Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite in 2006
Born	Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. (1916-11-04)November 4, 1916 St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Died	July 17, 2009(2009-07-17) (aged 92) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Television and Radio Broadcaster
Notable credit	CBS Evening News
Title	CBS Evening News Anchor

Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. (November 4, 1916 - July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years (1962–81). During the heyday of CBS News in the 1970s and 1980s, he was often cited in viewer opinion polls as "the most trusted man in America" because of his professional experience and kindly demeanor. Cronkite died on July 17, 2009 at the age of 92 after an extended battle with cerebrovascular disease.

Early life

Cronkite was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri, the son of Helen Lena (née Fritsche) and Dr. Walter Leland Cronkite, a dentist. He had remote Dutch ancestry on his father's side, the family surname originally being Krankheyt.

Cronkite lived in Kansas City, Missouri until he was ten, when his family moved to Houston, Texas. He attended junior high school at Lanier Junior High School (now Lanier Middle School) and high school at San Jacinto High School. He was a member of the Boy Scouts. He attended college at The University of Texas at Austin, where he worked on The Daily Texan, and became a member of the Nu chapter of the Chi Phi Fraternity. He also was a member of the Houston chapter of DeMolay, a Masonic fraternal organization for boys. It was while attending the University of Texas that Cronkite had his first taste of performance appearing in a play with fellow students Eli Wallach and Ann Sheridan.

Career

He dropped out of college in his junior year in 1935 after starting a series of newspaper reporting jobs covering news and sports. He entered broadcasting as a radio announcer for WKY in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1936, he met his future wife Mary Elizabeth Maxwell (known by her nickname "Betsy") while working as the sports announcer for KCMO (AM) in Kansas City, Missouri. His broadcast name was "Walter Wilcox". He would explain later that radio stations at the time did not want people to use their real names for fear of taking their listeners with them if they left. In Kansas City, he joined the United Press in 1937. He became one of the top American reporters in World War II, covering battles in North Africa and Europe. He was one of eight journalists selected by the U.S. Army Air Forces to fly bombing raids over Germany in a B-17 Flying Fortress. He also landed in a glider with the 101st Airborne in Operation Market-Garden and covered the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he covered the Nuremberg trials, and served as the United Press main reporter in Moscow for two years.

Early years at CBS

In 1950, Cronkite joined CBS News in its young and growing television division, recruited by Edward R. Murrow, who had previously tried to hire Cronkite from UP during the war. Cronkite began working at WTOP-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C..

On July 7, 1952, the term "anchor" was coined to describe Cronkite's role at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, which marked the first nationally-televised convention coverage. Cronkite anchored the network's coverage of the 1952 presidential election as well as later conventions, until in 1964, he was temporarily replaced by the team of Robert Trout and Roger Mudd. This proved to be a mistake, and Cronkite was returned to the anchor chair for future political conventions.

From 1953 to 1957, Cronkite hosted the CBS program You Are There, which reenacted historical events, using the format of a news report. His famous last line for these programs was: "What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times... and you were there." In 1971, the show was revived and redesigned to attract an audience of teenagers and young adults on Saturday mornings. He also hosted The Twentieth Century, a documentary series about important historical events of the century which was made up almost exclusively of newsreel footage and interviews. It became a long-running hit. Cronkite also hosted a game show called It's News to Me, a game show based on news events.

The CBS Evening News

Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of the CBS Evening News on April 16, 1962, a job in which he became an American icon. The program expanded from 15 to 30 minutes on September 2, 1963, making Cronkite the anchor of American network television's first nightly half-hour news program.

During the early part of his tenure anchoring the CBS Evening News, Cronkite competed against NBC's anchor team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, who anchored the Huntley-Brinkley Report. For most of the 1960s, the Huntley-Brinkley Report had more viewers than Cronkite's broadcast. This began to change in the late 1960s, as RCA made a corporate decision not to fund NBC News at the levels CBS funded CBS News. Consequently, CBS News acquired a reputation for accuracy and depth in its broadcast journalism. This reputation meshed nicely with Cronkite's wire service experience, and in 1968, the CBS Evening News began to surpass The Huntley-Brinkley Report in viewership during the summer months. In that same year, the faculty of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University voted to award him the Carr Van Anda Award "for enduring contributions to journalism."

In 1969, with Apollo 11, and later with Apollo 13, Cronkite received the best ratings and made CBS the most-watched television network for the missions.

