Fifty Years Later, Did The U.S. Win The War On Poverty?

Linda Wertheimer joined NPR at the network's inception, and served as the first broadcast director of All Things Considered starting with its debut on May 3, 1971. She later spent 13 years hosting the show. Wertheimer helped build the afternoon news program's audience to record levels. The show grew from six million listeners in 1989 to nearly 10 million listeners by spring of 2001, making it one of the top afternoon drive-time news radio programs in the country. Wertheimer's influence on All Things Considered — and, by extension, all of public radio — has been profound.