Dan Rather - Wikipedia

Thank you my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that October 31 is the anniversary of the birth of American journalist Dan Irvin Rather Jr. "who began his career in Texas and was on the scene of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas in 1963."
Happy 88th birthday Dan Irvin Rather Jr.

An Evening with Dan Rather
A conversation with Dan Rather, moderated by Anthony DeRosa, Social Media Editor of Reuters on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 in New York, NY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cx5YZDQ_B8


Images:
1. Dan Rather and Jean Goebel at the Premiere of 'Charlie Wilson's War' at the Museum of Modern Art – Arrivals in New York City, USA - 16 December 2007
2. Dan Rather on the Kalb Report Washington DC, USA - 26 September 2005
3. Dan Rather
4. George Clooney, Dan Rather and Grant Heslov, arriving at the 2006 Writers Guild Awards at the Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood, California - 04 February 2006

Biographies:
1. danratherjournalist.org/about-dan/biography
2. imdb.com/name/nm0711710/bio

1. Background from {[https://danratherjournalist.org/about-dan/biography]}
"Biography Dan Rather
Born in Wharton, Texas, on October 31, 1931, the son of Daniel Sr. (a ditchdigger and pipelayer) and Vera (a homemaker), Dan Rather moved with his family to Houston Heights, a working-class neighborhood in Houston, as a child. His father’s voracious reading habits shaped the young Dan, who developed an interest in journalism. While bedridden by bouts of rheumatic fever, he listened to radio broadcasts from war correspondents such as Edward R. Murrow and Eric Sevareid. Rather attended Love Elementary School and Hamilton Middle School, and he graduated in 1950 from John H. Reagan High School in Houston.

The first in his family to go to college, Dan Rather earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1953 from Sam Houston State College in Huntsville, Texas, under Professor Hugh Cunningham. The latter got him a job at the local radio station, KSAM, from 1950 to 1953, where Rather rapidly learned the ropes, from writing news to announcing play-by-play of local athletic events, honing his ad libbing skills, which proved invaluable later in his career. Between 1951 and 1953, Rather wrote close to a hundred pieces for the university's paper, The Houstonian, as a staff writer and later editor. In addition, he worked as an Associated Press reporter and later a reporter for United Press International (1950–52). In 1954, Rather enlisted in the United States Marine Corps but was soon discharged because he had rheumatic fever as a child. Rather then worked at KTRH radio in Houston and the Houston Chronicle, his first job as a full-time reporter. He wrote newscasts, broadcasted, and was a beat reporter, covering city hall, the courts, and the police department. He also continued doing play-by-play sports, which led to his first television job with KTRK-Houston in 1959, doing a weekly “Coaches Show” for the University of Houston.

He became news director of KTRH in 1956 and a reporter for KTRK-TV Houston in 1959, before joining the CBS affiliate KHOU in 1960 as news director. By this time he had married Jean Goebel, whom he met when she was hired as a secretary at KTRH, and they had two children. At KHOU, Rather focused on breaking news and the weather, the bread-and-butter of local channels, leading to his national breakthrough in 1961 with his coverage of Hurricane Carla. Hired by CBS News, Rather spent six weeks in New York before being sent back to the South in 1962 as chief of the Southwest bureau in Dallas and then, in August 1963, as chief of the Southern bureau in New Orleans. With Nelson Benton as bureau manager and Lew Wood as field reporter, Rather was responsible for covering news events in the South, Southwest, Mexico, and Central America. During that time, he reported extensively on racial conflicts in the South and the fight for civil rights, covering the Freedom Rides from Jackson, Mississippi, to Charlotte, North Carolina, and James Meredith’s entry into the University of Mississippi. He also interviewed major civil rights figures, from Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers to Vivian Malone and James Hood.

As chief of the Southern bureau, Dan Rather was part of a team of journalists covering President Kennedy’s visit to Dallas. He was on the ground when the shooting took place and was one of the first journalists to confirm the president’s death. One of only two journalists to see the Zapruder film in Dallas, Rather was the first to describe it on television. In the following years, he was part of several extensive reports on the assassination and the Warren Report in a series of CBS News specials. In the late 1960s, Rather worked as a foreign and war correspondent in places such as London, Greece, India, and China, as well as Vietnam, where he succeeded Morley Safer as chief Vietnam correspondent for CBS News. Together with cameramen such as Jerry Adams and Alex Brauer, Rather recorded and documented the everyday life of soldiers and their fights in places such as Tam Ky and Ho Bo Wood. They also did pieces on troop morale and on a division that had lost and was searching for the body of one of their own, Sergeant Nuñez.