In 1970, Walter Cronkite received a "Freedom of the Press" George Polk Award. That same year, the CBS Evening News finally dominated the American TV news viewing audience, when Huntley retired. Although NBC finally settled on the skilled and well-respected broadcast journalist John Chancellor, Cronkite proved to be more popular and continued to be top-rated until his retirement in 1981. That year, President Jimmy Carter awarded Cronkite the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

One of Cronkite's trademarks was ending the CBS Evening News with the phrase, "...And that's the way it is:", followed by the date (keeping to standards of objective journalism, he omitted this phrase on nights when he ended the newscast with opinion or commentary). Beginning with January 16, 1980, "Day 50" of the Iran hostage crisis, Cronkite added the length of the hostages' captivity to the show's closing to remind the audience of the unresolved situation, ending only on "Day 444", January 20, 1981.

For many years, Cronkite was considered one of the most trusted figures in the United States. Affectionately known as "Uncle Walter", he covered many of the important news events of the era so effectively that his image and voice are closely associated with the Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the Watergate scandal. Enjoying the cult of personality surrounding Cronkite in those years, CBS allowed some good-natured fun-poking of its star anchorman in some episodes of the network's popular situation comedy, All in the Family, during which the lead character Archie Bunker would sometimes complain about the newsman, calling him "Pinko Cronkite."

Cronkite trained himself to speak at a rate of 124 words per minute in his newscasts, so that viewers could clearly understand him. In contrast, Americans average about 165 words per minute, and fast, difficult-to-understand talkers speak close to 200 words per minute. Currently, Walter Cronkite's voice can be heard announcing CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric at the beginning of the news broadcast, and at Retirement Living TV's Daily Cafe.

Historic moments as anchor

Kennedy assassination

Cronkite is vividly remembered by many Americans for breaking the news of the death of President Kennedy on Friday November 22, 1963. Cronkite had been standing at the United Press International wire machine in the CBS newsroom as the bulletin of the President's shooting broke and clamored to get on the air to break the news. However, cameras were not ready for use and Cronkite would be forced to break the news without them while one warmed up.

At 1:40 PM, A "CBS News Bulletin" bumper slide broke into the live broadcast of As the World Turns (ATWT). Over the slide Cronkite began reading:

"Here is a bulletin from CBS News. In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas. The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting."

A second bulletin arrived as Cronkite was reading the first one, which detailed the severity of President Kennedy's wounds:

"More details just arrived. These details about the same as previously...President Kennedy shot today just as his motorcade left downtown Dallas. Mrs. Kennedy jumped up and grabbed Mr. Kennedy, she called "Oh no!," the motorcade sped on. United Press [International] says that the wounds for President Kennedy perhaps could be fatal. Repeating, a bulletin from CBS News: President Kennedy has been shot by a would-be assassin in Dallas, Texas. Stay tuned to CBS News for further details."

Just before the bulletin cut out, a CBS News staffer was heard saying "Connally too," apparently having just heard the news that Texas Governor John Connally had also been shot while riding in the Presidential limousine with his wife Nellie and Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy.

CBS then rejoined the telecast of As the World Turns during the show's first commercial break. A commercial for Nescafe coffee and a sponsor bumper for the first half of the show that had just completed were then aired, followed by a bumper for the scheduled episode of Route 66 to air that night and a ten second station identification break for the CBS affiliates. Just as ATWT was set to return from break, with show announcer Dan McCullough set to announce the sponsor of the second half of the program, CBS again broke in and was once again forced to use the bulletin bumper slide as the news staff was still waiting for the camera to warm up. In this bulletin Cronkite reported in somewhat greater detail about the assassination attempt, while also breaking the news of Governor Connally's shooting.

"Here is a bulletin from CBS News. Further details on an assassination attempt against President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy was shot as he drove from Dallas Airport to downtown Dallas; Governor Connally of Texas, in the car with him, was also shot. It is reported that three bullets rang out. A Secret Service man has been...was heard to shout from the car, "He's dead." Whether he referred to President Kennedy or not is not yet known. The President, cradled in the arms of his wife Mrs. Kennedy, was carried to an ambulance and the car rushed to Parkland Hospital outside Dallas, the President was taken to an emergency room in the hospital. Other White House officials were in doubt in the corridors of the hospital as to the condition of President Kennedy. Repeating this bulletin: President Kennedy shot while driving in an open car from the airport in Dallas, Texas, to downtown Dallas."

Cronkite then recapped the events as they had happened: that the President and Governor Connally were shot and in the emergency room at Parkland Hospital and no one knew their condition as of yet. He then reminded the viewers that CBS News would continue to provide updates as more information came in.

CBS then decided to return to ATWT, which was now midway through its second segment. The cast had continued to perform live while Cronkite's bulletins broke into the broadcast, apparently unaware of the developing story taking place in Dallas. ATWT then took its second scheduled commercial break. It would be the last anyone would see of the show- or for any normal broadcast television- until Monday November 25.

