In August 1963, he was appointed chief of the Southern bureau in New Orleans, responsible for coverage of news events in the South, Southwest, Mexico and Central America.

[28] Rather's reporting during the national mourning period following the Kennedy assassination and subsequent events impressed CBS News management.

Success there helped Rather pull ahead of longtime correspondent Roger Mudd, who was in line to succeed Walter Cronkite as anchor and Managing Editor of The CBS Evening News.

For one week in September 1986, with CBS the target of potentially hostile new ownership, Rather tried ending his broadcasts with the word "courage",[36] and was roundly ridiculed for it.

After a dip to second place, Rather regained the top spot in 1985 until 1989, when he ceded the ratings peak to rival Peter Jennings at ABC's World News Tonight.

In one widely cited case, she aggressively pursued Tonya Harding, who was accused of a plot to injure fellow Olympic ice skater Nancy Kerrigan.

[46] NBC's Tom Brokaw has said the network considered hiring him to replace Rather as its White House correspondent, but dropped it after word was leaked to the press.

Rather's reports were later revealed to have influenced Congressman Charlie Wilson (D-Texas), who led an effort to help the mujahideen which included the Taliban.

The Air Force has never decided a war in the history of wars.On February 24, 2003, Rather conducted another interview with Hussein before the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Citing the self-published book Stolen Valor (1998) by veteran B. G. Burkett, and investigative journalist Glenna Whitley, Morse said that military records revealed that the six former servicemen had lied about their experiences.

[59] The accusations then spread over the following days into mainstream media outlets, including The Washington Post,[60] The New York Times,[61] and The Chicago Sun-Times.

[63] CBS was contradicted by some of the experts it originally cited,[64] and later reported that its source for the documents—former Texas Army National Guard officer Lt. Col. Bill Burkett—had misled the network about how he had obtained them.

I want to return to it now, in a different way: to a nation still nursing a broken heart for what happened here in 2001, and especially to those who found themselves closest to the events of September 11; to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, in dangerous places; to those who have endured the tsunami, and to all who have suffered natural disasters, and must now find the will to rebuild; to the oppressed and to those whose lot it is to struggle in financial hardship or in failing health; to my fellow journalists in places where reporting the truth means risking all; and to each of you, Courage.

[111] A columnist whose work is distributed by King Features Syndicate, Rather continues to speak out against political influence in journalism by corporations and governments.

[121] In an interview with commentator Bill Maher, Rather accused Fox News Channel of receiving "talking points" from the Republican-controlled White House.

[127] In the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination while Rather was a Dallas reporter, he interviewed a minister, who said some local schoolchildren had cheered upon learning of the President's shooting.

[26] During live coverage of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Rather attempted to interview a delegate from Georgia who appeared as though he was being forcibly removed by men without identification badges.

[129][130] As Rather approached the delegate to question the apparent strong-arm tactics of the Chicago political machine under Mayor Daley, he was punched in the stomach by one of the men, knocking him to the ground.

A police spokesman said that the cab driver refused to go to the address and instead "wildly drove through the city streets," with Rather shouting out the window asking for help.

[133][134] In 1980, Rather and CBS were taken to court when Carl Galloway, a California doctor, claimed that a report on 60 Minutes wrongfully implicated him in an insurance fraud scheme.

The opening track of the 1987 album Lolita Nation by California power pop group Game Theory is titled "Kenneth, What's the Frequency?"

during a sound check prior to a gig at New York's Madison Square Garden, which was shown the following night on the Late Show with David Letterman.

[139] In 1997, a TV critic writing in the New York Daily News solved the mystery, publishing a photo of the alleged assailant, William Tager, who received a 12.5-to-25-year prison sentence for killing NBC stagehand Campbell Montgomery outside The Today Show studio in 1994.

"[138] New York District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said "William Tager's identity as the man who attacked Mr. Rather was established in the course of an investigation by my office.

Some stations aired syndicated programming, such as reruns of game shows or sitcoms, and others displayed graphics explaining that they were experiencing technical difficulties.

[143] Phil Jones, the chairman of the CBS affiliation board and general manager of Kansas City's KCTV, demanded an apology from Rather.

A few of the more colorful ones, several of which were used throughout the 2008 HBO made-for-TV movie Recount about the 2000 Election, include: Rather has been referenced in the television shows Saturday Night Live and Family Guy and many films.

Entitled The Man in the Street, series star Carroll O'Connor's Archie Bunker character excitedly awaits the viewing of a videotaped interview he gave earlier that day for the CBS Evening News.

[150] Two years later, Rather and Elley educated a group of New Yorkers in Madison Square Park about the true meaning of BBQ, and its significance to the identity of the Lone Star State.

[154] The 1998 mashup song "Rocked by Rape" by the Evolution Control Committee parodied TV news by selecting hundreds of phrases uttered by Rather on the air, focusing on bad, evil, terrible things.