Ever since crossing swords with Pat Buchanan during the Watergate scandal, long before his move to the Reform Party, Dan Rather has harbored an animus toward him. Dan Rather called him the "campaign attack specialist in the Nixon White House." The two-time Republican presidential candidate once refused to do an interview with CBS. In 1996, during Buchanan's bid for the Republican nomination, Rather told him that Senator Phil Gramm criticized him for being too far to the right on abortion. A surprised Phil Gramm told his staff to call CBS and tell Rather that that certainly was not the case. The next night, Rather had to retract his statement by saying that "it should be noted that nowhere on the record has Senator Gramm characterized Pat Buchanan as too far to the right on abortion".

"Are you, as some of your critics charge, interested in being a kind of moral dictator?"
--Dan Rather to Pat Buchanan on 48 Hours, February 22, 1996.

"You know, I don't have any use for you, Rather,"
--Pat Buchanan to Dan Rather, related by Rather.

"There is a perception that Buchanan has around him people with extremist views on race. Do you agree?"
--Dan Rather to Phil Gramm on the CBS Evening News, February 18, 1996.

"Buchanan is trying to deflect criticism that he is an extremist, who, at the very least, uses code words to attract voters with racist, bigoted views. Buchanan flatly denies this."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, February 28, 1996.

"What did you all think of that commentary? What did you all think of that commentary there? You know, I've always wondered why Dan Rather can't give us that kind of objective coverage."
--Pat Buchanan at the '96 Republican National Convention.

RATHER: "By now you know about David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klansman running for president. But Duke is not the only candidate for office this year with ties to the Klan or other white supremacist groups. Correspondent Bob McNamara reports tonight's Eye On America, the politics of race and hate in the campaign of '92."
MCNAMARA: "David Duke found success saying out loud what other politicians only whispered. Now Republican presidential contender Pat Buchanan's tough stands on welfare, immigration and foreign aid are encouraging those on the white Right."
--Dan Rather and Bob McNamara on the CBS Evening News, March 3, 1992.

"The Pat Buchanan campaign lashed out today at news coverage, including some on this broadcast, that has been looking into criticism that the Buchanan campaign and his rhetoric have attracted support from racists and others with bigoted views. We invited Pat Buchanan to be interviewed and talk about this on tonight's CBS Evening News. He declined."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, February 29, 1996.

Lesley Stahl, a CBS reporter and a friend of Rather's, recounts this experience when she ate lunch with people involved with George Bush's 1988 presidential bid:
"Sitting across from me, he [the campaign worker] spoke softly: 'One day last year I went to see Pat Buchanan -- he was still working in the White House. "Pat," I said, "I want you to meet a new friend of mine, Van Gordon Sauter."' He explained that that he and his wife had gotten to know Van and his wife, Kathleen socially. He told Pat that Van was a solid Reaganite who saw eye to eye with conservatives on the issues. '"Pat, you'd love this guy. He's just like you." I told him that, and then I said, "This guy's running CBS News, and his best friend is Dan Rather--they go fishing together every weekend. Pat--the guy running CBS is one of us! And he's closer to Dan Rather than anyone. I want to arrange for the two of you to get to know one another."' The number two paused and looked around the table. He said he had expected Pat to be pleased, to jump at the chance to meet Van. Pat was, after all, the director of communications. But instead, he said, 'Pat stared hard at me and said, "I never want you to tell this to anyone else, do you understand? This must never get past this office. I don't want to know this man, and I don't want anyone else to know him either."'"
--Lesley Stahl in her 1999 book, Reporting Live.

"Joe Klein, CBS News consultant, Newsweek magazine columnist, says what it's about--what he calls the toning down of your hard-right message is--what it's about is trying to attract voters of Roman Catholic religion. That true?" "Phil Gramm says, in effect, it'd be suicidal for the Republican Party to nominate you because you're too far to the right, particularly on abortion."
--Dan Rather to Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan on the CBS Evening News, February 11, 1996.

"Senator Phil Gramm's staff called to say they believe viewers may have gotten the wrong impression from something said on the CBS Evening News last night. If any clarification is needed, it should be noted that nowhere on the record has Senator Gramm characterized Pat Buchanan as too far to the right on abortion."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, February 12, 1996.

"[Buchanan's] job here tonight...was to set a frame of reference around a moral majority right, heavily-influenced party."
--Dan Rather covering the 1992 Republican Convention, August 17, 1992.

"Pat Buchanan was not the only Republican to take a hard line on so-called 'family values'..."
--Dan Rather in "Rather's Notebook" on the CBS Web site, April 18, 2000 print_file('footer'); ?> ; ?>