It was twenty years ago this week (November 23, 2004) that CBS News announced Dan Rather would be leaving as anchor of the CBS Evening News after 23 years at the helm of a once top-rated newscast that had tumbled to third place during his tenure.
CBS’s announcement came amid an investigation into his pre-election 60 Minutes attack piece about Republican President George W. Bush’s National Guard service. The story relied on modern-looking documents presented by Rather as 1970s memos created on a typewriter. CBS’s investigation into the scandal, released January 10, 2005, found “fundamental deficiencies in reporting,” but stopped short of finding a political bias against Bush.
Yet anyone watching Rather over the years couldn’t help but notice how he relentlessly twisted the news to help Democrats and liberals, while punishing Republicans and…