As he had twice before, Cronkite broke in with an audio-only bulletin accompanied by the (at least for that day) ever-present CBS News Bulletin bumper slide:

"Here is a bulletin from CBS News...President Kennedy has been the victim of an assassin's bullet in Dallas, Texas. It is not known as yet whether the President survived the attack against him."

This particular bulletin went into even more detail than the other two, as for the first time Cronkite detailed where the shooting victims were wounded (Kennedy had been shot in the head, Connally in the chest). At the conclusion of the bulletin Cronkite told viewers to stay tuned for further details, perhaps implying that the network would be returning to regular programming. However, Cronkite remained on the air for the next ten minutes continuing to read bulletins as they were handed to him, followed by recapping the events as they were known and interspersing the new information he'd received where it was appropriate. He also brought up recent instances of assassination attempts against sitting Presidents (including the murder of Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in a botched assassination attempt on then-President-elect Franklin Roosevelt), as well as a recent attack of United Nations ambassador Adlai Stevenson in Dallas which resulted in extra security measures being taken for Kennedy's visit to the city. He also received word that Congressman Albert Thomas of Texas had been told that for the moment the President and Governor were still alive.

By 2:00 EST, Cronkite was informed that the camera was ready, and told the viewers over the air that CBS would be taking a station identification break so the affiliates could join the network. Within twenty seconds all the CBS affiliates (with the exception of KRLD in Dallas, who was covering the tragedy locally) joined the network's coverage of what was taking place. Cronkite appeared on-air in shirt and tie but without his suit coat, given the urgent nature of the story, and opened with this:

"This is Walter Cronkite in our newsroom in New York. There has been an attempt, as perhaps you know now, on the life of President Kennedy. He was wounded in an automobile driving from Dallas Airport into downtown Dallas, along with Governor Connally of Texas. They have been taken to Parkland Hospital there, where their condition is as yet unknown."

Cronkite then tried to throw to KRLD's coverage of the Dallas Trade Mart meeting that the President was supposed to address, but the camera was not ready. After a few seconds Cronkite started speaking again, but shortly after he had begun the broadcast abruptly cut into the aforementioned meeting where the station's news director Eddie Barker was reporting (a director was audibly heard saying "Okay, go ahead. Switch it" while Cronkite was talking). He said that the President was still alive (as Cronkite had been told by the report from Congressman Thomas earlier and directly by Congressman Jim Wright just moments before Barker's report was filed). About five minutes later Barker reported that rumors had begun to circulate that Kennedy was in fact dead.

Cronkite reappeared several minutes after Barker reported that Kennedy was rumored to have been killed, advising that two priests had been called to Kennedy's bedside although the reasons for which were not made clear. He also played an audio report by KRLD's Jim Underwood, recounting that someone had been arrested in the assassination attempt at the Texas School Book Depository. After said report, Cronkite was told that KRLD was reporting that that the President was dead and Barker was reporting that he had been told by a doctor at Parkland Hospital of the President's death. While the coverage continued at the Dallas Trade Mart meeting Barker said that the assassination was officially confirmed, but neither the Associated Press or United Press International had done so. He then retracted the statement, saying that it still had yet to officially be confirmed that the President was dead. Shortly thereafter CBS stopped showing KRLD's coverage and returned to their own coverage of the incident.

As he had been doing, Cronkite again reported the events as they were known. At 2:27 PM EST, word reached Cronkite of a report filed by Dallas bureau chief Dan Rather, which had stated that the President was dead but was unconfirmed. Rather's report had been originally given to CBS Radio, which relayed the report as if Kennedy actually was dead. There was some debate going on in the newsroom at the time whether or not to air said report. Cronkite delivered the news to the nation. Since Rather's report, as he had delivered it, only theorized that the President was dead and no word to that effect had come from any wire service (although Kennedy had died nearly thirty minutes before Rather's report was filed), Cronkite stressed that the report was not an official confirmation of the President's death and continued to report on the incident as if the President was still alive.

Further information: Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination

Cronkite later reported that the priest (Father Oscar Huber) called in to perform the Last Rites to the President did not believe that he was dead when he performed them, seeming to contradict what Barker and Rather had been reporting (and contrary to what Huber had told other reporters on the scene, as he had said Kennedy was dead when he entered the room to perform the Last Rites and had to pull back a sheet covering his body to perform them). Ten minutes later he received a report that the two priests who were with Kennedy were now saying that he was dead, declaring that it was as close to official as they could get. However, Cronkite continued to stress that there was no official confirmation of the death of Kennedy from the hospital (although his words seemed to indicate that this was the most likely outcome).

