Was Dan Rather sacked from CBS news for urging people to vote in 2004?ct,?

Question

I was watching the 2004 election results here in England and I can remember early in the night Dan Rather urging people to vote. If my memory of the event is accurate, the early results where looking as thought the Republicans where going to get a landslide victory but not all of the polls had closed in some states.

If this is correct, could it have been seen as a political act?

If my memory of this is correct, how come some polls where still open, was it something to do with the time difference?

Answer 1

Technically, Dan Rather retired. Unofficially, he was somewhat forced into it. Not for urging people to vote, though. It was for sticking to his story about Bush's military service record, after bloggers revealed the documents he had relied on were forged. The story hurt his credibility and that, combined with his advancing years, made CBS restless to start over fresh with a new face. That eventually led to Katie Couric getting the CBS Evening News post. That's the short version of the answer.

Answer 2

Dan Rather is an old time liberal who was allowed to retire in lieu of being fired over an erroneous televised broadcast about the proprieties of Bush's alleged military service or lack of same and the paperwork giving him credit for duty not performed. The head of CBS news and a couple of minions were fired for not investigating the validity of the report.

Answer 3

He retired because of the fake military papers he used as evidence and insisted were real.

Answer 4

call one LIE (because of the fact theres a distinction between a mistake and an outright lie, which Dan somewhat made) Fox made and that i will take you heavily... flow forward waiting... waiiiiiting.

Answer 5

It was more the Goerge Bush military paper debacle

Answer 6

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

Answer 7

I'm from England and I'd rather not comment.

Answer 8

He retired, was not sacked!