The Admiral to the end

In the April 26 edition of Time Magazine, ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer answers 10 questions from readers regarding her decades as a journalist.

Rome Ibera, of Dumont, N.J., asked “What has been your most difficult interview so far?”

Sawyer answered:

Admiral Hyman Rickover. He was in his 80s at the time. He’s the father of the nuclear Navy, and he famously tried to destabilize you when you were in his presence. I introduced [the segment]by saying how brilliant he was, and he said, ‘It’s not that I’m so smart. It’s that you’re so dumb.’ And that’s how we began.”

Indeed, Rickover remained “the kindly old gentleman” to the end.