Cronkite then continued to report for the next several minutes while still waiting official word of the President's apparent death. While continuing to affirm that there was no official confirmation he reminded viewers that the priests, Rather, and several government sources were relaying word that in fact Kennedy was dead. At approximately 2:38 p.m. EST, Cronkite was remarking on the increased security presence in Dallas for the President's visit for fear of protests, bringing up the assault on Adlai Stevenson again. While Cronkite was speaking one of two news editors who had been standing by the newsroom's two wire machines pulled a bulletin from the Associated Press machine and began walking toward Cronkite's desk with it.

"Throughout the streets of Dallas, the Dallas Police have been augmented by some 400 policemen called in on their day off because there were some fears and concerns in Dallas that, uh...that there might be demonstrations, at least, that could embarrass the President. Because it was only on October 24 that our ambassador of the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, was assaulted in Dallas leaving a dinner meeting there..."

Just as he had said that, the editor handed Cronkite the bulletin. Cronkite stopped speaking, put on his eyeglasses, looked over the bulletin sheet for a moment, took off his glasses, and made the official announcement:

From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official: (reading AP flash) "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 to where he has proceeded. Presumably, he will be taking the oath of office shortly and become the 36th president of the United States."

With emotion still in his voice, Cronkite then proceeded as he had before in recapping the events after collecting himself, this time incorporating wire photos of Kennedy's visit to Dallas that had been taken during the day and telling viewers what the pictures signified. After that Cronkite reminded the viewers one final time that it had now been confirmed that the President was dead, that Vice President Johnson was now the President and was to be sworn in (although he would not be for another hour), that Governor Connally's condition was still unknown but many reports said that he was still alive, and that there was no report if the assassin had been captured (despite the reports of arrests earlier at the Texas School Book Depository). He then tossed coverage of the events to colleague Charles Collingwood and left the newsroom, but would return several hours later to anchor The CBS Evening News as scheduled.

Footage from this historic broadcast was featured in the opening scenes of Oliver Stone's film JFK.

Two days later, at 2:33 PM EST on November 24, Cronkite broke into CBS' coverage of the memorial services in Washington to relay news regarding a situation that Harry Reasoner, his colleague, had earlier broken into the funeral coverage to report:

From our CBS newsroom in New York, a bulletin: Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who Dallas police say killed President Kennedy, himself is dead. He was cut down by a single bullet an hour and fifteen minutes before he died in Parkland Hospital in a room just ten feet from that room where President Kennedy died. He was being taken from the Dallas City Jail to to the Dallas County Jail but in the basement of the Dallas City Jail, before he left that building, he was shot. The man Dallas police seized at the scene and are holding has been identified as Jack Rubenstein, known in Dallas as Jack Ruby, a man who years ago moved to Dallas from Chicago and was operating two nightclubs, and well-known nightclubs, in Dallas. He is fifty-two years old, balding, with black hair. He is being held by the Dallas police, who say they will charge him with the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald

Referring to his coverage of Kennedy's assassination, in a 2006 TV interview with Nick Clooney, Cronkite recalled:

"I choked up, I really had a little trouble...my eyes got a little wet...[what Kennedy had represented] was just all lost to us. Fortunately, I grabbed hold before I was actually [crying]."

In a 2003 CBS special commemorating the 40th anniversary of the assassination, Cronkite said that he was standing at the United Press wire machine when the bulletin broke and was clamoring to get on the air as fast as was possible. Recalling his reaction upon having the death confirmed to him, he said:

And when you finally had to say it's official, the President is dead...pretty tough words in a situation like that. And they were, um, hard to come by.

Vietnam War

Cronkite reported on location during the Vietnam War.

Following Cronkite's editorial report during the Tet Offensive that the Vietnam War was unwinnable, President Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."

During the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Cronkite was anchoring the CBS network coverage as violence and protests occurred outside the convention, as well as scuffles inside the convention hall. When Dan Rather was punched to the floor (on camera) by security personnel, Cronkite commented, "I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan."

Other historic events

General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower returned to his former Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) headquarters for an interview by Cronkite on the CBS News Special Report D-Day + 20, telecast on June 6, 1964.

Cronkite is also remembered for his coverage of the United States space program, and at times was visibly enthusiastic, rubbing his hands together on camera with a smile on July 20, 1969, when the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing mission put the first men on the Moon. Cronkite criticized himself for being at a loss for journalistic words at that moment.

According to the 2006 PBS documentary on Cronkite, there was "nothing new" in his reports on the Watergate affair; however, Cronkite brought together a wide range of reporting, and his credibility and status is credited by many with pushing the Watergate story to the forefront with the American public, ultimately resulting in the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on August 9, 1974. Cronkite had anchored the CBS coverage of Nixon's address, announcing his impending resignation, the night before.

