Dan Rather Signs Off

Dan Rather has bid good night to the Evening News.

Wednesday marked the veteran journalist's final broadcast as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News, 24 years to the day after he took over the job from Walter Cronkite.

Rather offered a brief statement in the final moments of his swan-song telecast.

"Not long after I first came to the anchor chair I briefly signed off using the word 'courage,' " he said. "I want to return to it now, in a different way, to a nation still nursing a broken heart for what happened here in 2001, and especially those who found themselves closest to the events of Sept. 11.

"To our soldiers in dangerous places. To those who have endured the tsunami and to all who have suffered natural disasters, and who must find the will to rebuild. To the oppressed and to those whose lot it is to struggle, in financial hardship or in failing health. To my fellow journalists in places where reporting the truth means risking all.

"And, to each of you," he continued. "Courage."

Then he signed off. "For the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather reporting. Good night."

Rather announced his intent to step down from his anchor gig in November, shortly after he came under attack for his role in a discredited 60 Minutes report on President George W. Bush's National Guard service. The newsman has denied that his decision to retire had anything to do with the backlash over the report.

Though he'll no longer occupy the anchor seat, Rather will continue to toil for CBS fulltime as a correspondent for 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes Wednesday and will work on other assignments for the news division.

Rather's retirement, which follows Tom Brokaw's exit from NBC's Nightly News in December, leaves Peter Jennings as the last member of the legendary "Big Three" network anchors still holding down his night job.

Rather, 73, began his career in 1950 as a reporter for the Associated Press in Huntsville, Texas. He joined CBS News in 1962 as Southwest Bureau Chief in Dallas. A year later, he was made chief of the Southern bureau in New Orleans, where he reported major stories such as the civil rights efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

In 1981, Rather took over Cronkite's post at CBS News. He began working as a correspondent for 60 Minutes Wednesday when it premiered in 1999 and worked as anchor and reporter for 48 Hours from January 1988 through September 2002.

The newsman has received numerous accolades over the course of his career, including Emmys and a Peabody Award.

He reported from numerous war zones, including Bosnia, Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, as well as from the scenes of natural disasters including hurricanes, earthquakes and, most recently, the tsunami zone in South Asia.

Rather was the first to score an exclusive interview with President Bill Clinton in March 1999 after Clinton was impeached following the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

He worked around the clock after the events of September 11, anchoring CBS' coverage of the terrorist attacks on the United States.

Over a lengthy history of political coverage, Rather anchored six presidential elections and covered 11 presidential campaigns for CBS News.

Ratings-wise, Rather historically trailed behind Brokaw and Jennings in the three-way race for the top slot. Some, including his predecessor, Cronkite, saw the fact that he held on to his anchor gig despite his losing ratings as a tribute to his abilities.

"It surprised quite a few people at CBS and elsewhere that, without being able to pull up the ratings beyond third in a three-man field, that they tolerated his being there for so long," Cronkite told CNN.

Cronkite also said that the temporary replacement of Rather by Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer was overdue.

"Although Dan did a fine job, I would have liked to see [Schieffer] there a long time ago," Cronkite said. "He would have given the others a real run for their money."

Schieffer will stand in as Evening News anchor until CBS can determine a permanent replacement for Rather. CBS boss Les Moonves had reportedly considered Katie Couric, but she's locked in to an NBC contract; Moonves has also toyed with using a multi-anchor format.

Despite his apparent belief that Rather hung on too long, Cronkite did not fault the outgoing anchor too heavily for his role in the discredited 60 Minutes story on Bush's military service.

"We all know he made a mistake by now," Cronkite said. "But would we have done much the same? I would not be too sure that I wouldn't have followed my producers and accepted what they had to offer."

Though Rather departs from CBS News with a slightly tarnished reputation, his abilities as a journalist are indisputable.

He'll sign off holding the record for the longest tenure as anchor and managing editor in broadcast journalism history.

"I have been lucky and blessed over these years to have what is, to me, the best job in the world and to have it at CBS News," Rather said in a statement upon announcing his retirement. "Along the way, I've had the honor of working with some of the most talented, dedicated professionals in the world, and I'm appreciative of the opportunity to continue doing so in the years ahead."