Barbara Walters’ Most Famous Interviews Through the Years: Richard Nixon, Fidel Castro and More

Credit: Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Barbara Walters' Most Famous Interviews Through the Years: Richard Nixon, Fidel Castro and More

Barbara Walters was a broadcasting pioneer, interviewing dozens of famous faces from former President Richard Nixon to pop star Taylor Swift.

“I do my homework, so I have a certain sense of authority,” the former View cohost — who died on December 30, 2022, at the age of 93 — exclusively told Us Weekly in May 2014 of preparing for her sit-downs. “Sometimes I know more about the person than they do themselves. I'm very rarely nervous. When I finish an interview, I do 'shoulda, coulda, woulda,' and it drives me crazy, but when I'm actually doing the interview, I'm fine in authority and that's a good feeling.”

Walters got her start on NBC’s Today Show in 1961, where she was quickly tasked with handling lighthearted stories and weather reports. Within one year, she became the broadcast’s reporter-at-large and began conducting serious interviews. The Boston native went on to helm the ABC Evening News, 20/20 and The View.

Within Walters’ six decades of reporting experience, she has interviewed the likes of Nixon, Fidel Castro, Christopher Reeve and Monica Lewinsky, the latter of which saw a record-breaking 74 million viewers tune in.

Lewinsky, the former White House intern who notably had an affair with Bill Clinton while he was the President of the United States, sat down with Walters in 1999 to discuss her side of the story.

“I knew Barbara for over half of my life. We met in the spring of 1998, in the midst of the Starr investigation; I was 24. I remarked that this was the first time I’d ever been in serious trouble,” the San Francisco native wrote via Twitter in December 2022, shortly after news broke of Walters’ death. “I’d basically been a good kid — got good grades, didn’t do drugs, never shoplifted etc. Without missing a beat, Barbara said: ‘Monica, next time shoplift.’”

She continued: “We stayed in touch over the past 25 years. The last time we saw each other was for lunch a few years ago. Of course, she was charming, witty and some of her questions were still her signature interview style: ‘So tell me, Monica, how do you feel … etc etc.’ She was the very first person with whom I ever sat for a television interview … and will certainly be my most memorable. Barbara will be missed by many — including me.”

Walters was also known for hosting an annual special, titled Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People, where she spoke with an array of public figures before the end of the calendar year.

Scroll below to revisit the late journalistic icon’s memorable interviews through the years:

Credit: Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Barbara Walters' Most Famous Interviews Through the Years: Richard Nixon, Fidel Castro and More

Barbara Walters was a broadcasting pioneer, interviewing dozens of famous faces from former President Richard Nixon to pop star Taylor Swift.

“I do my homework, so I have a certain sense of authority,” the former View cohost — who died on December 30, 2022, at the age of 93 — exclusively told Us Weekly in May 2014 of preparing for her sit-downs. “Sometimes I know more about the person than they do themselves. I'm very rarely nervous. When I finish an interview, I do 'shoulda, coulda, woulda,' and it drives me crazy, but when I'm actually doing the interview, I'm fine in authority and that's a good feeling.”

Walters got her start on NBC’s Today Show in 1961, where she was quickly tasked with handling lighthearted stories and weather reports. Within one year, she became the broadcast’s reporter-at-large and began conducting serious interviews. The Boston native went on to helm the ABC Evening News, 20/20 and The View.

Within Walters’ six decades of reporting experience, she has interviewed the likes of Nixon, Fidel Castro, Christopher Reeve and Monica Lewinsky, the latter of which saw a record-breaking 74 million viewers tune in.

Lewinsky, the former White House intern who notably had an affair with Bill Clinton while he was the President of the United States, sat down with Walters in 1999 to discuss her side of the story.

“I knew Barbara for over half of my life. We met in the spring of 1998, in the midst of the Starr investigation; I was 24. I remarked that this was the first time I’d ever been in serious trouble,” the San Francisco native wrote via Twitter in December 2022, shortly after news broke of Walters’ death. “I’d basically been a good kid — got good grades, didn’t do drugs, never shoplifted etc. Without missing a beat, Barbara said: ‘Monica, next time shoplift.’”

