Have You Heard What Happened To Dan Rather?

On Wednesday, September 8, 2004, seventy-two-year-old Dan Rather looked into the CBS Evening News camera and declared that four memos proved George W. Bush had received favoritism in the Texas Air National Guard. Rather had anchored CBS News for twenty-four years, from the Kennedy assassination to 9/11, inheriting the mantle of Walter Cronkite and commanding the trust of millions. Producer Mary Mapes had chased the story for five years, and with the 2004 election eight weeks away, CBS aired the Killian memos without a single examiner confirming they were authentic. Within hours, bloggers noticed the memos used proportional fonts and a superscripted "th" that matched Microsoft Word's default settings, not any military typewriter available in 1972. Rather defended the report on air, calling critics partisan, even as CBS's own source, Bill Burkett, began to unravel under questioning. What followed was a twelve-day collapse that ended twenty-four years of unquestioned authority, a public apology, an executive shake-up, and a seventy-million-dollar legal battle against his own network. This is the file on what really happened to Dan Rather. If you enjoyed this story, subscribing helps the channel tell the next one. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 2:59 Rise to the Anchor Chair 12:27 The Killian Memos Collapse 21:28 Fall, Lawsuit and Legacy #DanRather #CBSNews #KillianMemos