Editing Dan Rather (section)

=== 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.