Walter Cronkite was a famous American journalist known for his coverage of significant events such as the death of President Kennedy and the Watergate scandal. He was once labeled “America’s Most Trusted Man” due to his comprehensive coverage and association with defining events of the 20th century. Cronkite began his career in journalism after dropping out of college and worked for several newspapers before joining CBS in 1950. He became the host of the CBS Evening News in 1962 and retired in 1980 due to the network’s mandatory retirement policy. He continued to be active in journalism and received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Walter Cronkite is probably one of the most recognizable names in broadcast journalism of the past. His coverage of various events such as the death of President Kennedy, the Watergate scandal, the first Moonwalk in the United States and his commentary during the Apollo 13 mission which almost ended in disaster are iconic in American television. He was once labeled “America’s Most Trusted Man,” due to his upright position, his comprehensive coverage, and because he was associated with reporting many of the defining events of the second half of the 20th century in his capacity as a special reporter and anchor for the CBS Nightly News.
Cronkite is Missouri by birth, the son of Dr. Leland Walter Cronkite. He was born in 1916 and lived in Missouri until the age of ten, when the family then moved to Houston, Texas. In Texas, he attended middle and high school and then briefly attended the University of Texas, Austin. Walter Cronkite dropped out of college before graduating, driven by a desire to pursue a career in journalism.
After working for several newspapers, Cronkite landed his first “broadcast” position on Oklahoma City radio station WKY. In 1936 he was working in Kansas City, Missouri at KCMO, where he met his future wife, Mary Elizabeth Maxwell. The couple would marry in 1940 and their marriage, unlike so many other celebrity marriages today, lasted just under 65 years, until Mary’s death in 2005.
In 1937, Walter Cronkite became a reporter for the United Press and began covering World War II efforts there. This bold coverage brought him considerable attention, and in 1950 he was tapped by Edward R. Murrow to join the fledgling CBS television network. The term broadcaster was first used to describe Cronkite’s coverage of the first television conventions of Democrats and Republicans in 1952. In 1953, Cronkite hosted the popular historical news-based show You Are There which ran until 1957, and was revived and performed again for teenagers in the 1970s.
Cronkite earned the position of chief again in 1962, in some ways a career defining position when he became host of the CBS Evening News. In the early stages of this effort, CBS was soundly beaten in ratings by NBC news. CBS began a slow climb to the top, eventually consistently surpassing the NBC program in ratings in 1970.
As a broadcaster, Walter Cronkite is not only remembered for covering some of the most important events in US history, including inserting his occasional opinion on the lack of viability of war in Vietnam, but he also had a distinct voice to which many could relate. He has specifically trained himself to speak at a slower pace, around 120 words per minute. Other reporters tended to speak at 150-160 wpm.
Cronkite was forced to retire by CBS in 1980, as the network had a mandatory “retire at 65” policy at the time. He has continued to be active in the world of journalism, contributing to charities and expressing his opinion on American politics, including most recently his feelings about the failure of the American / Iraq war, which he compares to Vietnam. He still makes personal appearances, does voice-over and storytelling work and remains an important voice in America. In addition, Walter Cronkite has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He showed his ability to change with the times by writing for the Huffington Post. He is often known to Americans for his approving statement to the CBS Evening News: “And that’s just the way it is.”
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