Word: anchors
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...that the late CIA director William Casey was not really dead. In August, when former ABC Newsman Charles Glass escaped from terrorists holding him hostage in Lebanon, Rather sounded a jarring note of skepticism, referring to Glass as a "young American who says he was a hostage." ABC Nightline Anchor Ted Koppel called the characterization "beneath contempt...
Rather has never seemed completely comfortable in the anchor chair. A courtly and painstakingly polite man in person, he seems stiff and tense on camera. Even his attempts at spontaneity and good humor look programmed. One week he tried ending his broadcast with the sign-off "Courage"; widespread derision forced him to drop it after three nights. Walter Cronkite, Rather's predecessor, was calm and reassuring, an avuncular figure to the nation. Rather seems tightly coiled and uneasy, an eccentric cousin capable of almost anything...
...interview, according to one associate, but he quickly gathered his spirits and strongly defended his performance. "I never felt the interview was out of control," he told TIME. "I couldn't get answers, but I did not get mad." Aides who briefed Rather before the interview say the anchor was fully prepared for a heated exchange. "We knew Bush would attack, and we knew he wasn't going to answer the questions," says Producer Martin Koughan. "The trick was, How does Dan keep control of the line of questioning? Better rude than cowed...
Nevertheless, Rather beat out Mudd for the anchor job, rankling some TV traditionalists in the process. In an effort to keep him from jumping to ABC, CBS gave Rather a record $22 million ten-year contract, a quantum leap in the pay for network journalists. The network also had to ask Cronkite politely to move up his retirement date to accommodate Rather's new contract. Cronkite agreed, but some insiders claim he was never happy about...
...journalist hectored the Vice President, who had been lured into the interview expecting that it would focus on his presidential campaign. Eager to combat his wimpy image, Bush came to shove, denouncing Rather's tactics and counterattacking by recalling the evening last September when Rather stalked away from his anchor duties and left the network blank for more than six minutes. The tightly coiled anchorman, a combustible character in the coolest of mediums, seemed almost to spring out of his chair, unsettling his audience with high-voltage intensity. It was video High Noon: Bush had shot down the legendary media...