Peter Jennings on tonight’s WNT: “Finally this evening – a word about Dan Rather, who is just about winding up his last night as the anchor of the CBS Evening News. You’ve surely heard about that. Dan, more than any other newsman in America, I think has always made news as well as covered it, though that was not necessarily his intention.” Jennings said that while being a reporter is a calling for some people, it is an “identity” for Rather. The rest is after the jump…
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We have competed against each other for a long time- and in a general sense as he gives up being an editor and goes back to full time reporting, we still will. He is one tough competitor. A couple of years ago I heard that Dan had actually taken a nap one afternoon when we were all in Iraq. Thank goodness, I thought; we don’t have to go a hundred miles an hour for a little while to stay ahead of him. We weren’t always ahead of him either.
Dan’s long record at CBS has taken him through fascinating times and memorable places. All those hurricanes he loves.
Through Vietnam. And the Washington years with President Nixon.
When Dan and CBS recently fell short in their reporting on President Bush’s military record during Vietnam, we were bound to find fault but took no pleasure in the pain that it caused our competitors.
For many of us, being a reporter turned out to be a calling. It is identity for Dan.Â
He would be the first to reflect – as all serious reporters do – that this opportunity to work on behalf of the public interest has been an unusual privilege.
Dan and I are also friends, it goes without saying that we wish him nothing but the best.