Robert David Simon (May 29, 1941 – February 11, 2015) was an American television correspondent for CBS News. He covered crises, war, and unrest in 67 countries during his career. Simon reported the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam, the Israeli–Lebanese Conflict in 1982, and the student protests in China's Tiananmen Square in 1989. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, he and four of his TV crew were captured and imprisoned by Iraq for 40 days. He published a book about the experience titled Forty Days.
He became a regular correspondent for CBS's 60 Minutes in 1996 and, in 1999, for 60 Minutes II. At the time of his death in an auto crash, he served as 60 Minutes senior foreign correspondent. Simon is described as having been "a giant of broadcast journalism" by CBS News President David Rhodes.
Early life and education
Simon was born to a Jewish family in The Bronx in New York City. In 1962, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brandeis University with a degree in history.
During the opening days of the Gulf War in January 1991, Simon and his CBS News team were captured by Iraqi forces and spent 40 days in an Iraqi prison, most of it in solitary confinement. Simon later said that it was a "careless mistake" for him and his crew to have crossed the border,
In 1996, Simon joined 60 Minutes as a correspondent, and he was also a correspondent for seven seasons on 60 Minutes II, from January 1999 to June 2005, after which he became a full-time correspondent. His coverage of foreign events were broadcast on all CBS News shows and earned him more than 40 major awards, including the Overseas Press Club's highest honor for a body of work, the President's Award. Simon also received 27 Emmy Awards, believed to be the most earned by a field journalist. Similarly, former CBS News anchor Dan Rather said Simon was "one of the best writers ever to work in television journalism." He is described by Rather, who worked with him for 38 years, as having been an "old school" journalist, one of the few well-informed "scholar correspondents," and someone who thrived on challenging and dangerous assignments: