This was Jack Paar's last appearance as host of the Tonight Show. Newspaper reviews the following day reported Paar had tears in his eyes three times during the telecast. US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and former US Vice President Richard M. Nixon commented favorably on his success, although neither actually appeared in the broadcast. Paar took parting shots at columnists Dorothy Kilgallen and Walter Winchell, both of whom he had feuded with for years. He also berated the national publication Newsweek Magazine for what he perceived as personal attacks on him. In his nearly five years as host, Paar is credited with taking a then-faltering Tonight Show to a $15.5 million advertising success and a reported personal salary of $200,000 a year. Five minutes before the close of the show, Paar rose from behind
his desk, waved his arms above his head and almost whispered: "1 bid you goodbye."