Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. was born in Wharton, Texas, on October 31, 1931. Rather was raised by working class parents who were determined to see him through college. In 1953 he graduated Sam Houston State College with a bachelors degree in journalism. During college he worked for the college paper, part time at a radio station, and as a reporter for the Associated Press, which helped Rather’s career get well under way. After graduation he went to work for The Houston Chronicle and its radio station affiliate, KTRH, where he became news director in 1956. Rather had also started reporting for KTRK-TV.
By 1961, Rather was news director for the CBS affiliate in Houston, Texas. In September of that year, Rather reported live from Galveston when hurricane Carla was looming off the Texas coast. Impressed by his demeanor, CBS executives hired him as a CBS news correspondent the following year. Working as a CBS correspondent in Texas, Rather covered the assassination of President John F Kennedy in 1963.
In 1964, Rather was promoted to the CBS national news desk where he covered the Vietnam War and Watergate among other historical events. He was given a spot on CBS’s 60 Minutes in 1975 until 1981, when he left to replace Cronkite on The CBS Evening News. In 1988 he also began hosting 48 Hours, another CBS news program. On March 9, 2005, Dan Rather gave his last news broadcast for the CBS Evening News. Bob Schieffer succeeded Rather until Katie Couric took over the anchor desk in September of 2006.
After forty-four years, Rather retired completely from the CBS network when they did not renew his contract in 2006. He continued his career with a syndicated newspaper column and hosted a radio program. On July 13, 2006, the high-definition cable television station HDNet announced a weekly, one-hour program entitled Dan Rather Reports. The uncensored show aired for the first time in October of 2006. At seventy-five years of age, Dan Rather continues to enjoy delivering news stories his way. Rather has won both Emmy and Peabody Awards for his broadcast journalism. He and his wife, Jean, have two grown children.
YUDDY