Cronkite also was one of the first to receive word of President Lyndon B. Johnson's death, receiving the information during the January 22, 1973, broadcast of the CBS Evening News. While a videotaped report by Peter Kalischer about the apparently successful Vietnam war peace talks was being shown to the nation, Johnson's press secretary Tom Johnson (no relative of Lyndon Johnson) telephoned Cronkite to inform him of Johnson's death. CBS cut abruptly from the report at 6:38 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to Cronkite, who was still speaking to Johnson on the phone. After holding up a finger to pause and let Johnson finish, he broke the news to the nation that the former President had died, then continued to speak with Johnson (who was not patched through to the air) for a few more seconds to gather whatever remaining details he could, then hung up the phone and relayed those details to the audience. During the final ten minutes of that broadcast, Cronkite reported on the death, giving a retrospective on the life of nation's 36th president, and announced that CBS would air a special on Lyndon Johnson later that evening. This story was re-told on a 2007 CBS-TV special honoring Cronkite's 90th birthday. Tom Johnson later became president of CNN.

NBC-TV's Garrick Utley, anchoring NBC Nightly News that evening, also interrupted his newscast in order to break the story, doing so about three minutes after Cronkite on CBS. ABC, however, did not cover the story at all, since, at the time, that network fed its evening newscast to local stations at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, even though many affiliates tape-delayed the broadcast to air at 6:30 or 7:00 p.m..

Other TV appearances

Cronkite made a cameo appearance on the Mary Tyler Moore show, in which he met with Lou Grant in his office. Ted Baxter, who at first tried to convince Cronkite that he (Baxter) was as good a newsman as Eric Sevareid, pleaded with Cronkite to hire him for the network news, at least to give sport scores, and gave an example: "The North Stars 3, the Kings Oh!" Cronkite, about to go out through the newsroom doors with Baxter, turned to Lou and said, "I'm gonna get you for this!" Cronkite later said that he had been disappointed that his scene was filmed in one take, since he had hoped to sit down and chat with the cast.

In the late 80's and again in the 90's Cronkite appeared in the news-oriented situation comedy, Murphy Brown as himself. Both episodes written by the prolific Emmy-award winning team of Tom Seeley and Norm Gunzenhauser.

Movie appearances

Cronkite appeared briefly in the 2005 dramatic documentary The American Ruling Class written by Lewis Lapham, Thirteen Days, reporting on the Cuban missile crisis and provided the opening synopsis of the American Space Program leading to the events in Apollo 13 for the Ron Howard film of the same name.

He also was the voice of Captain NewEyes, the twin brother of Prof. ScrewEyes, in 1993's We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story.

Personal life

Cronkite was married for nearly sixty-five years to Betsy Maxwell Cronkite, whom he married on March 30, 1940. They remained together until her death on March 16, 2005. They have three children: Nancy Cronkite, Kathy Cronkite, and Walter (Chip) Cronkite III (who is married to actress Deborah Rush). Cronkite also had four grandchildren, two of whom, Peter Cronkite and Walter Cronkite IV, are alumni of St. Bernard's School. Peter Cronkite is currently attending Horace Mann School. Walter attends Hamilton College, having graduated from The Horace Mann School.

In late 2005 Cronkite began dating opera singer Joanna Simon, Carly Simon's older sister. Of their relationship Cronkite stated in an interview for the New York Post in January 2006: "We are keeping company, as the old phrase used to be."

Retirement

Cronkite announced that he intended to retire from the CBS Evening News on February 14, 1980; at the time, CBS had a policy in place that called for mandatory retirement by age 65. Although sometimes compared to a father figure or an uncle figure, in an interview about his retirement he described himself as being more like a "comfortable old shoe" to his audience. By this, he meant that they could "comfortably put their foot in him like a slipper." His last day in the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News was on March 6, 1981; he was succeeded the following Monday by Dan Rather.

Cronkite's farewell statement:

This is my last broadcast as the anchorman of The CBS Evening News; for me, it's a moment for which I long have planned, but which, nevertheless, comes with some sadness. For almost two decades, after all, we've been meeting like this in the evenings, and I'll miss that. But those who have made anything of this departure, I'm afraid have made too much. This is but a transition, a passing of the baton. A great broadcaster and gentleman, Doug Edwards, preceded me in this job, and another, Dan Rather, will follow. And anyway, the person who sits here is but the most conspicuous member of a superb team of journalists; writers, reporters, editors, producers, and none of that will change. Furthermore, I'm not even going away! I'll be back from time to time with special news reports and documentaries, and, beginning in June, every week, with our science program, Universe. Old anchormen, you see, don't fade away; they just keep coming back for more. And that's the way it is: Friday, March 6, 1981. I'll be away on assignment, and Dan Rather will be sitting in here for the next few years. Good night.

