page_title: Dan Rather
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Dan Rather / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: Dan Rather delivered a great talk at sxsw on the media, the internet, and asking the "hard questions" Also note this is a Creative Commons Attribution photo so if you need it, please use it, but please also give credit!
context_page_description: Dan Irvin Rather Jr. is an American journalist and former national evening news anchor. Rather began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurricane Carla in September 1961. Rather spontaneously created the first radar weather report by overlaying a transparent map over a radar image of Hurricane Carla. In his first national broadcast, he helped initiate the successful evacuation of 350,000 people.
  Rather reported from Dallas in November 1963 at the time of the President Kennedy assassination. Based on his reporting, he was promoted at CBS News, where he served as White House correspondent beginning in 1964. He served as foreign correspondent in London and Vietnam over the next two years before returning to the White House correspondent position. He covered the presidency of Richard Nixon, including Nixon's trip to China, the Watergate scandal, and the president's resignation.
  In 1981, Rather was promoted to news anchor for the CBS Evening News, a role he occupied for 24 years.
context_section_description: Rather married Jean Goebel in 1957. They have a son and daughter, and maintain homes in New York City and Austin, Texas. Their daughter Robin is an environmentalist and community activist in Austin, Texas. Their son Dan is an assistant district attorney in the District Attorney's office in Manhattan, New York.
  Sam Houston State University renamed its mass communications building after Rather in 1994. The building houses The Houstonian and KSHU, the student-run radio and television stations. In May 2007, Rather received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, for his lifetime contributions to journalism.
  A columnist whose work is distributed by King Features Syndicate, Rather continues to speak out against alleged influence in journalism by corporations and governments. At a 2008 conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sponsored by the group Free Press, Rather criticized both local and national news organizations, stating – according to reports – that there is no longer incentive to do "good and valuable news."
caption: Rather at South by Southwest 2007; discussing media, the internet, and asking the "hard questions."
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