# Did anyone LIKE Dan Rather? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 25, 2004, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612 "2004-11-25T07:42:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/1 "2004-11-25T07:42:19Z")
Forget politics, did anyone actually like his onscreen persona and news delivery? I have issues with Brokaw & (even more) Jennings but if nothing else, they are both very warm, personable, likeable talking heads. Whether ultimately deserved or not those two could convey a sense of trust and genuine interest (like Cronkite). But Rather, all jokes aside, always appeared to me as detached, cold, off-putting, and overly (and insincerely) serious. The very things which should have made him a terrible choice for network news anchor. And yet, here is retiring after 24 freakin’ years! So was it just me? Did anyone really prefer him to the others? If so, why? ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/2 "2004-11-25T07:55:18Z")
I didn’t. I thought he was Rather boring ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/3 "2004-11-25T08:01:48Z")
I never really liked him. I found him off-putting and odd. I always defaulted to Jennings. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/4 "2004-11-25T08:10:22Z")
There will never be a replacement for Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, or Edward R. Murrow, also Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. There was a fatherly aura of honesty and integrity about them that can’t be claimed by the talking heads today. Those listed were newsmen-they appeared on the TV as a duty to viewers, and didn’t perceive themselves as some sort of upper class. That’s the difference as I see it. ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/5 "2004-11-25T08:11:27Z")
Well after what I heard about him on the radio he has just been elevated to cool status in my mind. In 1968 he got in a fight at the Democratic National Convention, in 1981 he did his entire broadcast kneeling behind his desk because he didn’t think he was worthy to sit in Walter Kronkite’s chair, he dressed up as a beggar woman to get a story, he got robbed by a crazy man and lived to tell about it, he ended all his broadcasts with the word “courage” for some reason and his colorful news delivery is admired by other news reporters from around the world. After hearing all this I was very sorry that I had not been watching Dan Rather all this time, he seems like an extremely cool guy. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/6 "2004-11-25T08:17:05Z")
Meh. I was never a big TV news watcher anyway (though I do remember my parents watching Cronkite back when I was just a pup). The thing I’m going to miss about Rather is the way he took old folksy saying and made them into an election night Olympic event. For all of the past three presidential elections I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what homey axiom he was going to mangle next. Now, the chances of anyone actually being half as entertaining on election night are slim to none, and Slim just took the last train out of town because he kept bumping his butt without those wings. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/7 "2004-11-25T09:55:53Z")
For the most part I like him as a reporter. As a journalist/newscaster (where personal opinion is easy to inject) I’m glad he’s retiring. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/8 "2004-11-25T10:27:32Z")
I don’t think politics is likely to be forgotten here. Color me skeptical. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/9 "2004-11-25T10:32:32Z")
I never really cared for him much. But I usually stick to local news on broadcast TV. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/10 "2004-11-25T11:42:53Z")
Oh, bollocks. I’ve never got the whole deal with LIKING or TRUSTING newsreaders, let alone “celebrity” newsreaders. They’re paid to look good in a suit, have a full head of hair, enunciate clearly, and read off an autocue: I can do all the above, for a fraction of the price. Listen to the message, not the messenger. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/11 "2004-11-25T18:40:10Z")
> [@Middlecase](#): > > Oh, bollocks. I’ve never got the whole deal with LIKING or TRUSTING newsreaders, let alone “celebrity” newsreaders. They’re paid to look good in a suit, have a full head of hair, enunciate clearly, and read off an autocue: I can do all the above, for a fraction of the price. Listen to the message, not the messenger. No, you can’t. Seriously. Even if what you say is true, it’s an extremely superficial level. To sit there, night after night and read the news is much harder than you think, especially if you want to be trustworthy. Which is why there are so few of them and they get paid so much. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/12 "2004-11-25T18:50:47Z")
> [@START](#): > > Well after what I heard about him on the radio he has just been elevated to cool status in my mind. > In 1968 he got in a fight at the Democratic National Convention, in 1981 he did his entire broadcast kneeling behind his desk because he didn’t think he was worthy to sit in Walter Kronkite’s chair, he dressed up as a beggar woman to get a story, he got robbed by a crazy man and lived to tell about it, he ended all his broadcasts with the word “courage” for some reason and his colorful news delivery is admired by other news reporters from around the world. > After hearing all this I was very sorry that I had not been watching Dan Rather all this time, he seems like an extremely cool guy. The “courage” closing landed him in a bit of hot water, since people became alarmed that something really bad was about to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/13 "2004-11-25T18:54:03Z")
> [@Middlecase](#): > > They’re paid to look good in a suit, have a full head of hair You’ve obviously never seen Peter Mansbridge. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/14 "2004-11-25T19:05:30Z")
Yes. There are places where a bit of seriousness is not unsuitable. And my attitude towards him does have a political connection–but we aren’t supposed to go into that on this part of the board, are we? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/15 "2004-11-25T19:52:43Z")
I always have. But then, my mother watched him when I was growing up, not Brokaw or Jennings. So, maybe I just got used to watching Rather when I watched news. I will miss him. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/16 "2004-11-25T20:19:12Z")
I never minded Mr. Rather’s “seriousness”. I prefer the straight-faced approach over the chipper-happy-monkey idiocy I see on so many local news shows. But Dan Rather takes seriousness a little overboard. Calling him “odd” is almost charitable. He’s damn creepy sometimes. And also, he never did reveal the **F** R_e_QUeNCY. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/17 "2004-11-26T01:46:19Z")
Okay, I guess I am a Dan Rather fan. I think Peter Jennings and especially Tom Brokaw are much too pompous. And Tom Brokaw - geez what a mush-mouth - he seriously needed to take some speech training. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/18 "2004-11-26T02:02:11Z")
Rather actually has more credibility as a journalist- as opposed to simply a newsreader- than Brokaw or Jennings. And he’s infinitely preferable to anyone on Fox News, ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/19 "2004-11-26T04:28:23Z")
Funny, I always preferred news reporters to be, you know, reporters, not announcers. Rather had serious credentials as a reporter and an understanding of current events. I’ve always liked him better than Brokaw or Jennings. That said, he’s needed to retire for about ten years now. My favorite moment, from before I was born, is definitely “I think it’s a bunch of _thugs_ in here!!”, followed closely by the night the tennis game ran long and preempted the start of the news. Rather did a Jack Paar and forced the network to never do that again. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612/20 "2004-11-26T08:55:32Z")
Isn’t that what we want in a talking head? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-like-dan-rather/276612.md?page=2)