Dan Rather politically pushed out well respected Walter Cronkite well before Walter wished to retire . Rather convinced the brass at CBS that he was heading into his prime and that he would leave if he didn`t get Walter`s seat .
Eventually it became Rather`s time to go and in an effort to hang on he became involved in the scandal that placed him in the exit lane .
Dan was never close to being the newsman that Cronkite was .
Rather was a local reporter for the CBS affiliate in Dallas when the JFK assassination took place . This gave him instant exposure on CBS at a time when there were only the 3 major networks . Rather rode this event to a national assignment covering the White House and made his " bones " during Watergate .
However the inside story was that he was extremely political and would stop at nothing to enhance his reputation . Eventually it all caught up with him by his own hand .