She continued: “We stayed in touch over the past 25 years. The last time we saw each other was for lunch a few years ago. Of course, she was charming, witty and some of her questions were still her signature interview style: ‘So tell me, Monica, how do you feel … etc etc.’ She was the very first person with whom I ever sat for a television interview … and will certainly be my most memorable. Barbara will be missed by many — including me.”

Walters was also known for hosting an annual special, titled Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People, where she spoke with an array of public figures before the end of the calendar year.

Scroll below to revisit the late journalistic icon’s memorable interviews through the years:

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Richard Nixon

Walters spoke with the former president, who died in 1994, several times throughout his political career. During a live interview in 1980, Nixon opened up to Walters about his part in the Watergate scandal.

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Jimmy Carter

Walters journeyed to Carter and wife Rosalynn Carter’s Georgia home in 1976 months before his presidential inauguration. “I pray that I won't disappoint the American people,” Jimmy said during the sit-down.

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Gerald Ford

Ford and his wife, Betty Ford, gave Walters a tour of the White House during a 1976 televised farewell before leaving office.

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Shimon Peres

The Today alum lead Peres, the former head of Israel’s Labor Party, to their seats hand-in-hand before the interview commenced.

Credit: Mikhail Metzel/AP/Shutterstock

Vladimir Putin

Walters was the first American journalist to interview the Russian president after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The 20/20 special aired the following November.

Credit: AP/Shutterstock

Yitzhak Rabin

She spoke with the Israeli prime minister in 1974.

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Edward Kennedy

Walters interviewed Kennedy in 1970 on the second anniversary of his brother President John F. Kennedy’s death.

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Fidel Castro

Walters was one of the reporters who accompanied Senator George McGovern on a 1975 trip to Cuba, where she first met Castro. After two years of following up about an interview opportunity, they sat down in May 1977.

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Jack Kevorkian

The late TV anchor’s 1992 discussion with Kevorkian (a.k.a. “Dr. Death”) was controversial, as he spoke about physician-assisted suicide.

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Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Walters spoke with the former Iranian sovereign in 1977, marking the first time he and wife Farah Pahlavi were interviewed together.

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Yasser Arafat

She interviewed the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1977.

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Monica Lewinsky

Lewinsky gave her first televised interview about the Clinton scandal to Walters in March 1999. “Sometimes I have warm feelings, sometimes I'm proud of [Clinton] still, and sometimes I hate his guts. And, um, he makes me sick,” the activist told Walters at the time.

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Christopher Reeve

Walters conversed with the actor in September 2002, who died two years after the 20/20 special aired.

Credit: ABC

Katharine Hepburn

“Katharine Hepburn was talking about seeing things in black and white. That's what so many people respect about her — that she's so definite,” Walters reflected on her 1991 interview with the Oscar winner in the January 2002 issue of Esquire. “I had just come back from the Middle East, interviewing Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat. I told her that and said, ‘Ms. Hepburn, I don't see things in black and white very often. I see things in shades of gray.’ And she said, ‘Well, I pity you.’”

Credit: ABC

Ellen DeGeneres

“Can I say that I love you whether you ever read my book or not. You’ve always been so good to me. I think you’re so cute,” Walters gushed during a 2008 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, nearly three years after she interviewed the Finding Dory star about her coming-out journey.

Credit: ABC

Barbra Streisand

Walters spoke with Streisand during the first edition of her The Barbara Walters Specials, which aired in 1976.

“The plan was to do a mixture of political leaders and Hollywood celebrities,” Walters later reflected on the special in 1989. “The words of the wary still ring in my ears: ‘Those stars will never sit down for an interview,’ they said, ‘And they certainly won't let you enter their homes. They will never talk to you, period.’ But one did. Barbra Streisand. Everything I'd ever heard about her was true. The ultimate professional, she worried about everything—every question I asked, every word she uttered, every note. But she is such a talent, and at heart so vulnerable, that I could forgive her anything. It was our first glimpse at the flipside of stardom.”

Credit: ABC

Taylor Swift

Swift was named one of Walter’s “Most Fascinating People” in 2014, where the “Anti-Hero” singer opened up about her relationship with fans, switching to pop music from country and her famed good-girl reputation.