PRESTOPUNDIT

And so Rather, knowing that if failure came, it would be monumental and would have his name on it, wanted to do something that would somehow distinguish his presence from Cronkite's. Because he wanted to make the broadcast his, on Saturday he stood and sat and strolled late into the night, and he was back on Sunday. Finally Monday arrived, and Rather neither sat nor strolled nor stood. He made his debut as the permanent anchor of the CBS Evening News in a kind of squat, a contortion that was awkward just to watch, much less to hold while reading the news. It made a painful, pitiable display of Rather's first performance in Cronkite's chair, which would have been terrible enough anyway. He looked as if he were getting ready to run off somewhere, as, in retrospect, might have seemed a good option. And it didn't get much better over the next few weeks, even after Rather had abandoned his squat for a more conventional posture. The transition was a complete disaster.