Editing Dan Rather (section)

== Incidents and controversies ==

=== 1968 Democratic convention ===
During live coverage of the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]], Rather attempted to interview a delegate from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] who appeared as though he was being forcibly removed by men without identification badges.<ref>{{cite news |title=The 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2008/aug/25/1968theyearofrevolt.democrats2008 |newspaper=The Guardian   |date=August 25, 2008 |access-date=August 11, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=CBS reporter Dan Rather assaulted at Democratic Convention 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (August 27, 1968) |url=https://retronewser.com/2018/08/27/cbs-reporter-dan-rather-assaulted-at-democratic-convention-50-years-ago-this-hour-onthisday-otd-aug-27-1968/ |website=retronewser.com |date=August 28, 2018 |access-date=August 11, 2019}}</ref>

As Rather approached the delegate to question the apparent strong-arm tactics of the Chicago [[political machine]] under [[Richard J. Daley|Mayor Daley]], he was punched in the stomach by one of the men, knocking him to the ground. "He lifted me right off the floor and put me away. I was down, the breath knocked out of me, as the whole group blew on by me ... In the CBS control room, they had switched the camera onto me just as I was slugged."<ref>{{cite web |title=Dan Rather |url=https://www.rottenlibrary.net/library/bio/journalists/dan-rather/ |website=rottenlibrary.net |access-date=August 11, 2019}}</ref>  Walter Cronkite, viewing the incident, added on-air, "I think we got a bunch of thugs here Dan!"<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Chicago Tribune | date=April 29, 2018 | page=4-4 | last=Lloyd | first=Robert | title=Subversive Television | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-thugs/147429692/}}</ref>

=== Chicago cab ride ===
On November 10, 1980, Rather landed at Chicago's [[O'Hare International Airport]] and got into a cab. He asked the cab driver to take him to the home of writer [[Studs Terkel]], whom he was interviewing for ''60&nbsp;Minutes''. A police spokesman said that the cab driver refused to go to the address and instead "wildly drove through the city streets," with Rather shouting out the window asking for help. The driver was charged with disorderly conduct. Rather called the incident "a rather minor thing". By the time the case was about to come to trial, he was about to add anchoring the ''CBS Evening News'' to his ''60 Minutes'' role at CBS News. Rather declined to press charges, citing a "mounting schedule of reporting assignments".<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times
|title=The Ride of Dan Rather
|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1980/11/11/111306745.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113014906/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1980/11/11/111306745.pdf |archive-date=2021-01-13 |url-status=live
|author=Albin Krebs and David Bird |date=November 11, 1980}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/28/nyregion/notes-on-people-rather-withdraws-charges-against-cab-driver.html
|title=Rather Withdraws Charges Against Cab Driver
|author=Albin Krebs and Robert McG. Thomas
|date=February 28, 1981}}</ref>

=== Galloway lawsuit ===
In 1980, Rather and CBS were taken to court when Carl Galloway, a California doctor, claimed that a report on ''60&nbsp;Minutes'' wrongfully implicated him in an insurance fraud scheme. CBS stated Galloway had signed the bogus report and was suing Rather because he was upset at being caught. The jury sided with CBS and Rather, and they won the case.<ref name="Galloway">{{Cite news | newspaper = LA Times | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jan-12-me-vaughn12-story.html
| title = William W. Vaughn dies at 78; lawyer defended Dan Rather in '83 slander case | date=January 12, 2009 | first=Elaine | last=Woo}}</ref> During the trial, Galloway's side used outtakes from the TV report showing that one interview was rehearsed.<ref name="Galloway" />

=== "Courage" ===
For one week in September 1986, Rather signed off his broadcasts to CBS with the word "courage". He said that it was just a signature line, and had nothing to do with the news at the time. Other newscasters ridiculed and parodied Rather, and he dropped it.<ref>{{cite web|work=Morning Edition |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4529978 |title=Dan Rather: Courage to the End |publisher=NPR |date=March 10, 2005 |access-date=June 4, 2012}}</ref>

=== "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" ===
{{Redirect|Kenneth, what is the frequency?|the song by R.E.M.|What's the Frequency, Kenneth?||Kenneth, what is the frequency? (disambiguation)}}
On October 4, 1986, while walking along [[Park Avenue]] to his New York apartment, Rather was attacked and punched from behind by a man who demanded to know "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" while a second assailant chased and beat him. As the assailant pummeled and kicked Rather, he kept repeating the question. In describing the incident, Rather said "I got mugged. Who understands these things? I didn't and I don't now. I didn't make a lot of it at the time and I don't now. I wish I knew who did it and why, but I have no idea."<ref name="Frequency">{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Park Ave. Assault on Rather Leaves Mystery as to Motive |author=McFadden, Robert D. |date=October 6, 1986 |access-date=April 21, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/06/nyregion/park-ave-assault-on-rather-leaves-mystery-as-to-motive.html}}</ref> Until the crime was solved years later, Rather's description of the bizarre crime led some to doubt the veracity of his account,<ref name="Bruni">{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times| title=Belatedly, the Riddle of an Attack on Rather Is Solved |date=January 30, 1997 |author=Bruni, Frank |access-date=April 21, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/30/nyregion/belatedly-the-riddle-of-an-attack-on-rather-is-solved.html}}</ref> although the doorman and building supervisor who came to Rather's aid fully confirmed his version of events.<ref name="Frequency" />

