Mike Wallace, an excellent investigative journalist, who was one of the initial correspondents of CBS’ 60 Minutes died, when he was 93 years old. This journalist hosted fascinating interviews with world celebrated individuals. The most recent stories were linked with the former professional baseball player Roger Clemens and accusations linked with intake of anabolic steroids and HGH by this person. Mike Wallace’s last appearance on TV was related to this case.
The interview with Roger Clemens about steroids was broadcast in January, 2008. Rusty Hardin, the defense attorney for Roger Clemens, arranged the appearing of this baseball star in the Show 60 Minutes. Roger Clemens had to defense himself against accusations of Brian McNamee, his former personal coach. This person accused Roger Clemens in usage of anabolic steroids and HGH. He collaborated with investigators of Mitchell Report, when they tried to determine the extent of steroid use in the Major League Baseball.
Wallace didn’t enforce Clemens to tell that he used steroids. He just convinced him to prove to others that he had applied neither steroids, nor HGH. Roger Clemens claimed that he would be able to pull a tractor with his teeth, if he had taken steroids.
The interview of Clemens was a calamitous public relations ploy for Rusty Hardin. It was not a perceptive interview. But it renewed the interest after Wallace’s death.
Actually, Wallace presented much more substantial interviews during his career. The steroid interview with Roger Clemens was not the most significant. Why did it draw all persons’ attention?
Other interviews of Wallace are quite interesting. Wallace interviewed the lawyer of the president Richard Nixon and the assistant to the president for Domestic Affairs John Ehrlichman during the Watergate scandal. Wallace determined the Watergate scandal as “perjury”. He listed such methods of Richard Nixon, as thefts, spying, obstruction of justice, etc. The scandal caused resignation of the president.
Wallace arranged also an interview with the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini. The reporter called him a “lunatic”. But he was quoting the president Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt.
Another individual who was interviewed by Wallace was the Vice President of Research and Development at a tobacco company. Jeffrey Wigand noted during the interview that executives of the company lied before the Congress about their knowledge about nature of nicotine.
Although these interviews were significant, numerous persons directed their attention to insignificant interview with the former baseball player Roger Clemens. It may be because while lying of Roger Clemens before the Congress can lead to federal struggle against steroids, the war on nicotine will never take place.
