Dan Rather Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Dan Rather
OCCUPATION: News Anchor
BIRTH DATE: October 31, 1931 (Age: 81)
EDUCATION: Sam Houston State College
PLACE OF BIRTH: Wharton, Texas
Full Name: Dan Irvin Rather
ZODIAC SIGN: Scorpio

Best Known For

Dan Rather is one of America’s most well-known journalists, having worked for CBS News for more than four decades.

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Dan Rather

APA Style

Dan Rather. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:26, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/dan-rather-9452277.

Harvard Style

Dan Rather. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dan-rather-9452277 [Accessed 25 May 2013].

MLA Style

"Dan Rather." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 02:26 http://www.biography.com/people/dan-rather-9452277.

MHRA Style

"Dan Rather," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/dan-rather-9452277 [accessed May 25, 2013].

Chicago Style

"Dan Rather," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/dan-rather-9452277 (accessed May 25, 2013).

CBE/CSE Style

Dan Rather [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dan-rather-9452277.

Bluebook Style

Dan Rather, http://www.biography.com/people/dan-rather-9452277 (last visited May 25, 2013).

AMA Style

Dan Rather. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/dan-rather-9452277. Accessed May 25, 2013.

Rather became one of the most recognizable figures in the national news media during this time, with his coverage of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.

An assignment in 1975 as correspondent for the Sunday evening news show, 60 Minutes, put Rather in the spotlight again. He soon relinquished the prestigious position, however, when he was named to be the successor to anchor Walter Cronkite,

who was then the main anchor of the CBS Evening News. Rather assumed the position upon Cronkite's retirement in March 1981. In 1988 he also began hosting the CBS news show, 48 Hours.

Rather earned the title of "the hardest working man in broadcast journalism," after holding down the top job at three national news programs simultaneously: CBS Evening News, 48 Hours and 60 Minutes II. In addition to his three anchoring positions, he writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column and hosts the radio program Dan Rather Reporting, which is heard on more than 300 radio stations nationwide.

In 2005, Rather stepped down after 24 years as anchor of the CBS Evening News—24 years to the day after he took over for Cronkite. But by the end of 2006, Rather was back on television again, this time reporting on his own show, Dan Rather Reports, for the HDNet cable network. He also formed an independent company called News and Guts Media, and is currently working on a book.

Rather has received numerous Emmy Awards for his broadcast journalism work, as well as the coveted Peabody Award. He and his wife Jean Goebel, whom he met when she was hired as a secretary at KTRH, currently reside in New York City.