Walter Cronkite, who was the face of the CBS evening news from 1962-81 died Friday July 17, 2009. He was 92 years old. Marlene Adler, Cronkite's chief of staff, said he died of cerebrovascular disease. Morley Safer, a longtime '60 Minutes" correspondent, referred to Cronkite as "the father of television news". He was known for news stories such as the John F. Kennedy Assassination, the Martin Luther King Jr, assassination, the launching of Apollo 11 onto the moon, etc. He was an avid supporter of the U.S. space program and he chronicled the events of man's first landing on the moon in 1969. He was hired in 1950 by Edward R. Murrow to report for CBS. He took over the anchor's chair on April 16, 1962, replacing Douglas Edwards. Due to CBS's policy of compulsory retirement at age 65, Cronkite retired from the anchor's chair on March 6, 1981.
According to Owensboro's Messenger-Inquirer, Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. was born on November 4, 1916, in St. Joseph Missouri, the son and grandson of dentists. He first put his teeth into journalism at The Houston Post, where he worked summers after high school and served as campus correspondent at the University of Texas. He quit college after his junior year for a full-time position at The Houston Press. He joined the United Press in 1937. In the early 1940's, he was dispatched to London to cover the battle of the North Atlantic. He flew on a bombing mission over Germany and glided into Holland with the 101st airborne division. He was a chief correspondent at the postwar Nuremberg trials. He returned to the U.S. in 1948 and covered Washington for a number of midwest radio stations. He was hired by Edward R. Murrow to join CBS in 1950.
In 1952, he was named anchor of the CBS coverage of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, when they started being aired over television. He was also hosted such news-oriented programs such as "You are There" and "Twentieth Century." He replaced Douglas Edwards as anchor of CBS evening news on April 16, 1962. In 1963, CBS evening news went from a 15-minute to a 30-minute format. He was in competition with the duo Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. He eventually dominated the news ratings on all three networks. In a 1972 and a 1974 survey, he was viewed by Americans to be the "most trusted television newscaster". He won emmys and other awards for his news coverage. He won the 1974 George Polk journalism award and the 1969 William Allen White Award for journalistic merit, to name a few. He retired from the anchor's chair on March 6, 1981. Dan Rather replaced him.
Cronkite became well known for the news bulletin on CBS about the assassination of President Kennedy. He fought back tears and showed some emotion as he covered that story. He also covered the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination, the Vietnam War, the U.S. space program, the Watergate scandal, and the Iranian hostage crisis, to name a few. After the Tet Offensive, Cronkite went to Vietnam and wrote a commentary giving his opinion about the situation. He stated that the Vietnam War was mired in a stalemate. That was said to have turned the tide of public opinion against the war. It supposedly played a major role in Lyndon Johnson deciding not to run for president in 1968. Johnson remarked, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America." There are some dissenters of the war that would probably agree with Cronkite's comments. However, I believe it had a demoralizing affect. It would've been better if he said, "The Pentagon needs to craft a new strategy for Vietnam. The way the war is currently prosecuted, there's no way we can win. We need a different strategy because we must win this war." That would have been the proper thing for Cronkite to say. He was a strong opponent of the Vietnam War.
Following his retirement from CBS, Cronkite was very candid about his left-leaning political views. He was an opponent of the Iraq War. He spoke out against the policies of George W. Bush. He defended John Kerry's liberal record in 2004. He was a believer in the concept of global governance, or a one-world government. He upheld the belief that the United States should give up some of its sovereignty to the United Nations. However, Cronkite was considered to be an iconic figure in the news media. When Cronkite signed off each evening his famous words were "And that's the way it is (He gave the date). This is Walter Cronkite saying goodnight."
I can clearly hear him say his goodnight.He was a very charismatic person. It is sad how media can influence the way we think. You'll have to address Vietnam sometime when you get a chance.
ReplyDeleteI will address Vietnam as soon as possible. Thank you for mentioning that!
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