By John DiConsiglio
Journalism icon Cokie Roberts was a fixture in the lives of millions of news-watchers for more than 40 years. Roberts, who died in 2019 from breast cancer, reported from world hotspots like the U.S. Congress and the Vatican for national media outlets including NPR and ABC News. She wrote bestselling books and served as an inspiration and role model, opening newsroom doors for generations of women reporters.
But those landmark achievements are only part of her story, noted her husband Steven Roberts, the J.B. and M.C. Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs, at a March 9 event sponsored by the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Alumni Relations.
In a conversation with Frank Sesno, SMPA director of strategic initiatives, and CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Dana Bash, B.A. ’93, one of his former students, Roberts discussed his book “Cokie: A Life Well Lived,” which was released in November. During the online and in-person event, Roberts pulled back the curtain on the couple’s 53-year marriage and shared stories about his wife’s faith, service and commitment to her friends and family.
“In many ways, the private Cokie was even more important than the public Cokie,” he said.
Proceeds from book sales at the event will be donated to the Cokie Roberts Tuition Relief Fund, a scholarship program for SMPA students experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roberts described writing the book as a labor of love that carried him through both his own grief and the isolation of the pandemic. “It wasn’t a burden, it was a gift,” he said, calling the writing process a way to both mourn her death and celebrate her life.
“This was my way of grieving,” he said. “Grief is the price you pay for love. The deeper the love, the deeper the sense of loss. Is that a bargain worth making? Every single time.”
The couple married in 1966, when Steven Roberts was a correspondent for The New York Times. Cokie Roberts came from a family steeped in politics. Her father, Hale Boggs, was a longtime Democratic representative from Louisiana and a former House majority leader. After he died in a plane crash in 1972, Cokie Roberts’ mother, Lindy Boggs, was elected to fill his seat. She served until 1991 and later became U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
Cokie Roberts joined NPR in the 1970s and ABC News in 1988, where she co-anchored the network’s popular Sunday morning program “This Week.” At a time when newsrooms were largely male-dominated, she carved out a career as a pioneering female journalist. Steven Roberts remembered her as “a superior intellect and a very dynamic figure” and called himself “her biggest fan.”
At the event, Roberts’ shared little-known stories about his wife—from the time she filled in for an absent Mother Teresa at a high school graduation ceremony to rumors that she was considered as a potential running-mate during Ross Perot’s 1992 presidential candidacy. (“A very short-lived romance,” Steven Roberts called it, noting that Perot was later upset at the tough questions she asked him during an interview.)
He talked about her strong Catholic faith, her championing of relief organizations such as Save the Children and her view of journalism as “a profound form of public service.” He also recounted tales of her personal warmth and generosity, many of which he learned while researching the book. In exchanges with friends and colleagues that often ended in tears—“Theirs and mine,” he said—he heard stories about her visiting maternity wards and attending funerals before returning to her offices at ABC and NPR “where there was literally a line of young women out the door waiting to talk to her.”
When asked how his wife would respond to today’s political atmosphere, Roberts suggested she would lament the loss of personal relationships across party lines. He recalled that she grew up in a Washington, D.C., where the children of politicians on both sides of the aisle “went to the same schools, went to the same churches [and] played on the same soccer teams.” Indeed, he noted, former First Lady Betty Ford, a Republican, asked Cokie Roberts to deliver her eulogy.
“I think Cokie would say that those relationships were absolutely essential in creating a sense of respect across party lines,” he said.
Roberts said he wanted the book to spotlight the couple’s love story, which endured despite religious differences and competing jobs, including covering the same congressional beat for rival news outlets.
“You can tell a good marriage by the number of teeth marks on your tongue,” he said. “One of the secrets is: Think before you say something and be respectful.”
Over the years, Roberts’ shared the couple’s stories with his students, like Colleen Connors, B.A. ’91, who introduced Roberts at the event and, along with Bash, recalled post-class gatherings at Foggy Bottom restaurants. “Some of us got to know [Cokie Roberts] and love her in-person through Professor Roberts,” Connors said, “some through how he speaks of her and their shared commitments and values.”
Bash, a GW Monumental Alumna, noted that Steven Roberts inspired students and friends inside and outside the classroom with tales from his marriage. “As part of your teaching, you impart the wisdom, that hard-fought wisdom, to your students, to people you meet on the way, to people who know your story,” she said.
“I think the most important lesson [from Cokie’s life] is not professional, it’s personal,” Roberts said. “Be a good person, be a good friend, support your co-workers. Be honest and true and help people. … That’s really her most lasting legacy.”