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Departure from Nightline
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On November 22, 2005, Koppel stepped down from Nightline after 25 years with the program and left ABC after 42 years with the network. His final Nightline broadcast did not feature clips highlighting memorable interviews and famous moments from his tenure as host, as is typical when an anchor retires. Instead, the show recalled Koppel's 1995 interviews with retired Brandeis University sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, who was dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). For this broadcast, Koppel interviewed sports journalist Mitch Albom, who had been a student of Schwartz. Albom talked about how the Nightline interviews led to him contacting Schwartz personally, visiting him weekly and eventually publishing the book Tuesdays with Morrie, chronicling lessons about life learned from Schwartz.
After the show's last commercial break, Koppel made his final remarks prior to signing off:
Koppel has gone on to become a senior correspondent for NPR.
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Trivia
Koppel is multi-lingual, speaking German, Russian, and French, in addition to his native English.
Koppel is also an excellent mimic, doing skilled impressions of William F. Buckley, and others, though he rarely does impressions in public or on television.
Koppel is an old friend of Henry Kissinger. Both Kissinger and Koppel come from European Jewish families; both moved to the United States as children. As Secretary of State, Kissinger once offered Koppel a job as his spokesman, but Koppel declined.
In 2003, Koppel was embedded with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division as it marched toward Baghdad during the 2003 Iraq War. At the onset of the war, Koppel made a rare on-air mistake, misquoting and misattributing Shakespeare in a report where he said "Wreak havoc and unleash the dogs of war! sic"; the actual quote, "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!" is from Julius Caesar, not from Henry V as Koppel claimed.
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