Measure of an anchorman

Dan Rather, the host of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, signed off last night using a word that demonstrates what his career was about, "courage."
Apparently, he had used that word to sign off in the '80s and because he was ribbed a little for doing it, he stopped.
I find Rather's resignation to be bittersweet, to say the least, because of the circumstances surrounding why he's stepping down.
He anchored a 60 Minutes report in September criticizing President Bush's National Guard service. The report was based on documents that later turned out to be false, and while that hasn't been the official reason he's issued his resignation, that seems to be the consensus, and I think it's more than a damn shame.
I'm not defending his use of questionable documents; he, of all people, should've known better and should've done his research thoroughly so that there could be no question of authenticity or credibility.
It pisses me off further because that happened about two months shy of the presidential campaign, and when I was trying to pull the swing/moderate voters to my side by occasionally discounting liberal bias in the media, that didn't exactly lend to the cause.
Which begs the question, should Rather be judged by this incident or by his previous 24-year record that spanned the civil rights movement and something like eight presidential elections, and that doesn't count what he covered just at CBS; that's only while he was the anchor.
I remember when he went on David Letterman for the first show after Sept. 11. He was subdued and angry simultaneously, and he started to choke up when talking to David Letterman, and I was really touched by that.
Journalists sometimes don't have the luxury of reacting to the news, but the nation needed to know then that it was okay to be upset, and it was okay to cry if necessary. And his genuine, heartfelt reaction was exactly what was called for.
I grew up watching Dan Rather anchor the news, and I found him to be capable, soothing and watching him was a source of comfort for me.
I will miss his voice, and his tenacity and his obvious love for America.
I hope that people will choose to remember him for what he brought into their homes for over 20 years and not focus on an unfortunate incident that occurred in the twilight of his career.
He admitted his part in the incident and has taken the brunt of the criticism for it.
Courage, indeed.