Passionate about all things political, Dan Rather has been reporting about and commenting on U.S political affairs since his first columns as the editor of the Houstonian in 1952. He traveled with his first president, Dwight Eisenhower, in 1960 as the news director at KHOU in Houston. As a White House correspondent from 1964 to 1975, he closely followed the Johnson and Nixon administrations and reported extensively on the Watergate scandal. He was an essential part of several CBS News Special Reports, including “The Senate and the Watergate Affair” on March 13, 1973, and “Watergate and the President” on August 16, 1973. Rather was, like many of his colleagues, often criticized and attacked by the Nixon administration, especially Vice President Spiro Agnew, who denounced television news broadcasters as a biased “unelected elite” and the commentators as “prejudiced” and “hostile.” Press conferences were often tense and hostile, and some of Rather’s hard-hitting questions led to his reputation as anti-Nixon, especially after an odd exchange in Houston in 1974. He was also labeled anti-George Bush when he interviewed the latter about the Iran-Contra scandal in 1988. When he moved on to become a correspondent for CBS Reports and 60 Minutes, and later as the anchor of the CBS Evening News, Rather continued to report about political matters and he is, to this day, a valued commentator.

“The remarkable thing about Dan is the body of work. When you look at the collection of stories that he’s covered, it’s the history of the country over the past 50 years. He’s been there.”
Producer Jeff Fager in an interview with the New York Times, November 24, 2004.
In 1974, Rather joined the legendary CBS Reports, where he fronted a dozen reports including some on drinking water, the hunting industry in the U.S., cancer research, and his first of many interviews with Fidel Castro. He was also part of an ambitious four-night special entitled “The American Assassins,” which earned a Peabody Award. From 1975 to 1981, he worked with Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, and Don Hewitt at 60 Minutes, which became the top-rated program on Sunday nights in the fall of 1978. During that period, Rather worked on about 160 shows with a team of first-rate producers, including Leslie Edwards, Steve Glauber, Marion Goldin, Andrew Lack, Paul Loewenwarter, William McClure, Philipp Scheffler, Igor Oganesoff, and Jeanne Solomon. Like his colleagues, Rather did a mix of stories: investigative pieces on social, political, and economic abuses, and frauds (moving companies, the pesticide Phosvel, therapists who sexually exploit their patients, brown lung disease) and high-profile interviews (George Wallace, John Connally, Barbara Jordan, Leon Jaworski, Jesse Jackson, Fidel Castro). He also did his share of “fluff” pieces (the disco craze, backgammon, pinball machines) and introduced viewers to a wide range of important topics (a maximum security federal penitentiary, the over-consumption of sugar, carcinogens in hair coloring products, the plight of disabled workers and of handicapped children, neo-nazi movements, etc.). Eager to pursue his passion for investigative and ground reporting, Rather continued to participate in a series of news magazines after becoming anchor, including 48 Hours (1988–), CBS Reports (from 1993 on) and 60 Minutes II (1999–2005), where he unveiled major stories including the abuses at Abu Ghraib and an interview with the daughter of Strom Thurmond.

In addition to his other duties, Rather had been anchoring the Sunday Night News since the 1970s as well as occasionally the Saturday Evening News. In 1981, he replaced Walter Cronkite as the anchor of the most successful and highly regarded evening news in America. Dan Rather was the anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News for twenty-four years, the longest tenure in television history. As such, he was not only the face of CBS, but stood for quality and reliable television news. He was repeatedly voted best anchor and was regarded, in 1984, as one of the most influential men in America. During shattering events such as the assassination attempt on President Reagan, the Challenger space shuttle disaster, and 9/11, Rather delivered critically acclaimed hours-long coverage, bringing clarity and a sense of calm in times of confusion and uncertainty.

Starting with his breakthrough coverage of Hurricane Carla, the civil rights movement, and the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Rather also honed his skills and earned his credentials as a journalist working on the ground. As a foreign and war correspondent, he has covered, on-scene, more than twenty wars, revolutions, and major violent riots. In addition to Vietnam, these include the India-Pakistan War of 1965, the Rhodesia War in Africa, the El Salvadoran Civil War, the Palestinian “Intifada” against Israel, the U.S. intervention in Somalia, as well as the first Gulf War, the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, and the Afghan and Iraqi wars. He followed major foreign events, from the opening of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s to the liberation of Nelson Mandela in South Africa and the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in China. In addition to crisis and conflicts and foreign events, Rather gained a reputation for covering natural disasters. Since his breakthrough with Hurricane Carla in 1961, Rather has reported on site about hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods, such as the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and the 2004 tsunami. He followed up on the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was on the scene of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

