Dan Rather facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dan Rather
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Rather in 2017
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| Born |
Daniel Irvin Rather Jr.
October 31, 1931 Wharton, Texas, U.S.
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| Education | Sam Houston State University (BA) |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1950–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Jean Goebel
(m. 1957; died 2024) |
| Children | 2 |
Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (born October 31, 1931) is a well-known American journalist and former national news anchor. He started his career in Texas and became famous for his reporting during Hurricane Carla in September 1961. His broadcasts helped over 350,000 people evacuate, which saved many lives.
Rather reported on many important events, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, the 9/11 attacks, and the Iraq War. He was also in Dallas in November 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. His reporting led to his promotion at CBS News, where he became a White House correspondent in 1964. He also worked as a foreign correspondent in London and Vietnam. He covered the presidency of Richard Nixon, including Nixon's trip to China and the Watergate scandal.
In 1981, Rather became the main news anchor for the CBS Evening News, a job he held for 24 years. He was one of the "Big Three" nightly news anchors in the U.S. from the 1980s to the early 2000s, alongside Peter Jennings (ABC News) and Tom Brokaw (NBC News). He also often contributed to CBS's weekly news show, 60 Minutes. Rather left the anchor desk in 2005 and continued to work with CBS until 2006.
After leaving CBS, Rather hosted Dan Rather Reports, an investigative news program, on AXS TV from 2006 to 2013. He also hosts Dan Rather Presents, which covers topics like mental health, and The Big Interview with Dan Rather, where he interviews musicians and entertainers. In 2018, he hosted an online newscast called The News with Dan Rather. Since 2021, he has been writing a newsletter called "Steady."
Contents
Early Life and Education
Dan Rather was born on October 31, 1931, in Wharton County, Texas. His father was a ditch digger, and his mother was Byrl Veda Page. Even though his parents didn't finish high school, they loved to read. The family moved to Houston when Dan was young. He went to Lovett Elementary School and Hamilton Middle School, and graduated from John H. Reagan High School in 1950.
Rather wanted to be a reporter, and his mother encouraged him to go to college. He became the first person in his family to earn a college degree. He went to Sam Houston State Teachers College in Huntsville, Texas, and tried out for the football team.
When he didn't get a sports scholarship, Rather focused on journalism. He worked part-time jobs to pay for school. In 1953, he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and was the editor of the school newspaper, The Houstonian. He also worked for KSAM-FM radio, calling football games. After college, Rather briefly attended South Texas College of Law in Houston.
In January 1954, Rather joined the United States Marine Corps. However, he was soon discharged because he had rheumatic fever as a child, a fact he hadn't mentioned during enlistment.
Starting His Journalism Career
Rather began his journalism career in 1950 as a reporter for the Associated Press in Huntsville, Texas. He later worked for United Press (1950–1952), several Texas radio stations, and the Houston Chronicle (1954–1955).
He also worked as a play-by-play announcer for the University of Houston football team for four seasons. In 1959, he was the radio announcer for the Texas League Houston Buffs baseball team.
In 1959, Rather started his television career on KTRK-TV in Houston. In 1960, he became a news anchor and news director for KHOU-TV, the local CBS station.
Hurricane Carla Coverage
In September 1961, Rather covered Hurricane Carla for KHOU-TV. He broadcast from the National Weather Center in Galveston and showed the first radar image of a hurricane on TV. He came up with the idea of putting a clear map over the radar screen to show how big Hurricane Carla was. Because of his clear warnings, more than 350,000 people evacuated the area. This was the largest evacuation known at that time and is believed to have saved thousands of lives. Rather's live coverage of Carla was also shown by national stations.
On February 28, 1962, Rather moved to New York City for a trial period at CBS. His first reports for CBS included coverage of a plane crash and a story about accidental deaths of newborns. Soon after, Rather became the chief of CBS's Southwest bureau in Dallas. In August 1963, he was made chief of the Southern bureau in New Orleans, covering news in the South, Southwest, Mexico, and Central America.
Working at CBS News
From JFK to Watergate
In November 1963, Rather was in Dallas when President Kennedy was assassinated. He was one of the first journalists to see the Zapruder film, which showed the assassination, and he was the first to describe it on television.
Rather's reporting during the time after the Kennedy assassination impressed CBS News. In 1964, he was chosen to be the network's White House correspondent. In 1965, he worked as a foreign correspondent in London and in 1966 in Vietnam. He returned to being the White House correspondent during Richard Nixon's presidency. He covered Watergate and the process to remove President Nixon from office.
Becoming the CBS Evening News Anchor
After President Nixon resigned in 1974, Rather became a chief correspondent for the documentary series CBS Reports. In December 1975, he joined the popular Sunday night news show 60 Minutes. His success there helped him become the next anchor of The CBS Evening News, following Walter Cronkite's retirement.
Rather's first broadcast as anchor was on March 9, 1981. He had a different style than Cronkite. For many years, Rather ended the show with: "That's part of our world tonight."
Rather also held other roles while being the anchor. In 1988, he became the host of 48 Hours, and in 1999, he joined 60 Minutes II as a correspondent.
For a short time from 1993 to 1995, Rather co-anchored the evening news with Connie Chung. After she left, Rather went back to anchoring the newscast alone.
By 2005, near the end of Rather's time as anchor, CBS Evening News had about 5.5 million viewers each night. Rather retired as the anchorman and Managing Editor of the CBS Evening News on March 9, 2005. He had been the anchor for 24 years, which was the longest time for anyone in American television history. He continued to work as a correspondent for 60 Minutes for a short period. Bob Schieffer took over Rather's position temporarily, and then Katie Couric became the anchor in 2006.
Leaving CBS News
In June 2006, CBS News announced that Rather would leave the network after 44 years. Rather stated that he wanted to continue doing "regular, meaningful reporting" and that CBS had not allowed him to do so.
Journalistic Impact
Covering Nixon
During Richard Nixon's presidency, some people thought Rather's coverage was unfair to Nixon. At a news conference in 1974, Rather asked Nixon a question, and the room reacted with both boos and cheers. Nixon joked, "Are you running for something?" Rather replied, "No, sir, Mr. President. Are you?" He questioned Nixon about his cooperation with the Watergate scandal investigation.
Rather's strong reporting on the Watergate scandal helped him become more well-known.
Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
In January 1986, NASA faced delays in launching the Space Shuttles Columbia and Challenger. Rather reported on these delays. On January 28, 1986, the Challenger exploded and was destroyed just 73 seconds after launch.
Reporting from Afghanistan and Iraq
During the Soviet–Afghan War, Rather was filmed reporting near the front lines while wearing traditional Afghan clothing. This made him very popular with the Evening News audience. His reports influenced Congressman Charlie Wilson, who worked to help the Afghan fighters.
After Iraq invaded Kuwait, Rather interviewed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. In 2003, Rather conducted another interview with Hussein before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In that interview, Hussein invited Rather to moderate a live TV debate between himself and George W. Bush, but the debate never happened.
Post-CBS Career
After leaving CBS, Rather joined Mark Cuban's cable network AXS TV (then called HDNet). He hosted and produced the weekly news show Dan Rather Reports from 2006 until 2013.
Since 2013, Rather has hosted and produced The Big Interview with Dan Rather on AXS TV. In this show, he conducts in-depth interviews with famous people in music and entertainment, such as Robert Plant and Quentin Tarantino. He has also produced documentary specials under the name Dan Rather Presents, covering topics like "America's Mental Health Crisis."
Rather often appears on other news shows, including MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show and CNN. He has also written for The Huffington Post and Mashable.
In 2012, Rather published his autobiography titled Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News.
In 2015, Rather started his own production company called News and Guts Media. Through this company, he produces The Big Interview and other projects. Also in 2015, Rather became very active on Facebook. His posts, which were longer than typical social media posts, became very popular, and he gained over two million followers. He writes about current events, journalism, and childhood memories.
In 2016, SiriusXM Radio launched a new weekly program called Dan Rather's America.
In 2017, the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin created a digital project called Dan Rather: American Journalist. This website features over 2,000 digitized documents, 300 interview excerpts, and 1,000 video clips, allowing visitors to explore the last 60 years of history through Dan Rather's career.
In 2018, Rather launched a weekly newscast called The News with Dan Rather on The Young Turks YouTube channel. In April 2024, Rather was interviewed on Sunday Morning, marking his first return to CBS News since 2006.
Personal Life
Dan Rather was married to Jean Goebel for 67 years, from 1957 until her death in November 2024. They had a son and a daughter. Their daughter, Robin, is an environmental activist in Austin, Texas. Their son, Dan, works as an assistant district attorney in New York City.
Sam Houston State University renamed its mass communications building after Rather in 1994. This building houses the student newspaper and radio/TV stations. In 2007, Rather received an honorary degree from Siena College for his contributions to journalism.
Rather continues to speak out about the importance of honest journalism and against political influence in news.
Books
- The Palace Guard, with Gary Paul Gates, 1974.
- The Camera Never Blinks: Adventures of a TV Journalist, with Mickey Herskowitz, 1977.
- I Remember, with Peter Wyden, 1991.
- The Camera Never Blinks Twice: The Further Adventures of a Television Journalist, with Mickey Herskowitz, 1994.
- The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation, 2001.
- Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News, with Digby Diehl, 2013.
- What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism, with Elliot Kirschner, 2017.
- What Unites Us: The Graphic Novel, with Elliot Kirschner, illustrated by Tim Foley, 2021.
Awards and Recognition
Dan Rather has received many awards, including several Emmy Awards and Peabody Awards, which are highly respected in television. He has also received honorary degrees from universities.
| Award | Year | Program Title |
|---|---|---|
| Peabody | 1975 | CBS News |
| Peabody | 1976 | 60 Minutes |
| Peabody | 1994 | CBS Reports: D-Day |
| Peabody | 1995 | CBS Reports: In the Killing Fields of America |
| Paul White Award Radio Television Digital News Association |
1997 | Lifetime Achievement |
| Peabody | 2000 | 48 Hours: Heroes Under Fire |
| Peabody | 2001 | 60 Minutes II: Memories of a Massacre |
| Peabody | 2004 | 60 Minutes II: Abuse at Abu Ghraib |
| Emmy Trustees Award | 2014 | Lifetime Achievement |
| Peabody | 2022 | Career Achievement |
In 2004, Rather was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. In 2001, he received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement. In 2023, he was inducted into the SXSW Hall of Fame.
Images for kids
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Rather during an interview with Extra at the 2002 Peabody Awards
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Rather at the 2005 Peabody Awards
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See also
In Spanish: Dan Rather para niños
