1. Dan Rather began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurricane Carla in September 1961.
92 Facts About Dan Rather
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Dan Rather served as foreign correspondent in London and Vietnam over the next two years before returning to the White House correspondent position.
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Dan Rather covered the presidency of Richard Nixon, including Nixon's trip to China, the Watergate scandal, and the president's resignation.
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In 1981, Rather was promoted to news anchor for the CBS Evening News, a role he occupied for 24 years.
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Dan Rather frequently contributed to CBS's weekly news magazine, 60 Minutes.
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Dan Rather continued to work with CBS until 2006, when he was dismissed.
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Dan Rather accused the network and its ownership and management of making him a "scapegoat" in the Killian story.
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The Rathers moved to Houston when he was a child, where Dan attended Lovett Elementary School and Hamilton Middle School.
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Dan Rather graduated in 1950 from John H Reagan High School in Houston where he played football.
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Dan Rather aspired to be a reporter, and his mother encouraged him to attend college and to become the first person in the family to earn a college degree.
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Dan Rather hitchhiked to Sam Houston State Teachers College in Huntsville, Texas and walked on to the school's football team.
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When he did not earn an athletic scholarship, Dan Rather turned his focus to journalism and found part-time jobs to pay for tuition.
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In 1953, Dan Rather earned a bachelor's degree in journalism, and he was editor of the school newspaper, The Houstonian.
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Dan Rather was a member of the Caballeros, the founding organization of the Epsilon Psi chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
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In January 1954, Dan Rather enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was sent to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
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Dan Rather was discharged because he was found to have had rheumatic fever as a child, a fact he had omitted during the enlistment process.
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Dan Rather began his journalism career in 1950 as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville, Texas.
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Dan Rather worked for four seasons as the play-by-play announcer for the University of Houston football team.
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In 1959, Dan Rather began his television career as part of a weekly Coaches Show for the University of Houston on KTRK-TV, the ABC affiliate in Houston.
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In September 1961, Dan Rather covered Hurricane Carla for KHOU-TV, broadcasting from the then National Weather Center in Galveston and showing the first radar image of a hurricane on TV.
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Dan Rather conceived of overlaying a transparent map over the radar screen, to show the size of Hurricane Carla to the audience.
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On February 28,1962, Dan Rather left Houston for New York City for a six-month trial initiation at CBS.
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Shortly after, Dan Rather was made chief of CBS's Southwest bureau in Dallas.
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Dan Rather happened to be "on the other side of the railroad tracks, beyond the triple underpass, thirty yards from a grassy knoll that would later figure in so many conspiracy theories".
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Dan Rather's job was to fetch a film drop from a camera truck at that location, and take it to the station for editing.
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Dan Rather did not witness the shooting of Kennedy, and knew nothing of the events until he reached KRLD, having run through Dealey Plaza.
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Dan Rather reported the fatal headshot as forcing Kennedy's head forward, but it was thrown backward.
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Dan Rather's reporting during the national mourning period following the Kennedy assassination and subsequent events impressed CBS News management.
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In 1965, Dan Rather served as a foreign correspondent for CBS in London, and in 1966 in Vietnam.
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Dan Rather served again as White House correspondent during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
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Dan Rather was among those journalists who accompanied Nixon to China.
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Dan Rather later covered the Watergate investigation, as well as the impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon in Congress.
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Success there helped Dan Rather pull ahead of longtime correspondent Roger Mudd, who was in line to succeed Walter Cronkite as anchor and Managing Editor of The CBS Evening News.
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Dan Rather succeeded to the news anchor position after Cronkite's retirement, making his first broadcast on March 9,1981.
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Dan Rather had a significantly different style of reporting the news.
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In contrast to the avuncular Cronkite, who ended his newscast with "That's the way it is," Dan Rather searched to find a broadcast ending more suitable to his tastes.
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For one week in September 1986, with CBS the target of potentially hostile new ownership, Dan Rather tried ending his broadcasts with the word "courage", and was roundly ridiculed for it.
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In January 1988, he became host of the newly created 48 Hours, and in January 1999, Dan Rather joined the new 60 Minutes II as a correspondent.
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Dan Rather was a frequent collaborator with CBS News producer Susan Zirinsky, a leading member of the news division's staff.
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Criticism of Dan Rather reached a fever pitch after 60 Minutes II ran his 2004 report about President Bush's military record.
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Dan Rather subsequently admitted on the air that the documents' authenticity could not be proven.
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Dan Rather was believed to have provided tough coverage of the Watergate scandal, raising his profile.
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Dan Rather's reports were later revealed to have influenced Congressman Charlie Wilson, who led an effort to help the mujahideen which included the Taliban.
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Dan Rather was promoted to the anchor spot on the Evening News.
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Dan Rather was competing with Roger Mudd, a more senior correspondent and a frequent substitute anchor for Walter Cronkite on Evening News.
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Mudd had anchored the Sunday evening broadcast, but Dan Rather traveled through Afghanistan when news led there.
