
"I wanted to know what went on -what really went on - inside Viacom/CBS... about the collaboration between very big business and very big government." So says television legend Dan Rather in this special edition of The Debriefer. "I knew that a lot had gone on behind the scenes [in CBS News] that wasn't right. As a reporter, I tried to dig into that story."
The scandal that Dan and his team at CBS had unearthed concerned no less a person than George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States. At the time of the Viet Nam war, Bush's father had used his influence to get him a posting in the Texas Air National Guard, thus ensuing he would never risk active service in the battlefield. "That's a fact", says Dan. "The president didn't deny it: he's never denied it."
Even more scandalously, after being posted to this "champagne unit" for the sons of privileged and well-connected people, Bush countermanded orders and disappeared for a year! "[Those facts] were true when we reported them", says Dan. "And they're true now."
Listen to this Debriefer special as Dan tells us what happened next to him and his team: it will shock you. If you enjoyed this show, buy Dan's new book, Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News, just out from Grand Central Publishing.