William Small, Who Made CBS Washington Bureau a TV News Powerhouse, Dies at 93

William J. Small, a television news executive who presided over the storied Washington bureau of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, directing news coverage and hiring stars of broadcast journalism such as Dan Rather, Lesley Stahl, Bill Moyers and Connie Chung, died May 24 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 93.

His daughter Tamar Small said that there was no specific cause of death but that it was unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Small became chief the CBS Washington bureau in 1962 and built it into one of the most formidable newsrooms, in any medium, in the capital. Over the following years, he mentored dozens of journalists who went on to major careers as reporters and anchors.

He helped direct the network’s coverage of the major news stories of the era, including the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the passage of civil rights laws and the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s, which led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon.