Dan Rather biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Journalist Daniel Irving Rather was born on October 31, 1931, in Houston, Texas. His mother, Veda, cared for Rather and his two younger siblings. His father, Daniel Sr., laid pipeline for Texas oil fields. The family moved to Houston about a year after Daniel, Jr. was born and settled into a working-class neighborhood there. Although neither of his parents had been to college, and his father had never finished high school, his family was determined to see Dan graduate and go to college.

Rather's own interest in journalism was sparked partly by his parents' voracious reading habits, and by a bout of rheumatic fever that left Dan bedridden for weeks. During his rest, he listened to radio broadcasts to pass the time, and developed an interest in the reports delivered by war correspondents such as Eric Sevareid and Edward R. Murrow. By the time he was a teenager, Rather had decided to become a newspaper journalist.

After high school, Rather entered Sam Houston State College in Huntsville, Texas. At Houston State he edited the school's paper, interned as a reporter for the Associated Press and United Press International, and worked part time at a small radio station. In 1953, earned his bachelor's in journalism and became the first member of his family to earn a college degree.

Rather attempted to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps after finishing school, but when his superior officers learned about his childhood bout with rheumatic fever he was disqualified from military service. In 1954, he went to work at KTRH—a radio station owned by the Houston Chronicle newspaper. He came to work at 4 AM every morning to read the news and, eager to prove himself, he eventually persuaded his boss to give him his own show on his only day off. His hard work and dedication earned Rather the position of station news director in 1956. Over the next three years, he climbed his way up the ladder to television reporter for Houston station KTRK-TV.

By 1961, he had made it to news director for KHOU-TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston. His coverage of Hurricane Carla brought him to the attention of network executives, and he was promoted to the position of CBS network correspondent. It was in this position that Rather became the first journalist to report the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. His demeanor and reporting style throughout the tragedy again garnered attention from network executives, who promoted Rather to the White House beat in 1964.

CBS Evening News

After serving as a foreign correspondent for CBS News, Rather drew the assignment as primary anchor for the CBS Weekend News, while also serving as White House correspondent during the Richard Nixon presidency.