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[Photograph: A picture of Dan Rather during an interview.]
About RatherBiased.com

RatherBiased.com documents the partisan beliefs of one of the most politicized journalists of our time. From abortion to "W", this site is an exhaustive compilation of statements he has made over the years. Most are from Dan Rather's on-air comments. While Rather's statements away from the news desk usually do not unduly influence public opinion, they do show the partisan, ideological bent that frequently taints his reporting.

Some of the quotations have a few words emboldened in order to highlight certain biased phrases. Most statements have no emboldening.

RatherBiased.com is an independent not-for-profit venture unaffiliated with any organization or individual created by Greg Sheffield and Matthew W. Sheffield. Send your correspondence through our Guest Book

Dan Rather has always been at odds with Republican presidents.

With Richard Nixon, the most famous incident between the two was the "Are you running for something?" spat in which each traded a barb. But even before Watergate broke, while Nixon was trying to create a coalition of Democrats and Republicans in Congress to pass domestic legislation, the Nixon White House would complain to CBS about their slanted White House Correspondent. The White House Chief Assistant for Domestic Affairs, John Ehrlichman, went over Rather's head and told the CBS News President that he had the "impression that Dan Rather was consistently critical of our domestic-policy initiatives" and that "Dan Rather failed to check his stories, for one of two reasons: either he had a bias or he was lazy. From my standpoint...it appeared that he was just lazy." The New York Times in 1974 described Rather as "a sharp critic of the Nixon administration."

During the Reagan years the White House would regularly telephone Rather's superiors about his biased reporting: "This Administration has felt that of the networks CBS has more frequently than the others written stories that were thought to be slanted or unfair," said David Gergen, White House Communications Director. One of those slanted stories was a report Rather gave during the final days of the administration, a description of Reagan's last budget: "It contains more for guns, less for butter, and it is out of balance and will add to the deficit."

During George Bush's 1988 presidential campaign, Rather interrogated Bush about Iran-contra in a heated interview in which Rather declared, "You've made us hypocrites in the face of the world! How could you sign on to such a policy?" Even Sam Donaldson said "Rather went too far." Speaking of the incident, Barbara Bush said, "George forgives to a fault, but he will never trust Dan Rather again." Exemplifying that distrust four years later, the Bush camp "said they will not talk to Dan Rather" during the '92 campaign, as a CBS News executive glumly announced, even though Bush had already done interviews with the other networks. In another incident of distrust, Bush wanted Barbara to do a televised tour of the White House on CBS. When it was discovered that the tour was to go on Dan Rather's 48 Hours, the White House response was, "Never if it involves Rather. [Lesley Stahl] and Kuralt--we'd consider it. But never Dan Rather." ABC's Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts, though, were able to schedule a pleasant tour of the presidential mansion. Throughout the entire Bush presidency, he refused to let Rather interview him, the only "Big Three" anchor who was unable to quiz the President of the United States.

There was virtually no strife between Dan Rather and the Clinton White House. Bush Sr. avoided him like the plague, but his opponent after winning in 1992, Bill Clinton, gave his first post-election interview to Rather. After his impeachment, the first reporter allowed to interview the president was Rather. Hillary Clinton once told him, "I respect you, Dan" during an interview, and Rather once told Bill, "If we could be one-one-hundredth as great as you and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been together in the White House, we'd take it right now and walk away winners." Bill Clinton has also spoken positively of him, saying that Rather's coverage was fair. With Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter, Rather says he was at odds with them as well, proving that he's not biased. He claims Johnson said to him, "I'm disappointed in you," being a fellow Texan and yet critical in news stories. Every liberal was opposed to Johnson's Vietnam, including Rather. Those on the Left, including Rather, hated him for starting the war. Because of this hatred, he did not even try to get a second term. Those on the Left thought Jimmy Carter was a closet conservative and disliked his Iran hostage handling. Thus, Rather's only main differences with Johnson and Carter were about foreign policy, an issue which often creates dissent among liberals and conservatives. The only true indication of his treatment of a Democratic president loved by all liberals, with no Vietnam War or closet conservatism to threaten that love, is his treatment of Bill Clinton. Dissent was minimal and usually token and obligatory.

How will Rather cover George W. Bush and his ideas? Only time will tell.