Tragic Details About Former CBS News Anchor Dan Rather's Life

For nearly 50 years, TV newsman Dan Rather stood amongst the giants of the journalism industry and was one of the most trusted voices on American television. With a career that began in earnest in the 1950s and quickly launched him into becoming a household name, Rather built a reputation for asking tough questions and throwing himself into the midst of danger and action to report on stories that mattered.

Rather also found love with his beloved wife Jean Goebel. The pair tied the knot in 1957, and went on to welcome two children — daughter Robin, and son Danjack – and later they became grandparents as well. With Rather's iconic voice informing the nation on a nightly basis for decades, Rather's career was nothing short of iconic and inspirational. His status as a cultural touchstone also earned Rather a rather impressive net worth, long after his departure from the job.

Rather celebrated his 94th birthday in October 2025, marking his first birthday since the death of his wife in November 2024, after 67 years of marriage. The year also served as the milestone 20th anniversary of Rather's controversial exit from the CBS Evening News amid a journalism ethics scandal. So while Rather's journalism journey has been nearly unrivaled, and continues to this day in the form of his "Steady" newsletter, the titan of TV broadcasting has certainly faced and overcome some challenges and tragedies along the way.

Dan Rather was born in a small town in Texas in 1931. The family moved to Houston when Rather was young, and his passion for reading was instilled in him by his hardworking parents. However, when he was just 12 years old, Rather came down with rheumatic fever, a rare type of inflammatory disease that impacts children and can lead to permanent heart damage. The situation was very dire, and Rather reflected on his childhood illness in a video he posted to Facebook in 2020, amid the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As a child, I was bedridden with rheumatic fever. The world was going by outside my window, and I lay inside, unable to move much and unsure of my fate," Rather wrote, alongside a video of himself reading the famous William Ernest Henley poem "Invictus," which he said inspired him as a child to overcome his ailment. "I could hear my parents' words of worry as they spoke in hushed tones outside of what they thought was my earshot. But when they spoke to me, they instilled a sense of purpose and hope."

During his illness, Rather listened to news broadcasts on the radio and discovered his passion for reporting. This was a passion he pursued after high school, although he was almost sidetracked from his destiny when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1954. However, shortly after joining, they discovered he'd fought rheumatic fever as a child and was discharged due to health concerns. This redirected Rather back toward his first love of reporting, and he began working for a radio station run by the Houston Chronicle, which thus sparked the true start of his legendary career.

Even before his career truly took off in the early 1960s on a national scale, Dan Rather was already an intrepid and determined reporter who was willing to go to great lengths to get a story and really sink his teeth in. In 1956, when working as a reporter in Houston, Rather learned about a group of musicians in town who had been arrested for possession of heroin. At the time, the drug problem in America was not as pervasive, and many people — Rather included — were ignorant about the effects of narcotics.

"I had no idea what [heroin] was," Rather told Business Insider in November 2012. "So I said it would be a good story to get some heroin ... and then describe how you feel. And so I did that with the help of the police in the police station ... So they injected me at the police station and I made notes as best as I could have, of what the effects were." The effects were not enjoyable for Rather.

His dedication to in-the-trenches reporting was made even more evident when he went overseas to cover the India-Pakistan war in 1965 and then the Vietnam War in 1966. "I was ill-prepared to cover in that part of the world and to cover combat on that scale," Rather told Asia Society in June 2012. "So it was a deep immersion for me, and I certainly made my mistakes." Reflecting on his time in Vietnam, Rather somberly recalled the locale as being "a green jungle hell" filled with death and "constant savagery" as the nation was torn asunder by ceaseless bloodshed.

In 2006, after 40 years at CBS News, Dan Rather fell from grace in a scandal that became known as "Rathergate." The drama began with a 2004 report on George W. Bush's military service. During an episode of "60 Minutes," Rather reported on a series of memos that became known as the "Killian documents." They were typed reports critical of Bush's service record when he was part of the Texas Air National Guard. After the report aired, internet sleuths began to investigate the documents and called their authenticity into question based on typographical inconsistencies that led many to believe them to be forgeries.

As the drama played out, Rather and CBS News attempted to defend the reports, but it was soon revealed that their sources had misled them, and CBS News went on to retract their report and apologize. Rather himself admitted (via CBS News), "If I knew then what I know now, I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired." This embarrassing scandal led to Rather being pushed into retirement earlier than he had planned, and by 2006, his contract with CBS News was not renewed.

Rather sued CBS for $70 million in 2007, claiming that he'd been hung out to try to take the blame for the Killian documents scandal. However, his lawsuit was dismissed in 2009. Despite this, Rather admitted years later that he still fondly recalls being a part of CBS News. "Without apology or explanation, I miss CBS," Rather said during an episode of the "Awards Chatter" podcast. "I've missed it since the day I left there."

In November 2024, Dan Rather's wife of 67 years, Jean Rather, died from cancer. The news was devastating for Rather, who had long credited his beloved wife for their marriage standing the test of time – especially in the face of Rather's hectic and crowded professional schedule. "The first year I was with CBS News, I was home 41 days out of the year," Rather recalled to People in June 2023. "Very hard to hold a marriage and a family together then... [and] when I was home, I tried to hit the off switch. I tried to make every hour count."

However, it was all because of his wife's dedication to their union that they were able to raise their two children and enjoy their many decades together. Rather explained that Jean "was absolutely committed," explaining her attitude was "'whatever it takes, we're going to make it work,'" and because of that, they were able to enjoy the fruits of a storybook marriage.

According to a Facebook post by Rather's family announcing the news of Jean's death at the age of 89, her passing came after a stay in hospice care. Jean was remembered as a woman who "lived a full life as an incredible wife, mother, friend, and artist – and a true Texan."