Editing Dan Rather (section)

== Early career ==

Rather began his journalism career in 1950 as an [[Associated Press]] reporter in [[Huntsville, Texas]]. Later, he was a reporter for [[United Press International|United Press]] (1950–1952), several Texas radio stations, and the ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'' (1954–1955). Around 1955, Rather wrote a piece on heroin. Under the auspices of the Houston Police, he tried a dose of the drug, which he characterized as "a special kind of hell".<ref>{{cite news | title = Dan Rather interview | first = Dan | last = Rather | work = [[Ladies' Home Journal]] | date =July 1980| publisher = | interviewer = | accessdate =}}</ref>

He worked for four seasons as the play-by-play announcer for the [[University of Houston]] football team.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/peter_king/news/2001/11/05/mmqb/ | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20011111084643/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/peter_king/news/2001/11/05/mmqb/ | url-status= dead | archive-date= November 11, 2001 | work=CNN.com | access-date= April 30, 2010 | title=A Rather good color man}}</ref> During the 1959 minor league baseball season, Rather was the [[Sports commentator|play-by-play]] radio announcer for the Texas League [[Houston Buffaloes|Houston Buffs]].

In 1959, Rather began his television career as part of a weekly Coaches Show for the [[University of Houston]] on [[KTRK-TV]], the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate in [[Houston]]. In 1960, he was hired as the 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. news anchor and director of news for [[KHOU-TV]], the local [[CBS]] affiliate.

In September 1961, Rather covered [[Hurricane Carla]] for KHOU-TV, broadcasting from the then National Weather Center in Galveston<ref name=hurricane>{{Cite news | url= https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/dan-rather-showed-the-first-radar-image-of-a-hurricane-on-tv/264246/ | title=Dan Rather Showed the First Radar Image of a Hurricane on TV |date=October 29, 2012 |first=Megan |last=Garber |journal=[[The Atlantic]]}}</ref> and showing the first radar image of a hurricane on TV. He conceived of overlaying a transparent map over the radar screen, to show the size of Hurricane Carla to the audience. Convinced of the threat, more than 350,000 people evacuated from the area, the largest known evacuation to that time. Their actions are believed to have saved thousands of lives compared to the previous hurricane, which had killed 6,000 to 12,000 people.{{r|hurricane}}  Rather's live coverage of Carla was broadcast by New York and national stations. [[Ray Miller (Texas journalist)|Ray Miller]], news director of [[KPRC-TV]], the [[NBC]] affiliate in Houston, also mentored Rather in his early years.

On February 28, 1962, Rather left Houston for New York City for a six-month trial initiation at [[CBS]]. Rather did not fit in easily on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]]. His first report for CBS included radio coverage of the crash of [[American Airlines Flight 1 (1962)|American Airlines Flight 1]] in [[Jamaica Bay]], and a story on the accidental deaths of newborns who were served salt in their formula at Binghamton General Hospital in [[Binghamton, New York]], referred to years later as the Salt Babies.<ref>{{cite web | last=Smith | first=Gerald | title=Spanning Time: Remembering the tragedy of the 'Salt Babies' | website=Binghamton New York News – pressconnects.com is the home page of Binghamton New York with in depth and updated Binghamton local news. | date=March 7, 2020 | url=https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2020/03/07/spanning-time-remembering-tragedy-salt-babies/4972966002/ | access-date=June 19, 2024}}</ref> Shortly after, Rather was made chief of CBS's Southwest [[News bureau|bureau]] in [[Dallas]]. In August 1963, he was appointed chief of the [[Southern United States|Southern]] bureau in [[New Orleans]], responsible for coverage of news events in the South, Southwest, Mexico and Central America.<ref>{{cite news | title = On the Go | work = Houston Chronicle | date = August 11, 1963 | page =15}}</ref>