Dan Rather signs off
From the "Wolf Blitzer Reports" staff
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It's Dan Rather's last day in a position he was once told he'd never hold.
"Once I was told by a high ranking CBS executive, 'Dan you're a very good reporter, but I don't think you're an anchor and I don't think you're ever going to become one.' What got me to the job, what brought me the job was field reporting," says Rather.
When Rather became anchor of the CBS Evening News 24 years ago Wednesday, he had a tough act to follow. He replaced Walter Cronkite, a broadcasting icon who had been called "the most trusted man in America."
Rather was more intense, more edgy, and sometimes seemed to be uncomfortable as an anchor. His solution was to emphasize his strengths, redefining the anchor's chair by taking it on the road.
Many broadcasts began with introductions announcing Rather was reporting live from Baghdad, Iraq; Amman, Jordan; or Tiananmen Square, China.
From interviewing Saddam Hussein in Iraq to wading through a flooded house in America, Rather won widespread acclaim.
When he dressed as a peasant to report from Afghanistan, some pundits dubbed him "Gunga Dan."
But much criticism of Rather centered not on personality, but politics.
As CBS White House correspondent during the Nixon era, Rather angered many conservatives with his aggressive reporting.
During one memorable exchange, President Nixon asked Rather, "Are you running for something?" To which Rather replied, "No, Mr. President, are you?"
Years later, a confrontational interview with then-Vice President George Bush -- during which he accused Rather of wanting to be "argumentative," only added to conservatives' charges the CBS anchor was in their words "Rather biased."
Then last year, another controversy involving the Bush family erupted, when Rather reported on George W. Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam war.
The report was based on a memo that was discredited, and when Rather announced plans to step down, it wasn't just Republicans who said he was leaving under a cloud.
"He hung on too long to his faith in his staff. They had provided him his material. And he trusted them implicitly in all things, and insisted that the information was correct for a whole week when evidence was beginning to pile up that it wasn't," says Walter Cronkite.
"I think he cares a great deal about the fact he's going out on a negative note. And probably wonders why many people, many more people, don't remember literally the thousands of broadcasts he did," says CBS veteran Marvin Kalb.
Rather tells The Washington Post his critics are entitled to their opinions. He says that after 24 years of anchoring, he's looking forward to returning to his true love: reporting.
"I believe my best work is ahead of me," says Rather.
