Dan Rather
A look at the career of Dan Rather, America's longest-running network evening news anchor.
|
|
|
 |
Dan Rather is born in Wharton, Texas.
|
|
|
|
The newsman begins his career as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville, Texas.
|
|
|
|
Receives a bachelor's degree in journalism from Sam Houston State Teachers College, and spends the following year as a journalism instructor at the school.
|
|
|
|
Following jobs with the United Press International, KSAM Radio in Huntsville and the Houston Chronicle, Rather becomes news director of KTRH Radio in Houston.
|
|
|
|
Joins CBS News as chief of the network's Southwest bureau, in Dallas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rather provides on-air reports for CBS News from the scene of the assassination of President Kennedy.
|
|
|
|
Is appointed chief of CBS News' Southern bureau in New Orleans, responsible for coverage of news events in the South, Southwest, Mexico and Central America. While in the post, Rather reports on racial conflicts in the South and the crusade of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
|
|
|
|
Becomes White House correspondent for CBS News.
|
|
|
|
Works as CBS News bureau chief in London, and later as a correspondent in Vietnam.
|
|
|
|
Returns as CBS News White House correspondent. His combative style is captured in a memorable moment when President Nixon grumbled to him at a news conference: "Are you running for something?" "No, sir, Mr. President," Rather shot back. "Are you?"
|
|
|
|
Rather is named chief correspondent for "CBS Reports," based in New York.
|
|
|
|
Moves over to "60 Minutes," CBS Newsman Don Hewitt's pioneering evening news magazine. A year later, the show cracks the Top 10, and stays there for the next 13 seasons.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite retires, and Rather takes over at the desk. He also begins contributing to "Dan Rather Reporting," a weekday broadcast of news and analysis on CBS Radio.
|
|
|
|
Rather is accosted on a New York street. He says his attacker calls him Kenneth and asks, "What is the frequency?" The incident becomes an odd cultural touchstone and the band R.E.M. writes a song about it. The mugger is later convicted of murder in the shooting death of an NBC stagehand.
|
|
|
|
Rather walks off the "Evening News" set in anger after CBS delayed the broadcast for a U.S. Open tennis match, leaving the network with six minutes of dead air.
|
|
|
|
Russia's new openness policy of Glastnost allows for nine CBS News correspondents, led by Rather, Ed Bradley and Diane Sawyer, to travel to Russia to report a two-hour special, "The Soviet Union, Seven Days in May."
|
|
|
|
Anchors and reports for CBS News' new "48 Hours." Time magazine says the show, which uses a unique approach to explore a single subject, could be the most innovative prime-time news series since "60 Minutes" debuted in 1968.
|
|
|
|
In an interview with then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, Rather presses the future president about his involvement in the Iran-Contra affair. A heated exchange follows, with Mr. Bush asking Rather whether he wished to be judged for the tennis walk-off.
|
|
|
|
Is the first American journalist to interview Saddam Hussein after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
|
|
|
|
Rather begins a two-year run of sharing the "CBS Evening News" anchor desk with Connie Chung.
|
|
|
|
Begins writing a syndicated weekly newspaper column, "Part of Our World"—now “Dan Rather Reporting."
|
|
|
|
Rather joins "60 Minutes II" (now known as "60 Minutes Wednesday") for its premiere episode.
|
|
|
|
Rather secures an exclusive first sit-down interview with President Clinton following the Lewinsky scandal and his impeachment by the House.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gets the most sought-after interview in the world: an exclusive one-on-one with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, the first time the Iraqi leader talks with an American journalist since 1991.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
His exclusive "60 Minutes II" report revealing abuses at the U.S. military’s Abu Ghraib prison breaks the story and receives worldwide attention.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rather reports on President Bush's National Guard service for "60 Minutes Wednesday." The examination of whether Mr. Bush fulfilled his duties and how he got into the Guard includes documents which are called into question after the show airs.
|
|
|
|
In a statement, CBS News says it can no longer vouch for the authenticity of the Bush Guard documents, and that the documents should not have been used in Rather's report.
|
|
|
|
Rather announces he will step down March 9, 2005, as anchor of the "CBS Evening News," but will continue to work as a correspondent for both editions of "60 Minutes." He says the move was first discussed in 1999 but shelved after the Sept. 11 attacks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rather steps down 24 years to the day after beginning the anchor job. He signs off with a familiar message: "Courage."
|
|
|
|
It's announced that Rather is leaving CBS after 44 years with the Tiffany Network. His contract was scheduled to expire in November, but Rather was unable to reach agreement with CBS on a new pact. He had worked as a correspondent for 60 Minutes since stepping down as anchor of the CBS Evening News a year earlier.
|
|
|
|
Credits:
CBS News, Associated Press, Museum of Broadcast Communications
|
|
|
