“He was always full of joy, happiness, light, sunshine. He loved God and Jesus and we miss him already. God bless you, God speed, Bob Beckel,” Fox News anchor Sean Hannity said on Monday night after learning of Beckel’s death.
Likewise, columnist Cal Thomas, who co-authored the Common Ground column with Beckel for USA Today, remembered Bob Beckel in a Facebook post as a man who could come together with others of difficult persuasions.
“My friend and spiritual brother, Bob Beckel, has passed into the presence of the Lord he loved. We did so many things together and I hope we modeled what two people of different political persuasions can be like when they love one another,” wrote Thomas.
“For ten years we wrote the ‘Common Ground’ column for USA Today and a book by that title. The name of his ironically titled autobiography is ‘I Should Be Dead.’ It is a highly readable book about a difficult life that was dramatically changed in the last 15 years,” he added.
Sean Hannity and Bob Beckel during the FOX News “Hannity with Sean Hannity” 15th anniversary show at Olympic Centennial Park on October 6, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Chris McKay/Getty Images)
Beckel’s political career began in 1977 when he worked for the U.S. State Department under former President Jimmy Carter, serving as the youngest Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for that administration. After Carter’s defeat at the hands of former President Ronald Reagan, Beckel returned four years later when he served as the national campaign manager for Walter Mondale.
Beckel first joined Fox News in 2000 as a contributor and began co-hosting The Five in 2011. He continued hosting until 2015 when he was briefly fired by the network for an alleged pain killer addiction following back surgery.
“We tried to work with Bob for months, but we couldn’t hold The Five hostage to one man’s personal issues,” Bill Shine, then-executive vice president of programming, said in a statement at the time. “He took tremendous advantage of our generosity, empathy and goodwill and we simply came to the end of the road with him.”
Beckel disputed this account.
After a brief stint at CNN, Beckel rejoined The Five in 2017 only to be fired again for allegedly making an “insensitive” comment toward a co-worker.
“Bob Beckel was terminated today for making an insensitive remark to an African-American employee,” Fox said in a statement at the time.
Beckel married Leland Ingham in 1992 and bore two children with her before they divorced 10 years later in 2002.
Media figures and friends of Bob Beckel remembered him fondly on social media:
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