Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

Small | Medium | Large

Walter Cronkite appeared as anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. He was called "The most trusted man in America." Cronkite covered an extensive number of issues in 19 years, including the Vietnam War, the death of President John F. Kennedy, Watergate and the Iran Hostage Crisis. His coverage of the U.S. Space Program brought him from Project Mercury to the Moon landings (with astronaut Wally Schirra as his co-host) to the Space Shuttle. Cronkite was the only non-NASA recipient of a Moon rock award.

Cronkite Announces the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
It's impossible to list all the issues Cronkite covered, but possibly the most memorable was his reporting of President Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963. Cronkite had been standing at the United Press International wire. At 1:40 PM, CBS was airing "As the World Turns." Cronkite broke into the show five separate times with updates. Cronkite was handed the final bulletin from Dallas, Texas. "President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time (glancing up at clock), 2 o'clock Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.”

After making that announcement, Cronkite paused briefly, put his glasses back on, and swallowed hard to maintain his composure. There was noticeable emotion in his voice as he intoned the next sentence of the news report: "Vice President Johnson (cough) has left the hospital in Dallas, but we do not know where he has proceeded. Presumably, he will be taking the oath of office shortly and become the 36th president of the United States."

Millions have seen that report replayed. It shows the professionalism of Walter Cronkite as well as his emotional reaction to the shocking news. There have been three anchors of CBS News since Cronkite, but he will never be forgotten.

Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

Comments (0):