NEW YORK — Dan Rather returned to CBS News broadcasts for the first time since his bitter exit 18 years ago, appearing in a retrospective interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” days before the release of a Netflix documentary about the 92-year-old newspaperman. life.
After working for the station for 44 years and anchoring the CBS Evening News at the age of 24, he left under a cloud after then-President George W. Bush’s failure to investigate his military record. Rather, he last signed on as an anchor on March 9, 2005, and left the network 15 months later when his contract expired.
The continued animosity between him and the then-fired CBS chief Leslie Moonves left Mr. Rather virtually inhuman in the news division he had dominated for decades.
“No apology, no explanation, I miss CBS,” Rather told correspondent Lee Cowan in an interview broadcast Sunday. “I’ve missed you ever since the day you left.”
In fact, although he was spared any official condemnation of President Bush’s report that questioned the National Guard’s mission during the Vietnam War, he is said to have sympathized with the report as the anchor who introduced it. Although CBS could not vouch for the authenticity of some of the documents on which the report was based, many people involved in the story still believe it to be true.
In the documentary “Lazar,” which was released on Netflix on Wednesday, Rather thought he would survive the attack, but his wife, Jean, told him, “You got into a fight with the president of the United States during his re-election campaign.” ” he said. What did you think would happen? ”
Rather, he did not retire after leaving CBS, instead doing investigative reporting and interviewing rock stars for HDNet, a digital cable and satellite television network. Over the past few years, he has become known to a new generation for his vitriol on social media.
Last week, he posted to X during former President Trump’s hush money trial: “Is it just me or did today seem vulgar even for Donald Trump?”
“Either get engaged and abide by the new terms, or you’re out of the game,” Rather said in a CBS interview filmed from his home in Texas. “And I wanted to stay in the game.”
The Netflix documentary traces his career from covering the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, and Watergate to his days as an anchor and beyond. The work included an assault in New York City by a person who said “What’s the frequency, Kenneth” and later appeared on stage with REM when the group performed the song of the same name? Contains some of the strangest incidents.
In both the documentary and the CBS interview, he rather ignored his career when talk turned to his legacy.
“At the end of the day, whatever stays in your life, your family, your friends, that’s what you’ll be remembered for,” he says.