In the course of his career, Rather has conducted interviews with some of the world’s most compelling figures, from the famous to the infamous. Known for asking real, tough questions, Dan Rather has and continues to conduct in-depth interviews with hundreds of world leaders and newsmakers ranging from Rosalynn Carter and Jesse Jackson to Saddam Hussein. He is as comfortable with Robert Redford, Dolly Parton, and Quentin Tarantino, as he is with Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, and President Bill Clinton. Rather also strives to give voice to everyday people, from the victims of Katrina and the returning soldiers to migrant workers and truck drivers. In his roles as a reporter, White House correspondent, and anchor, Rather talked to countless people, and his work with investigative magazines like CBS Reports, 60 Minutes, and Dan Rather Reports allowed for longer interviews. In addition to his Conversations in Science, Rather also fronted the interview show Who's Who in 1977. Since 2013, he has pursued his interests by talking to television, film, music, and entertainment personalities in The Big Interview on AXS TV.

In a 60 Minutes II story in September 2004, Rather questioned President George W. Bush's service record in the Texas Air National Guard at the time of the Vietnam War, citing newly acquired documents. The authenticity of this evidence was called into question, and Rather eventually retracted the story. Pressure on the network continued, and Rather announced in November that he would step down as anchor on March 2005, twenty-four years after he had started. CBS appointed a panel, which concluded that the network rushed to make inadequately verified allegations public and was slow in responding to criticism. The panel, however, was unable to conclude whether the documents were forgeries or not, nor did it conclude that a political agenda at 60 Minutes Wednesday drove either the timing of the airing of the segment or its content. Four CBS employees were asked to resign or were terminated. Rather continued to work for 60 Minutes before leaving the network altogether in June 2006 when his contract, contrary to what had ben verbally agreed upon, was not renewed. The network produced and aired a retrospective of his career in March 2005 entitled "Dan Rather: A Reporter Remembers." In September 2007, Rather sued CBS for breach of contract and various tort theories. The case was eventually dismissed by a New York State appeal court. Dan Rather moved on to HDNet TV, now AXS TV, where in November 2006 he started Dan Rather Reports, a news magazine for which he was nominated for and won numerous awards.

Rather has received virtually every honor and award in broadcast journalism, including numerous Emmy Awards and Peabody Awards, citations from critical, scholarly, professional, and charitable organizations, and various honorary degrees from universities. He has received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award in 2005, the prestigious National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Trustees Award in 2013, and a lifetime achievement award at the Banff World Media Festival in 2014. He continues to be a much-sought-after contributor to top newspapers and magazines and is a frequent speaker on journalistic issues.

A prolific writer, Dan Rather has authored or co-authored seven books, which include The American Dream (2001), Deadlines and Datelines (1999), The Camera Never Blinks Twice: The Further Adventures of a Television Journalist (1994), I Remember (1991), The Camera Never Blinks (1977), and The Palace Guard (1974). In 2012, he published his latest memoir, Rather Outspoken and What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism came out in the fall of 2017. Rather also contributed to CBS News Radio with a weekly broadcast of news and analysis, Dan Rather Reporting, heard on more than three hundred stations across the country from 1981 to 2004. He wrote an eponymous weekly King Features Syndicate column that ran in about fifty newspapers between 1998 and 2009, participated in numerous discussion panels, and gave hundreds of speeches around the globe. His "ratherisms," the "verbal oddities" and Texas/Southern/made-up expressions he uses most often during election nights, became the topic of articles and have been collected by all sides.

Needless to say, Dan Rather became a very public person as a reporter, White House correspondent, correspondent for shows like 60 Minutes and CBS Reports, the anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News, and the head of Dan Rather Reports. He has given countless interviews, been featured in numerous magazines, and appeared on television shows. A fixture in American culture, he has also been impersonated on shows like Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. Colleagues and friends often comment on how, on a personal side, he never lost his connection to his family and Texas and remained a Southern gentleman. In the course of his long career, Rather has attracted both critics and admirers and was embroiled in his share of controversies, but he continues to work hard to be a reporter and an honest broker of information."

2. Background from {[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711710/bio]}
Dan Rather Biography
Overview
Born October 31, 1931 in Wharton, Texas, USA
Birth Name Dan Irvin Rather Jr.
Height 5' 11" (1.8 m)

Mini Bio (1)
Dan Irvin Rather Jr. was born in Wharton, Texas, to Byrl Veda (Page) and Dan Irvin Rather Sr., a ditch digger. He graduated from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, where he wanted to play football. He worked at local radio station KSAM in Huntsville during his college years. Following graduation he worked for radio station KTRK in Houston and went to work for KHOU-TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston. In 1961, he covered Hurricane Carla for KHOU-TV in Houston, Texas, and it caught the eye of CBS News executives, who hired him in 1962. He was in Dallas on November 22, 1963 and was CBS' lead anchor from Dallas during the coverage of the Kennedy assassination. In 1975, he became co-anchor of 60 Minutes (1968) and in 1981 was selected to replace Walter Cronkite as anchor of CBS Evening News with Dan Rather (1981), where he remained as anchor until 2005. The Communications Building on the campus of Sam Houston State University is named for Rather.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: James Stanley Barr
Spouse Jean Grace Goebel (21 April 1957 - present) (3 children)
Trade Mark (2)
Use of odd metaphors, or "Texanisms," when reporting the news; In the 1980s, he used to sign off each news broadcast with the word "Courage".

