Dan Rather

CBS News anchorman Dan Rather, seen here at his desk in 2003, left the anchor chair in March 2005. Rather, who has been with the network for four decades, continued to work as a correspondent for "60 Minutes."

Young newsman Rather, left, is seen at work as a sports broadcaster for KTRH in Houston. He joined CBS News in 1962 as chief of its Southwest bureau in Dallas.

In this image shot from a television screen on Nov. 23, 1963, Rather reports on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. CBS was the first network to report President Kennedy had been shot in Texas.

Rather reports from Vietnam in 1966. From the Vietnam war onward, Rather has gone into the field to cover most of the world's major news stories.

Rather reports from the field in Vietnam, 1966.

Rather stands outside the Texas School Book Depository from which President Kennedy was shot, June 1967, in Dallas.

Rather is seen on the day of his first broadcast after taking over the anchor desk of the "CBS Evening News" from Walter Cronkite, March 9, 1981. No other anchor's tenure with a network evening broadcast has been as long as Rather's.

In 1989, Rather was the only network news anchor broadcasting from the pro-democracy uprising in China's Tiananmen Square. Chinese authorities literally "pulled the plug" on Rather as government troops began to use violence to take back the square.

For the first time on national television, the firefighters who survived the devastating 1999 warehouse fire in Worcester, Mass., broke their silence to tell Rather about the tragedy on "48 Hours," Nov. 2, 2000.

Rather anchors from the rarely visited cellar of the CBS News Broadcast Center in New York, formerly the site of a dairy, for an installment of "48 Hours" cold case mysteries, May 2001. Rather has held many prestigious positions at CBS, ranging from co-editor of "60 Minutes" and anchor of "48 Hours" to bureau chief in London and Saigon and White House correspondent during the Johnson and Nixon administrations.

In this image from CBS News' live coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks, Rather interviews New York Fire Department Commissioner Thomas Von Essen from the site of the attack in Lower Manhattan.

Rather is comforted by "Late Show" host David Letterman during a break after the newsman was overcome by emotion while discussing the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies, September 2001.

Rather, shown with the United Front's Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, reports from inside Afghanistan for "CBS Evening News," Nov. 30, 2001.

Rather reports from outside of Saddam Hussein's palace in Baghdad as U.N. inspectors make a surprise visit, Jan. 15, 2003.

Rather conducts the first one-on-one interview with California Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger for the "CBS Evening News," Oct. 8, 2003, in Los Angeles.

The top four Democratic presidential contenders (Sen. John Edwards, Sen. John Kerry, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and the Rev. Al Sharpton) discuss the issues on "Countdown to Super Tuesday: The Democrats Debate," a live debate broadcast from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York, Feb. 29, 2004. Rather moderated the program.

Rather is seen in the broadcast booth during the Democratic National Convention in Boston, July 2004. He has covered every Republican and Democratic convention since 1964.

Bill Clinton is interviewed by Dan Rather at Mr. Clinton's home in Chappaqua, N.Y., June 2004.

Rather, left, celebrates with Don Hewitt, the recipient of the 2000 Fred Friendly First Amendment Award bestowed by Quinnipiac College, May 10, 2000, in New York. Hewitt, who invented the news magazine format with the creation of "60 Minutes" in 1968, was honored for his pioneering work in broadcast journalism.

Rather and his wife, Jean, arrive at CBS's 75th anniversary celebration Nov. 2, 2003, in New York.