Can someone explain in detail Dan Rather's tough interview w/Bush sr.?

[romantico]

Over the years I keep hearing about how Dan would not let up on Bush sr. when he was president in this famous interview.I have heard over the years that Bush actually looked pissed & was shifting from side to side in his chair.All I remember was Bush asking if Dan was running for office & Dan snapping back asking,"No, are you?" I want details!Anyone?

[RichM]

1. You're not remembering it correctly. First of all, the interchange you

"quote" was the one with Nixon, not Bush Sr. There was ALSO a Rather-Poppy Bush dustup, but that was BEFORE Poppy was president.

OnEdit: a quick Google shows:

25 Jan 1988 During a live television appearance, Vice President George HW Bush whines petulantly to CBS news anchor Dan Rather about his Iran-Contra questions: "It's not fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you like it if I judged your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in New York? Would you like that?"

[JasonBerry]

2. Wrong Interview

The "No, are you?" was not the Bush interview - that was a press conference with Nixon.

I have the whole Bush/Rather thing on tape and need to pull it out and transcribe it. I got it from a friend who worked at the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis at the time.

The basics:

- Rather pushed Bush on being, "out of the loop."

- Bush pushed back - actually never looking intimidated at all. More like a setup by the Bush team to rid him of the "wimp" label.

- Rather got visibly upset, turned red in the face and was angry. He said something about something in Bush's career.

(For this last Bush line to make sense, you have to know this: Rather, a few weeks earlier got mad about a tennis tourney running into Evening News - he walked off the set. The producers through it for a few seconds to an empty seat.)

- Bush said something like, "How would you like your entire career to be summed up by your walking off the set in New York?"

- Rather said that wasn't the issue and it went back and forth VERY heated. It even got coverage on OTHER networks!

- David Gergen later wrote it DID go a long way to throwing off the "wimp" label.

I agree it was probably a setup by Bush for that very reason.

[mark0rama]

3. I can fill in some of the gaps

The last part of your post isn't from the Bush interview; it's an old story from (I think) when Rather was a local reporter in Texas. It was a press conference setting, and Nixon called on Rather, who introduced himself and received a smattering of applause (from whom, I don't know).

Nixon said to him, "Are you running for something?" Rather replied, "No sir, Mr. President, are you?" People were scandalized by this comeback to the President (which rather said was more of a reflex than anything). Rather wrote a book in the 70s, "The Camera Never Blinks," which tells this story.

I've heard much about the Bush interview, where Poppy Bush was belligerent enough with Rather to shed his wimp image in the 1988 campaign. Speculation is that Rather was sort of set up in the Bush campaign's plan to use the interview to "de-wimp" Poppy.

On edit: Rather was with CBS by the time the Nixon incident happened; he had already been to Vietnam with CBS by then. (It's all coming back to me now....)

[romantico]

4. thanks

for clearing that up! Still admire Dan BIG TIME!

[inthecorneroverhere]

5. Rather is smart

Dan Rather is a smart-enough cookie to be able to make predictions. He was probably trying to forestall a *shrub dynasty. Unfortunately, the propaganda machine basically drowned him out.

I believe Dan Rather is, overall, a patriot. He wanted to prevent what occurred in November 2000.