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around within Hewitt’s reach—and Hewitt promptly grabbed it. Once NBC realized what had happened, word leaked to the press, and Hewitt was called to task yet again by exasperated bosses.
    It got worse. In the fall of 1964 , Hewitt’s archenemy Fred Friendly was brought in to replace Richard Salant as president of the ailing news division. That presented the perfect opportunity to get Hewitt out.
    Four decades later (during which time Hewitt and Cronkite became friends), Cronkite has no trouble recalling their battles and how it was that he demanded Hewitt be removed as his executive producer. “[Hewitt] would not tell me things that were going into the broadcast until the very last minute, and it was too late to make any changes,” Cronkite remembered. “And then this incident occurred and that confirmed for me that I didn’t have control of this broadcast. There was a specific story that somebody had been promised. I forget the story now; it was not a terribly serious story. But it was serious in that Don had promised it was not going to be used, and then he did use it. The promise had been violated.”
    Friendly agreed with Cronkite. In December 1964 , he called Don Hewitt into his office. This was it, everyone thought. Fred Friendly was going to fire him from CBS at last. After 16 years, Hewitt’s time in television had come to an end.
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    Hewitt went to Friendly’s office dragging his feet just a little; no encounter with this particular boss turned out pleasant.
    â€œYou know, I’ve been thinking about this,” Friendly told Hewitt once he’d settled into his seat. “The CBS Evening News is not big enough for you. You’re bigger than that broadcast. I’m going to set up a special unit that’ll be yours, and yours alone. I want you to cover the world. You don’t even have to check with anyone. Some big story breaks out, just go. You have my blessing. You have your own crews and your own editors. And that’s what I want you to do.”
    Now this was a surprise. Hewitt didn’t like Friendly, and vice versa. So why was the network news president talking about this fabulous new job? But then Hewitt, never much for introspection, just decided to accept his promotion with as much grace as he could muster.
    â€œSounds great, Fred,” Hewitt said. “Sounds like a terrific setup. I wouldn’t mind getting away from the daily grind.” Hewitt told Friendly he’d be ready to switch roles immediately, they shook hands on it, and Hewitt headed back to the newsroom.
    Along the way, Hewitt made a quick stop to see Bill Leonard, a good friend who had recently become a CBS News vice president. He barged into Leonard’s office to tell him the good news. “Jesus, Bill, guess what?“ he blurted. “Fred just decided to give me this great new organization, all mine.”
    Leonard looked up from his desk and stared at Hewitt, incredulous.
    â€œDon,” he said, “you just got fired.”
    â€œNo, you don’t understand, he’s . . .”
    Hewitt stopped talking and took a rare moment to consider his friend’s comment.
    â€œShit.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou’re right,” Hewitt said, slowly. “It was Fred’s way of sticking a knife in me. Making me think this is some sort of advancement in my career.” Like many anecdotes from his life, Hewitt has repeated this one endlessly and with a fluid sense of detail. In his 1985 memoir, Minute by Minute, Hewitt attributes the “you just got fired” comment to his then-wife Frankie. But by the time Hewitt wrote his 2002 memoir, Tell Me a Story, he’d decided it was Leonard who broke the news.
    But one detail is constant: Hewitt, heady with the aphrodisiac that long-term power affords, hadn’t seen it coming. After nearly two decades designing the future of the TV news business, he’d just become part of its