(Photo: AP) CBS News Anchor Dan Rather was in Dallas supervising plans for what was supposed to be a reasonably routine day. He was one of the first to get through to Parkland Hospital when the president was shot. "We had a doctor tell me he's dead, a priest tells me he's dead, someone high up at the hospital had told not me, but our local station news director, he's dead. I think what we've got here is a dead man," Rather says. CBS was the first to report the news, before the official confirmation. Rather was out on a limb. "We have a report from our correspondent, Dan Rather, that he has confirmed that President Kennedy is dead," Walter Cronkite told the television audience. About 10 minutes later, the official announcement came. Rather says he experienced "a huge downpull of head and heart." But he knew that as a journalist, he had to stay on top of the story. "The nation knew instantly whatever had happened we were being tested, and that the nation's strength to get through the terrible time would depend on our unity."