Frederik Pohl
American science fiction writer and editor (1919-2013)
Dan Rather is an acclaimed American journalist who served as a national evening news anchor for CBS News for over two decades. He reported on some of the most significant events of the modern era, including the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Watergate scandal, and the Iraq War. Despite a controversial departure from CBS in 2006, Rather continued his journalism career, hosting news programs and conducting high-profile interviews.
Table of Contents
About the Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin Rather Jr.is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. He began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurricane Carla in September 1961. In his first national broadcast, he helped initiate the successful evacuation of 350,000 people. He reported on some of the most significant events of the modern age, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, 9/11, the Iraq War, and the war on terror.
Rather also famously reported from Dallas in November 1963 at the time that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Based on such reporting, he was promoted at CBS News, where he served as White House correspondent beginning in 1964. He served as foreign correspondent in London and Vietnam over the next two years before returning to the White House correspondent position. He covered the presidency of Richard Nixon, including Nixon’s trip to China, the Watergate scandal, and the president’s resignation.
In 1981, Rather was promoted to news anchor for the CBS Evening News, a role he occupied for 24 years. Along with Peter Jennings at ABC News and Tom Brokaw at NBC News, he was one of the “Big Three” nightly news anchors in the U.S. from the 1980s through the early 2000s. He frequently contributed to CBS’s weekly news magazine, 60 Minutes.
Rather left the anchor desk in 2005 following the Killian documents controversy, in which he presented unauthenticated documents in a news report on President George W. Bush’s Vietnam War-era service in the National Guard. He continued to work with CBS until 2006, when he was abruptly fired.
In September 2007, Rather filed a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and its former parent company Viacom. Rather accused the network and its ownership and management of making him a “scapegoat” in the Killian story. An intermediate New York state appeals court dismissed the lawsuit in September 2009, and the New York Court of Appeals refused to reinstate it in January 2010.
On the cable channel AXS TV (then called HDNet), Rather hosted Dan Rather Reports, a 60 Minutes-style investigative news program, from 2006 to 2013. He also hosts several other projects for AXS TV, including Dan Rather Presents, which provides in-depth reporting on broad topics such as mental health care or adoption, and The Big Interview with Dan Rather, in which he conducts long-form interviews with musicians and other entertainers. In January 2018, he began hosting an online newscast called The News with Dan Rather on The Young Turks YouTube channel. Since 2021, he has been writing the newsletter “Steady” on the Substack platform.
In April 2024, Rather was interviewed by correspondent Lee Cowan on Sunday Morning, his first return to CBS News since the 2006 departure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dan Rather is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor who reported on some of the most significant events of the modern age, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, 9/11, the Iraq War, and the war on terror.
Dan Rather was famously reporting from Dallas in November 1963 at the time that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and his coverage of this tragic event led to his promotion at CBS News, where he served as White House correspondent beginning in 1964.
In his first national broadcast, Dan Rather helped initiate the successful evacuation of 350,000 people, demonstrating his ability to report on significant events and save lives during natural disasters like Hurricane Carla in 1961.
In 2005, Dan Rather presented unauthenticated documents in a news report on President George W. Bush’s Vietnam War–era service in the National Guard, which led to his departure from CBS News later that year.
Since leaving CBS News in 2006, Dan Rather has hosted news programs on AXS TV, conducted in-depth interviews with entertainers, and started an online newscast on The Young Turks YouTube channel, as well as a newsletter called ,Steady, on the Substack platform.
In April 2024, Dan Rather was interviewed by correspondent Lee Cowan on Sunday Morning, marking his first return to CBS News since his departure in 2006.
Dan Rather covered the presidency of Richard Nixon, including Nixon’s trip to China, the Watergate scandal, and the president’s resignation, further cementing his reputation as a prominent journalist during the 1970s.
25 Quotes by Dan Rather
- 1.
Are the Democrats going to dance the mandate Macarena?
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 2.
A tough lesson in life that one has to learn is that not everybody wishes you well.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 3.
Despite what many Americans think, most Soviets do not yearn for capitalism or Western-style democracy.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 4.
Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn’t block traffic.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 5.
The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called “truth”.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 6.
Fear rules almost every newsroom in the country.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 7.
I’m proud to say I’ve never been anybody’s lapdog.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 8.
If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 9.
Journalists should denounce government by public opinion polls.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 10.
Never eat spinach just before going on the air.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 11.
Don’t taunt the alligator until after you’ve crossed the creek.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 12.
To err is human but to really foul up requires a computer.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 13.
Performing doesn’t turn me on. It’s an egomaniac business, filled with prima donnas – including this one.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 14.
Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 15.
They may have turned this up, whether you had the Paula Jones case or not. But again maybe not, but again that’s like if a frog had side pockets he’d probably wear a handgun.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 16.
Once the herd starts moving in one direction, it’s very hard to turn it, even slightly.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 17.
I’ve always tried to be fair, even-handed, not an advocate for any group.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 18.
What I say or do here won’t matter much, nor should it.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 19.
For years Don Imus was just – boy, he was merciless in his criticism of me. Maybe it was justified, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 20.
This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 21.
I don’t back down. I don’t cave when the pressure gets too great from these partisan political ideological forces.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 22.
Those market researchers… are playing games with you and me and with this entire country. Their so-called samples of opinion are no more accurate or reliable than my grandmother’s big toe was when it came to predicting the weather.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 23.
An intellectual snob is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 24.
And now the sequence of events in no particular order.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist
- 25.
Only votes talk, everything else walks.
Dan RatherAmerican broadcast journalist