"Once the herd starts moving in one direction, it's very hard to turn it, even slightly. "

Dan Rather is best known as the anchor of CBS Evening News from March 9, 1981 until March 9, 2005.

He is the son os Daniel Irvin Rather Sr. and his wife is the former, Byrl Veda Page. After he received his bachelor's in journalism from Sam Houston State College, where he was the editor of school publication, The Houstonian, he got a job as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville. He worked for several other Texas radio stations.

In 1959 Rather landed a television reporting job with KTRK-TV, in Houston. Also in Houston, he was news director for KHOU-TV, which is Houston's CBS affiliate station. He reported live from Galveston when Hurricane Carla threatened the Texas coastline -- back then, according to Rather, nobody had the modern radar and image outline maps that track hurricane movement. He relied on a technician from the US navy radar station to draw a sketch and rough outline of the Gulf of Mexico to display to his audiences.

Rather was one of the first journalists to report President John F. Kennedy's assassination. His reporting during the nation's mourning period, brought him to the attention of CBS's management. He served as a foreign correspondent for CBS News, then he eventually became the primary anchor for the CBS Sunday Night News. Not too long after, he became host of Sunday night's news program, 60 Minutes.

Between 1993 and 1995, Rather co-anchored evening news with Connie Chung. The duo was cancelled an Rather returned to a solo newscast. By the time Rather retired, the CBS Evening News fell to third place in terms of viewership, behind NBC Nightly News, and ABC World News Tonight. He will continue to work as a correspondent for "60 Minutes."