Barbara Walters Announces Her Retirement on ‘The View’ Today

Barbara Walters is retiring next summer, but today she will announce it officially on "The View". She already released a statement saying, quote, "I do not want to appear on another program or climb another mountain. I want instead to sit on a sunny field and admire the very gifted women . . . and OK, some men too . . . who will be taking my place."

Here are five factoids you might not know about Babs:

• Has interviewed every US president since Richard Nixon.
• Elisabeth Hasselbeck revealed that Barbara Walters is Republican.
• Her interview with Monica Lewinsky became the highest-rated news program ever broadcast by a single network.
• First ever female to anchor a news broadcast on a major network when she and Harry Reasoner were co-anchors on "World News with Diane Sawyer" in 1976.
• Has stated that her best interview was with Katharine Hepburn, her worst was with Warren Beatty.

Any bets on how long Barbara will stay retired?