One of the longest running programs on American TV, "Face the Nation" spends most of it's time on the air every week doing one-on-one interviews with prominent politicians about major issues from the past week. Face the Nation begins each episode with a short "tease" segment recapping the week's events and teasing the day's guests, set to the show's theme music. The program's second-half hour transitions to more discussion-oriented segments, including interviews of notable authors with forthcoming books and a weekly roundtable discussion, with a rotating cast of panelists. Face the Nation premiered on November 7, 1954, and was originally broadcast on Sunday afternoons at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Bill Shadel was then the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for CBS News. On that first program, his guest was Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy. Guests were rarely scheduled far in advance, in order to keep on top of current news stories. In 1983, Leslie Stahl became America's most prominent TV female. In 1991, the program would be taken over by its most well-known host, Bob Schieffer. In 2015, Schieffer would retire and the show was taken over by John Dickerson. Margaret Brennan has been the main host since 2018.