Mike Wallace ‘very seriously’ considered a job in PR

But in 1968, Wallace entertained a job offer outside of journalism when then President-Elect Richard Nixon offered him a job as press secretary.

“I thought very, very seriously about it,” Wallace told The New York Times in a 2006 interview. “And I finally said to Richard Nixon that I didn’t think I would be a good press guy for him because I’m not a very good person at putting a good face on bad facts.”

Wallace said he regard Nixon with “great respect.”

“He was savvy, smart, hard-working, [and he] knew that he was regarded as anathema,” Wallace said, adding that he also respected Nixon because “he was an underdog, and a loser.

“I had to admire the courage that he showed in coming back time and again and proving to the American people that they would be wise to elect him.”