Margaret Brennan will succeed John Dickerson as the moderator of “Face The Nation,” CBS announced on Thursday.
“Face the Nation” is one of the highest-rated Washington discussion programs on television. And one of the longest-running: It was started in 1954.
There was considerable speculation about who would take over when Dickerson moved to New York last month to co-host “CBS This Morning.”
Brennan is currently the White House and senior foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News. She will give up the White House beat but will retain the foreign affairs beat.
Brennan will begin hosting “Face” this Sunday.
Thursday’s announcement was well-received among the press corps, with many colleagues and rivals praising her reporting chops and curiosity.
Jake Tapper, who hosts CNN’s “State of the Union,” tweeted to her, “Congrats and welcome to Sunday morning!”
NBC’s chief White House correspondent Hallie Jackson tweeted, “We will miss you in the briefing room front row — but what a well-deserved promotion.”
In college, Brennan interned at CNN. Later, she became a producer for CNBC, then a correspondent for CNBC and an anchor for Bloomberg Television. Her first beat at CBS was the State Department.
“Margaret’s coverage of the White House and the world make her the ideal moderator for this legendary CBS News franchise at this moment in time,” CBS News president David Rhodes said in a statement.