Cronkite School at ASU

A few years after Cronkite retired, Tom Chauncey, the longtime owner of the CBS affiliate in Phoenix, contacted Cronkite, an old friend, and asked him if he would be willing to have the journalism school at Arizona State University named after him. Cronkite immediately agreed. Attaching the name of the nation’s most prominent and respected journalist to ASU’s program gave the school an immediate boost and national recognition.

But that was just the beginning. Cronkite became intimately involved with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication , advising the school's leadership, meeting with students and faculty, and traveling to Arizona each year to personally give the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism to a media leader.

“The values that Mr. Cronkite embodies – excellence, integrity, accuracy, fairness, objectivity – we try to instill in our students each and every day,” says Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan. “There is no better role model for our faculty or our students.”

The school, with approximately 1,200 majors, is widely regarded as one of the top journalism schools in the country. It is housed in a new facility in downtown Phoenix that is equipped with 14 digital newsrooms and computer labs, two TV studios, 280 digital student work stations, the Cronkite Theater, the First Amendment Forum and new technology. The school's students regularly finish at the top of national collegiate journalism competitions, such as the Hearst Journalism Awards program and the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards. In 2009, students won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for college print reporting.

The Cronkite Award

Every fall, a leading figure in journalism is presented with the prestigious Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. The recipient list reads like a Who’s Who of the media world: Tom Brokaw, Ted Turner, Bob Woodward, Bill Moyers, Katharine Graham, Allen Neuharth, Don Hewitt, Helen Thomas, George Will, Ben Bradlee, Bernard Shaw and Roone Arledge, just to name a few.

Cronkite presented the first award in 1984 to two CBS legends who played influential roles in his extraordinary career: William Paley, founder of CBS, and Frank Stanton, longtime CBS president. Cronkite and the Cronkite Endowment Board of Trustees select the recipients.

The award is presented each year at an annual luncheon hosted by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The Cronkite Luncheon has become one of the biggest and most anticipated events in the Phoenix metropolitan area each year, with about 1,000 leaders from the worlds of media, politics, business and education joining Cronkite School students and faculty.

Activities from 1981–2009

Cronkite meets with President Ronald Reagan at the White House, 1981

As he had promised on his last show as anchor in 1981, he continued to broadcast occasionally as a special correspondent for CBS, CNN, and NPR into the 21st century; one such occasion was Cronkite anchoring the second space flight by John Glenn in 1998 as he had Glenn's first in 1962.

In 1983, he reported on the British General Election for the ITV current affairs series World In Action, interviewing, among many others, the victorious Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

A school of journalism was named after him in 1984 — Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, which is part of Arizona State University. In 2008, The state-of-the-art journalism education complex in the heart of Downtown Campus was also built in his honor.

Cronkite narrated the IMAX film about the Space Shuttle, The Dream is Alive, released in 1985. From May 26, 1986 to August 15, 1994, he was the narrator's voice in the EPCOT Center attraction, Spaceship Earth, at Walt Disney World.

Cronkite was also considered to be a finalist for NASA's "Journalist in Space" program, which mirrored the Teacher in Space Project, an opportunity that was suspended after the Challenger Disaster in 1986.

He provided the pivotal voice of Captain Neweyes in the 1993 animated film We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story. He even got to say his trademark line at the end.

In 1995, he made an appearance on Broadway, though not in the usual fashion — he provided the voice of the titular book in the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

He recorded voice-overs for the 1995 film Apollo 13, modifying the script he was given to make it more "Cronkitian".

In 1998, Cronkite hosted the 90-minute documentary, SILICON VALLEY: A 100 Year Renaissance, produced by the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association. The film documented Silicon Valley's rise from the origin of Stanford University to the current high-technology powerhouse. The documentary was broadcast on PBS throughout the United States and in 26 countries.

Cronkite was a vocal advocate for free airtime for political candidates. He worked with the Alliance for Better Campaigns and Common Cause, for instance, on an unsuccessful lobbying effort to have an amendment added to the McCain-Feingold-Shays-Meehan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2001 that would have required TV broadcast companies to provide free airtime to candidates. Cronkite criticized the present system of campaign finance which allows elections to "be purchased" by special interests, and he noted that all the European democracies "provide their candidates with extensive free airtime." "In fact", Cronkite pointed out, "of all the major nations worldwide that profess to have democracies, only seven — just seven — do not offer free airtime", putting the United States on a list with Ecuador, Honduras, Malaysia, Taiwan, Tanzania, and Trinidad and Tobago. Cronkite concludes that "The failure to give free airtime for our political campaigns endangers our democracy." In the 2000 election year, the amount spent by candidates in the major TV markets approached $1 billion. "What our campaign asks is that the television industry yield just a tiny percentage of that windfall, less than 1 percent, to fund free airtime."