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Shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait, Dan Rather secured an interview with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
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On February 24,2003, Dan Rather conducted another interview with Hussein before the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq.
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On June 2,1988, Dan Rather hosted a CBS News special, The Wall Within.
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Dan Rather said that almost nothing claimed by participants in The Wall Within was true.
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On September 8,2004, Rather reported on 60 Minutes Wednesday that a series of memos critical of President George W Bush's Texas Air National Guard service record had been discovered in the personal files of Lt.
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Dan Rather retired as the anchorman and Managing Editor of the CBS Evening News in 2005; his last broadcast was Wednesday, March 9,2005.
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Dan Rather had worked as the anchorman for 24 full years, the longest tenure of anyone in American television history, and for a short time, continued to work as a correspondent for 60 Minutes.
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Since retiring, Dan Rather has spoken out about what he perceives as a lack of courage by American journalists.
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On January 24,2006, Dan Rather spoke to a Seattle audience.
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On June 20,2006, CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus announced that Dan Rather would leave the network after 44 years.
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Dan Rather issued a separate statement which accompanied the news of the departure:.
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Dan Rather accused the network and its ownership and management of making him a "scapegoat" in the Killian story.
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On September 21,2009, Dan Rather's lawyers claimed that Bush's military service would be proven to be a sham, and Dan Rather would be vindicated.
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On May 18,2012, Rather appeared on Real Time With Bill Maher and claimed he had been fired for reporting a story about George W Bush's year of absence from the reserve unit he served with, and that the news corporations had been "very uncomfortable" running the story.
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Dan Rather has produced several documentary specials for the network under the banner Dan Rather Presents, including specials about "America's Mental Health Crisis", the United States Secret Service, and "The Shameful Side of International Adoption".
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Dan Rather appears frequently on a number of news shows, including MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show and The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell and on CNN.
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Dan Rather has written for The Huffington Post and Mashable.
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On May 28,2007, Dan Rather compared historical events to events in the Star Wars films in the History Channel special titled Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed.
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In 2012, Dan Rather published an autobiography titled Dan Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News.
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In 2015, Dan Rather launched an independent production company called News and Guts Media, through which he produces The Big Interview among other projects.
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On September 23,2016, SiriusXM Radio announced a new hour-long weekly program, Dan Rather's America, airing Tuesday mornings at 10am Eastern on Radio Andy channel 102, debuting on September 27.
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On January 21,2018, it was announced that Dan Rather would be launching a weekly 30-minute newscast on The Young Turks.
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Dan Rather was married to Jean Goebel for 67 years, from 1957 until her death in November 2024.
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In May 2007, Dan Rather received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, for his lifetime contributions to journalism.
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Dan Rather has received numerous Emmy Awards, several Peabody Awards, and various honorary degrees from universities.
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In 2023, Dan Rather was inducted into the SXSW Hall of Fame.
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Dan Rather criticized the anchor for his criticisms of President George W Bush's and Vice President Dan Quayle's service in the National Guard, rather than the Active Duty military during the Vietnam War, and questioned Rather's own service.
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Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting has accused Dan Rather of having "an unwillingness to challenge official power and policy" in his reporting.
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Dan Rather said that he did not realize that the event was a partisan fundraiser, although he did realize that after he arrived at the event.
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Barker alleged that Dan Rather had deliberately misrepresented the facts by indicating that the children were happy about the shooting.
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Barker attempted to fire Dan Rather, but was overruled by the national CBS News management.
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On November 10,1980, Dan Rather landed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and got into a cab.
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Dan Rather declined to press charges, citing a "mounting schedule of reporting assignments".
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For one week in September 1986, Dan Rather signed off his broadcasts to CBS with the word "courage".
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Dan Rather said that it was just a signature line, and had nothing to do with the news at the time.
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Dan Rather walked off the set in anger just before he was to anchor the newscast.
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Dan Rather was upset and informed CBS Sports that it should fill the half-hour if the "Evening News" did not begin on time.
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The next day, Dan Rather apologized for abandoning the anchor desk.
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Dan Rather is known for his many colorful analogies and descriptions during live broadcasts.
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Dan Rather has been referenced in the television shows Saturday Night Live and Family Guy and many films.
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Dan Rather appears, as himself, delivering post-speech analysis from actual news footage.
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Dan Rather guest-starred as himself in The Simpsons episode, "E Pluribus Wiggum".
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Dan Rather appeared on The Daily Show in May 2009, wearing an Afro wig and mutton-chop sideburns to narrate a segment about the late former President Nixon eating a burrito, as a parody of MSNBC's extensive coverage of President Obama and Vice President Biden's hamburger lunch.
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Dan Rather appeared in the documentary series Facing in the episode "Facing Saddam", providing his views on Saddam Hussein.
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In 2024, Netflix aired the documentary film Dan Rather, directed by Frank Marshall, a biography of Dan Rather.
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Under Dan Rather's predecessor, Walter Cronkite, the CBS Evening News was a strong No 1 in the ratings, which Dan Rather maintained through much of the 1980s.