The assault remained unsolved for some time, and the phrase "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" became a popular culture reference over the years, such as in a scene in the graphic novel ''[[Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron]]'' by [[Daniel Clowes]]. The opening track of the 1987 album ''[[Lolita Nation]]'' by California [[power pop]] group [[Game Theory (band)|Game Theory]] is titled "Kenneth, What's the Frequency?" In 1994, the band [[R.E.M.]] released the song "[[What's the Frequency, Kenneth?]]" on their album ''[[Monster (R.E.M. album)|Monster]]''. Rather later sang with R.E.M. during a sound check prior to a gig at New York's [[Madison Square Garden]], which was shown the following night on the ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=REM & Dan Rather – What's The Frequency Kenneth? – 1995 | date=May 25, 2008 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Huyn9itzIw | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/2Huyn9itzIw| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|publisher=YouTube |access-date=August 11, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1997, a TV critic writing in the [[Daily News (New York)|New York ''Daily News'']] solved the mystery, publishing a photo of the alleged assailant, William Tager, who received a 12.5-to-25-year prison sentence for killing NBC stagehand Campbell Montgomery outside ''[[Today (NBC program)|The Today Show]]'' studio in 1994.<ref name="Bruni" /> Rather confirmed the story: "There's no doubt in my mind that this is the person."<ref name="Bruni" /> New York District Attorney [[Robert M. Morgenthau]] said "William Tager's identity as the man who attacked Mr. Rather was established in the course of an investigation by my office."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/05/opinion/l05rather.html "No Doubt in Rather Case"], ''The New York Times'', November 5, 2004.</ref> Tager claimed he thought television networks were beaming signals into his brain.<ref>[http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=12877 "Strange story behind R.E.M.'s song 'What's the Frequency, Kenneth{{'"}}]</ref> When he murdered the stagehand, Tager was trying to force his way into an NBC studio with a weapon, to find out the frequency the networks were using to attack him, so that he could block it. Tager was paroled in October 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Full text of William Tager parole documents; |url=https://archive.org/stream/239143-william-tager-parole-documents/239143-william-tager-parole-documents_djvu.txt |access-date=August 17, 2019 |date=August 28, 2011}}</ref>

=== Dead air ===
On September 11, 1987, Pope [[John Paul II]] was in Miami, beginning a rare U.S. tour. Rather was scheduled to anchor ''Evening News'' remotely. A [[U.S. Open (tennis)|U.S. Open]] tennis match broadcast ran long, extending into the timeslot for the ''Evening News''. Rather walked off the set in anger just before he was to anchor the newscast. He was upset and informed CBS Sports that it should fill the half-hour if the "Evening News" did not begin on time. The [[Steffi Graf]]–[[Lori McNeil]] tennis coverage ended sooner than expected at 6:32&nbsp;pm, but Rather had disappeared by then and could not be located. (CBS Sports agreed to break away immediately after the match without commentary.) More than 100 CBS affiliate stations were forced to broadcast six minutes of [[dead air]]. Some stations aired syndicated programming, such as reruns of game shows or sitcoms, and others displayed graphics explaining that they were experiencing technical difficulties.<ref>{{cite news|last=Boyer|first=Peter J.|title=Rather Walked Off Set of CBS News |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/13/nyregion/rather-walked-off-set-of-cbs-news.html |work=The New York Times |date=September 13, 1987}}</ref>

Phil Jones, the chairman of the CBS affiliation board and general manager of [[Kansas City]]'s [[KCTV]], demanded an apology from Rather. Miami CBS affiliate [[WTVJ]] dropped the newscast episode entirely and aired a syndicated rerun of a game show instead. The next day, Rather apologized for abandoning the anchor desk.

The following year, when Rather asked Vice President [[George H.W. Bush]] about his role in the [[Iran–Contra affair]] during a live interview, Bush responded, "Dan, how would you like it if I judged your entire career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in New York?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY4IuUByd_I |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/yY4IuUByd_I |archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live |title=CNN Crossfire discusses Rather-Bush Tiff on CBS |publisher=YouTube |date=November 7, 2010 |access-date=June 4, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Bush's media consultant [[Roger Ailes]] had a [[Mole (espionage)|mole]] at CBS who alerted him that Rather's goal was to "take Bush out of the race" with a tough interview about Iran-Contra. Ailes alerted Bush during the cab ride to the studio and suggested the reply. Bush was running for president in 1988, and his polling favorability benefited in Iowa and New Hampshire after the interview aired.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Quest For The Presidency The 1988 Campaign |last=Goldman |first=Peter |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1989}}</ref>

In his 2013 book, Rather denied being angry or upset but only misinformed about the timing of the match.