Trivia (16)
1. Born at 6:13pm-CST.
2. In 1986, he was chased and kicked onto a Manhattan sidewalk by William Tager, a man who kept asking, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?"
3. Graduated from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, where the communications building is named for him.
4. Was the first guest on Late Show with David Letterman (1993) on September 17, 2001 show, Letterman's first show after the September 11, 2001 tragedy. He broke out in tears twice having to describe these terrorist events.
5. Has one daughter, Robin, and one son, Danjack.
6. In 1991, his car was broken into. Instead of having the criminal arrested, he gave him a lecture on the choices he had made in life. They later met in Kuwait. The man, who was now an Apache pilot, thanked Rather for giving him the lecture and turning his life around.
7. On September 11, 1987, he became so furious at the prospect of having his CBS News broadcast delayed by a U.S. Tennis match, that he walked off the set. When he did not return in time for the start of the news, CBS aired a blank screen for over five minutes. The incident was later recalled during his January 1988 interview with then-Vice President George Bush; when Rather questioned him about the Iran-Contra scandal, Bush asked Rather if he would like to have his career judged by the blank screen incident.
8. During CBS's live coverage of the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention, he saw some men with no identification or badges trying to forcibly remove what appeared to be a Georgia delegate from the building. When he attempted to interview the candidate, one of the men punched him on camera.
9. Announced that he is stepping down as anchor of "The CBS Evening News" in March 2005, on the 24th anniversary of his first broadcast as anchor. He will remain with CBS News as a correspondent for "60 Minutes Sunday" and "60 Minutes Wednesday." [November 2004]
10. Appeared in disguise as an Afghan peasant for his 1980 60 Minutes (1968) on-location reports on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Although he explained that the disguise was necessary for reporting from the war zone, the media ridiculed him, calling him "Gunga Dan". The Soviet press agency Tass later reported Afghan newspaper had accused him of participating in the murder of three villagers while he was in Afghanistan, accusations that he denied and was generally regarded as ridiculous.
11. On September 20, 2004, he made a televised apology for the CBS News failing to verify the authenticity of questionably documents used in support of a 60 Minutes Wednesday (1999) story about President George W. Bush's military record in the Texas Air National Guard. A two-person investigative panel formed by CBS said that a "myopic zeal" on the part of the CBS News to break the story, which the panel found to be be neither fair nor accurate and did not meet the organization's internal standards. As a result of the panel's findings, CBS fired four CBS News employees, including three executives. Although the panel placed no specific blame on him, the incident damaged his credibility and was believed to have led to the announcement of his retirement as anchor of the "CBS Evening News".
12. Attended Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Northwest Houston, as a youngster.
13. Rather attended Hamilton Junior School and Reagan High School, both in Houston, Texas.
14. Has a Muppet on Sesame Street (1969) named after him, the grouch journalist "Dan Rather-Not".
15. His Alma Mater, Sam Houston State University, was originally named Sam Houston Normal Institute, and later, Sam Houston State Teachers College. It was founded for the purpose of training teachers, and to this day, has the reputation for having one of the best educator preparation courses in the state.
16. Played by Robert Redford in Truth (2015). Set to be played by Logan Lerman in Newsflash.

Personal Quotes (6)
1. "What separated Ed Murrow from the rest of the pack was courage. I know what you're thinking. I've gotten in trouble before for using the word. Probably deserved it. Maybe I used it inappropriately. Maybe I'm a poor person to talk about it because I have little myself. But I want to hear the word. I want to hear it praised, and the men and women who have courage elevated." - Speaking at the forty-eighth annual conference of the Radio-Television News Directors Association, September 29, 1993.
2. Apologizing for CBS News failing to verify questionable documents about President George W. Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard: "We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry. It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism. - September 20, 2004
3. Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.
4. It is a somewhat surreal experience to see yourself being played by Robert Redford. He made me look better on screen than I ever thought I looked.
5. [on President Trump's tweets] They are humiliating for all of us who are Americans.
6. President Trump stripping John Brennan of his security clearance is a modern form of McCarthyism, pure and simple. But instead of a Red Scare, it's a fear of Truth and Accountability."

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Excellent share, spent many evenings watching him.

Great post Sir, thanks brother Marty.