then joined CBS as an radio anchorman for This Is New York on flagship station WABC, which later became WCBS. He remained with the show when it moved to television on WCBS-TV, renamed as Eye on New York. He was the host for 15 years. He was a floor reporter for the 1952, 1956 and 1960 political conventions. In 1959 he became a full-time CBS news correspondent and joined the group that would later produce the award winning CBS Reports documentary series. He helped produce and narrated for Hunger in America about the Department of Agriculture and The Selling of the Pentagon about the Defense Department’s public opinion efforts for the military. He also interviewed General Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic before the fall of his government. From 1961 to 1965, he led the election unit at CBS which worked with pollster, Louis Harris to develop exit-poll methodology. By 1965 he was a vice president and later senior vice president of CBS news programming and supervised political coverage at CBS until 1972. In 1975 he became the vice president of government relations for CBS in the District of Columbia. In 1979 he became the first on air broadcaster to become President of CBS News. In 1982 he retired after being the second to remain after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. William S. Paley, the chair of the network had also been allowed to remain past retirement age. He retired to the District with his second wife, Norma Kaphan Wallace who he married in 1957. He died at age 78 on October 23, 1994 at Laurel Regional Hospital in Laurel, Maryland of a stroke. Survivors included his wife; five sons (from his first marriage) of Panama City, Florida; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Hawaii and the District; 15 grandchildren and one stepson.
Sources: The New York Sun, Tuesday, February 17, 1942; The Brooklyn Eagle, Thursday, April 19, 1951 and The New York Times, Monday, October 24, 1994.
Inscription
There is also a bronze plate embedded in a rock at foot of a tree in North Hill, Lot 111 inscribed:
In Memory Of
BILL LEONARD
From His Friends and Family
1994
Family Members
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