Happy Birthday, Walter Cronkite! Today
would have been the 100th birthday of “The Most
Trusted Man in America.”
By Joy Neighbors
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| Walter Cronkite, Jr |
Walter
Leland Cronkite, Jr. was born November 4, 1916 in St Joseph, Missouri, the only
child of Walter Leland Cronkite, Sr. and Helen Fritsche Cronkite. Walter grew up in Kansas City, Missouri
and Houston, Texas. He attended
the University of Texas but dropped out to take a news reporting position with
the Houston Post.
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| As a WKY Reporter |
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| Betsey Maxwell Cronkite |
Cronkite
began his broadcasting career at a small radio station, WKY in Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. He met his wife, Mary
Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Maxwell in 1936 while working for KCMO in Kansas City,
Missouri. From there he worked as
a wire service reporter for the United Press (U.P.)
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| U.P. Reporter during WWII |
During World War II, he was an overseas correspondent for
U.P. His style caught the ear of
radio news legend, Edward R. Murrow.
Murrow offered Cronkite an opportunity to move to CBS. Cronkite
considered the offer but the United Press countered with the position of
foreign correspondent, reopening bureaus in Amsterdam, Brussels and
Moscow. Cronkite turned Murrow
down.
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| With Douglas Edwards and Edward R. Murrow at CBS |
It
wasn’t until 1950 that he joined CBS as a television news correspondent and
host of “The Morning Show, “ a position he shared with a lion puppet named
Charlemagne. |
| Cronkite at the News Desk |
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| Reporting for CBS |
He
became the anchor of the 15-minute “CBS Evening News” in April 1962. In September 1963, the news expanded to
thirty minutes, five nights a week.
Cronkite served as anchor and managing editor of the “CBS Evening News
with Walter Cronkite” for 19 years.
From 1967 to his retirement in 1981, the “CBS Evening News” was the ratings leader.
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| Cronkite receives the A.P. newsflash of Kennedy's death |
One
of the most powerful early memories of television journalism is of Walter
Cronkite, stunned and holding back
tears when the A.P. (Associated Press) newsflash of Kenney’s death was handed
to him. Fighting to maintain his
professional composure, Cronkite began “From Dallas, Texas, the flash,
apparently official: “President Kennedy died at 1 P.M. Central Standard Time –
2 o’clock Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.”
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| Fighting to maintain composure |
Reading
the announcement, Cronkite paused, put his glasses back on and swallowed hard
in order to maintain his composure.
That
moment sticks in the mind, just as Roosevelt’s announcement of the bombing of
Pearl Harbor did for the generation before.
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| Reporting from Vietnam |
Cronkite
also reported on the Vietnam War.
Returning from Vietnam after the TET Offensive in 1968, Cronkite told
his viewers, "It seems now more certain than ever that the bloody
experience of Vietnam is a stalemate." When President Lyndon
Johnson heard what Cronkite had said he reportedly commented, “If I’ve lost
Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” Just a few weeks later, Johnson
announced that he would not run for reelection.
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| Cronkite at the anchor desk |
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| Man on the Moon |
Cronkite
is also well remembered for his 27 hours of nonstop reporting during the Apollo
11 moon landing where he exclaimed those immortal words, “Go, Baby, Go!,” when
the rocket was launched.
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| At the news desk |
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| In his office at CBS |
A
1972 poll announced that he was the ‘most trusted man in America,” besting the
President, Vice President, members of Congress and all other journalists.
On
March 6, 1981, Cronkite stepped down from the CBS anchor desk. His leaving was due to a mandatory age
retirement policy that CBS held firm to.
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| Guest shot on Mary Tyler Moore |
After
his retirement, Cronkite went on to host numerous television specials. He appeared on several regular
television shows including two news-oriented comedies, the Mary Tyler Moore
Show and Murphy Brown. He was a regular on the PBS, Discovery, and A & E
networks.
Cronkite
always considered himself a working journalist. His main philosophy towards news reporting was to get the
story “fast, accurate and unbiased.”
His autobiography “A Reporter’s Life” was a best seller when it was
released in 1996.
Cronkite
died in New York City on July 17, 2009.
He was 92 years old. He
was buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri, next to Betsey,
his wife of 65 years.
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| On the air |
As President
Barrack Obama said in a statement following Cronkite’s death, "For
decades, Walter Cronkite was the most trusted voice in America..…in an
industry of icons, Walter set the standard by which all others have been
judged. He was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important
issues of the day; a voice of certainty in an uncertain world. He was family.
He invited us to believe in him, and he never let us down. This country has
lost an icon and a dear friend, and he will be truly missed."
"Happy
Birthday ‘Uncle’ Walter!"
And that’s the way it is ...
