What Unites Us

What Unites Us

by Dan Rather (Author)

Synopsis

Now, in a collection of wholly original essays, the venerated television journalist celebrates our shared values and what matters most in his great country, and shows us what patriotism looks like. Writing about the institutions that sustain America, such as public libraries, public schools, and national parks; the values that have transformed us, such as the struggle for civil rights; and the drive toward science and innovation that has made the United States great, Rather will bring to bear his decades of experience on the frontlines of the world's biggest stories, and offer readers a way forward. After a career spent as reporter and anchor for CBS News, where he interviewed every living President since Eisenhower and was on the ground for every major event, from the assassination of John F. Kennedy to Watergate to 9/11, Rather has in the last year also become a hugely popular voice of reason on social media, with nearly two million Facebook followers and an engaged new audience who help to make many of his posts go viral. With his famously plain spoken voice and a fundamental sense of hope, Dan Rather has written the book to inspire conversation and listening, and to remind us all how American's are ultimately united. This book will be a must read for everyone you know who is engaged in the urgent national conversation right now - and interested in our place in history going forward.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 176
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 01 Nov 2017

ISBN 10: 1616207825
ISBN 13: 9781616207823
Book Overview: I find myself thinking deeply about what it means to love America, as I surely do.' At a moment of crisis over America's national identity, Dan Rather has been reflecting - and writing passionately almost every day on social media - about the world we live in, what our core ideals have been and should be, and what it means to be an American.

Media Reviews
A tonic for our times . . . Rather's writing shows why he has won the admiration of a new generation. In these essays, he gives voice to the marginalized and rips off the journalistic shield of objectivity to ring the alarm bell when he witnesses actions he fears undermine the principles of American democracy. That, undoubtedly, is patriotic. And it takes courage.
--USA Today

[A] much-needed collection of essays from Rather on American values, from the importance of empathy, inclusion and service to the qualities that helped found the nation.
--New York Post (Required Reading)

One of American's most trusted voices . . . reminds us what's great about this country in a time of unprecedented polarization.
--Entertainment Weekly

What Unites Us . . . stirringly melds memoir with a meditation on American values, including patriotism, inclusion and dissent.
--CNN.com

Interweaving sweet personal stories with history, [Rather] makes a simple, compelling case for America . . . a clear-eyed love letter to USA. A tonic for disaffected millennials and conservative grandpas alike.
--People (Book of the Week)

From his vantage point as one of this country's most revered broadcasters, Rather analyzes the current state of disconnected discourse in a series of reflective essays that go to the heart of what it means to be an American.
--Booklist (starred review)

What Unites Us is at times almost unbearably poignant. Yet Rather's words provide a sort of salve--and clear thinking about how to recover from these ugly times. What Unites Us is a passionate treatise on preserving the best of America and letting go of that which makes us weaker.
--BookPage

If everyone could adopt the measured tone of Rather . . . you begin to feel that political chasms could be crossed . . . Rather implores you to step back into the world with compassion and gumption, global existential crises be damned.
--Austin Chronicle

[A]n essential read for anyone swept up in the current national conversation.
--TimeOut.com

A full-throated celebration of the national spirit and its potential to persevere.
--Kirkus Reviews

Provides a pleasant alternative to the reliance on vitriol and irony in modern political discourse . . . Rather has issued a stirring call for overcoming today's strident partisanship.
--Publishers Weekly
Author Bio
With a storied career that has spanned more than six decades, Dan Rather is one of the world's best-known journalists. He has interviewed every president since Eisenhower and covered almost every important dateline around the world. Rather joined CBS News in 1962, and in 1981 he assumed the position of Anchor and Managing Editor of the CBS Evening News, which he held for twenty-four years. His reporting helped turn 60 Minutes into an institution, launched 48 Hours as a newsmagazine program, and shaped countless specials and documentaries. Upon leaving CBS, Rather created the Emmy Award-winning Dan Rather Reports on HDNet. He is founder, president, and CEO of News and Guts, an independent production company that specializes in high-quality nonfiction content across a range of traditional and digital channels.

Elliot Kirschner is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and filmmaker. After a career at CBS, producing for the CBS Evening News, CBS Sunday Morning, and 60 Minutes II, Kirschner joined his longtime collaborator Dan Rather as the senior producer for Dan Rather Reports. He now develops film, television, and digital projects. A graduate of Harvard, Kirschner lives with his family in San Francisco, where he is building an innovative venture in science communication.