In 2002, He was the voice of Benjamin Franklin in all 40 episodes of the educational television cartoon Liberty's Kids, which included a news segment ending with "And that's the way it is on...(a historic date)"

He holds amateur radio operator license KB2GSD and narrated a 2003 American Radio Relay League documentary explaining amateur radio's role in disaster relief.

Prior to 2004, he could also be seen in the opening movie 'Back to Neverland' shown in the Walt Disney World attraction, The Magic of Disney Animation, interviewing Robin Williams as if he is still on the CBS News channel, ending his on-camera time with his famous catchphrase. In the featurette, Cronkite describes the steps taken in the creation of an animated film, while Robin Williams becomes an animated character (and even becomes Walter Cronkite, impersonating his voice). He also was shown inviting Disney guests and tourists to the Disney Classics Theater.

On February 15, 2005, he went into the studio at CBS to record narration for WCC Chatham Radio, a documentary about Guglielmo Marconi and his Chatham station, which became the busiest ship-to-shore wireless station in North America from 1914 to 1994. The documentary was directed by Christopher Seufert of Mooncusser Films and premiered at the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center in April 2005.

Cronkite was the chairman of The Interfaith Alliance. In 2006 he presented the Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award to actor and activist George Clooney on behalf of The Interfaith Alliance at its annual dinner in New York.

On March 1, 2006, Cronkite became the first non-astronaut to receive NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award.

Cronkite wrote a syndicated opinion column for King Features Syndicate.

He recorded the narrations for the University of Texas's We're Texas ad campaign.

For years, Cronkite hosted the annual Vienna New Year's Concert on PBS. For many years, until 2005, he was also the host of the annual Kennedy Center Honors.

In 2005 and 2006, he contributed to The Huffington Post.

He was a member of the Constitution Project's bipartisan Liberty and Security Committee. Cronkite was a supporter of the War on Drugs, Drug Policy Alliance and the nonprofit world hunger organization Heifer International. His distinctive voice provides narration for the television ads of the University of Texas at Austin, his alma mater. Cronkite is also an avid sailor and a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, with the honorary rank of commodore. In May 2009, LEGACY OF WAR, produced by PBS, was released. Cronkite powerfully, and, at times, emotionally, chronicles with archive footage, the events following World War Two that resulted in America's rise as the dominant world power.

"Uncle Walter" recently hosted a number of TV specials and been featured in interviews about the times and events that occurred during his career as America's "most trusted" man. In July 2006, the 90-minute documentary "Walter Cronkite: Witness to History" aired on PBS. The special was narrated by Katie Couric, who assumed the CBS Evening News anchor chair in September 2006. Cronkite provides the voiceover introduction to Couric's CBS Evening News, which began on September 5, 2006.

Death

Walter Cronkite died at his home in New York City, New York, at the age of 92 on July 17, 2009 of complications from cerebrovascular disease. CBS news interrupted prime time programming to show an obituary.

The Walter Cronkite Papers

The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin is home to the personal papers of Walter Cronkite, one of the twentieth century's most eminent pioneers and leaders in television broadcast news. The Walter Cronkite Papers, consisting of 293 linear feet, cover the noted CBS newsman's more than five-decades-long career as one of the nation's most respected journalists. Materials begin with Cronkite's early life in Houston and his student days at The University of Texas at Austin and include his work as a correspondent for the United Press International covering World War II and the Nuremberg war crimes trial. The majority of the papers, however, deal with his career with CBS News from 1950 through his retirement in 1981 as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.

The Cronkite Papers include research files, audio and video recordings and clippings on news events of the 1960s and 1970s, with a special emphasis on space exploration and politics; presidential nominating conventions; mail from viewers, representing opinions about current events from the 1950s to 1980s; personal correspondence with well-known figures, many in the news business; television and radio production materials from CBS news series Cronkite reported such as You are There, Twentieth Century, Eyewitness to History, and CBS Reports; and Cronkite’s appearances, narrations, and speeches, business interests, awards, and personal life, especially his boats, travel, and organizations with which Cronkite was associated. Other materials include scripts and outlines, memos, and source materials for documentary productions by the Cronkite Ward Company and Cronkite Productions, Inc. The Cronkite Papers also include a number of photographs that document Cronkite's early life and his reportage from World War II and Vietnam, as well as his interviews with U.S. presidents from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan.

The relationship between Walter Cronkite and the Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin was forged in 1988, when the legendary CBS newsman, a University student in the 1930s, returned as an honors seminar guest lecturer for the College of Communication. During Cronkite’s visit, Dr. Don Carleton, executive director of the Briscoe Center, invited him to donate his papers to the University's archives. The Cronkite collection has become the bedrock of the News Media History archives at the Center, considered one of the most important archives in existence covering the history of television journalism.

