CBS News stalwart Bob Schieffer says it is time to retire.

After a half-century in Journalism, the Face the Nation host announced Wednesday that he plans to retire this summer.

He broke the news at the annual Schieffer Symposium at Texas Christian University, his alma mater.

“Because this is where my professional career began, this is where I wanted all of you to be the first to know, this summer I’m going to retire,” Schieffer told the crowd.

Schieffer started his career as a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He scored the first interview with killer Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother.

He joined CBS News in 1969, and covered the Pentagon, the White House, Congress and the State Department. He was promoted to chief Washington correspondent in 1982, the same year he became anchor of “Face the Nation.”

“He’s been an inspiration and a mentor to so many colleagues — and frankly, to me,” said CBS News President David Rhodes.

He also anchored the Saturday edition of the “CBS Evening News” for 23 years, and served as the interim anchor for the weekday broadcast for 17 months following Dan Rather’s departure in March 2005.

Unlike Barbara Walters we're fairly certain that Schieffer is going to really retire and not just say he's retiring.

H/T NY Daily News