In 1990, nine years after retiring from broadcast journalism, Cronkite turned to Carleton for assistance in recording his memoirs. Over the next three years, Carleton interviewed Cronkite extensively, resulting in an in-depth oral history of several hundred pages. Cronkite relied on the oral history to write his autobiography, A Reporter's Life, which was published in 1996. The taped memoirs, now part of the Walter Cronkite Papers, was equally important to the creation of the eight-part television series Cronkite Remembers, broadcast on The Discovery Channel. For that project, the Center and Cronkite entered into another collaboration, with Carleton serving as the historical advisor to the series.

As a newsman, one of Cronkite's proudest achievements was that of anchoring CBS News coverage of the space program, from the early days of the Mercury program and continuing through the Gemini and the Apollo eras. Indeed, he reported on every major event in the "space race" between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cronkite's reporting on space exploration brought him and the Center together again on February 28, 2006, when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recognized Cronkite's singular journalistic achievements in this arena. Michael Coats, director of NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, presented Cronkite with the Ambassador of Exploration Award, making him the first non-astronaut ever so honored.

The moon rock NASA gave to Cronkite was taken from the 842 pounds of lunar samples brought back to Earth during six Apollo expeditions to the moon between 1969 and 1972. Cronkite in turn presented the moon rock to University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers, who accepted it on behalf of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Speaking at the event, Dr. Carleton said, "We are deeply honored by Walter Cronkite’s decision to entrust this prestigious award to the Center for American History." He added, "The Center already serves as the proud steward of his professional and personal papers, which include his coverage of the space program for CBS News. It is especially fitting that the archive documenting Walter's distinguished career should also include one of the Moon rocks that the heroic astronauts of the Apollo program brought to Earth."

Outspoken commentary

Cronkite spoke his mind on several topics since his retirement:

• On May 21, 1999, Walter Cronkite participated in a panel discussion on Integrity in the Media with Ben Bradlee and Mike McCurry at the Connecticut Forum in Hartford, CT. Cronkite provided a particularly funny anecdote about taking a picture from a house in Houston, TX where a newsworthy event occurred and being praised for getting a unique photograph, only to find out later that the city desk had provided him with the wrong address.
• On October 29, 2004, Walter Cronkite appeared on CNN's Larry King Live television program, just four days before the 2004 presidential election.
• In 2003, Cronkite, who owned property on Martha's Vineyard, became involved in a long-running debate over his opposition to the construction of a wind farm in that area.
• In his column, he repeatedly condemned President George W. Bush and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 1998, he supported President Bill Clinton during the impeachment trial. He was also a proponent of limited world government on the American federalist model, writing fund-raising letters for the World Federalist Association (now Citizens for Global Solutions). In accepting the 1999 Norman Cousins Global Governance Award at the ceremony at the United Nations, Cronkite said:

"It seems to many of us that if we are to avoid the eventual catastrophic world conflict we must strengthen the United Nations as a first step toward a world government patterned after our own government with a legislature, executive and judiciary, and police to enforce its international laws and keep the peace. To do that, of course, we Americans will have to yield up some of our sovereignty. That would be a bitter pill. It would take a lot of courage, a lot of faith in the new order. But the American colonies did it once and brought forth one of the most nearly perfect unions the world has ever seen."

Cronkite contrasted his support for accountable global government with the opposition to it by politically active Christian fundamentalists in the United States:

"Even as with the American rejection of the League of Nations, our failure to live up to our obligations to the United Nations is led by a handful of willful senators who choose to pursue their narrow, selfish political objectives at the cost of our nation’s conscience.They pander to and are supported by the Christian Coalition and the rest of the religious right wing. Their leader, Pat Robertson, has written that we should have a world government but only when the messiah arrives. Any attempt to achieve world order before that time must be the work of the Devil! Well join me… I'm glad to sit here at the right hand of Satan."

• Cronkite appeared in the 2004 Robert Greenwald film Outfoxed, where he offered commentary on what he said were unethical and overtly political practices at the Fox News Channel. Cronkite remarked that when Fox News was founded by Rupert Murdoch, "it was intended to be a conservative organization — beyond that; a far-right-wing organization".
• In January 2006, during a press conference to promote the PBS documentary about his career, Cronkite said that he felt the same way about America's presence in Iraq as he had about their presence in Vietnam in 1968 and that he felt America should recall its troops.

Further reading

• Autobiography: A Reporter's Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996, ISBN 0-394-57879-1

External links

• Walter Cronkite Honored by NASA with a Moon Rock as an Ambassador of Exploration
• Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University
• Cronkite's personal blog
• Walter Cronkite at IMDb
• Web ZIne from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University
• Signature of Walter Cronkite
• Walter Cronkite, Iconic Anchor, Is Dead, The New York Times, July 17, 2009

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