In Memory of Walter Cronkite

I grew up with him and viewed him as a TV God... everything that happened in my life on the large scale he chronicled... we so much trusted that guy to be the WORD, he was a friend of mine...

Walter Cronkite, an iconic CBS News journalist who defined the role of anchorman for a generation of television viewers, died Friday, July 17, 2009 at the age of 92.

Mr. Cronkite anchored the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981, at a time when television became the dominant medium of the United States. He figuratively held the hand of the American public during the civil rights movement, the space race, the Vietnam war, and the impeachment of Richard Nixon. During his tenure, network newscasts were expanded to 30 minutes from 15.

It is impossible to imagine CBS News, journalism or indeed America without Walter Cronkite, Sean McManus, the president of CBS News, said in a statement. "More than just the best and most trusted anchor in history, he guided America through our crises, tragedies and also our victories and greatest moments."

Mr. McManus added: "No matter what the news event was, Walter was always the consummate professional with an un-paralleled sense of compassion, integrity, humanity, warmth, and occasionally even humor. There will never be another figure in American history who will hold the position Walter held in our minds, our hearts and on the television. We were blessed to have this man in our lives and words cannot describe how much he will be missed by those of us at CBS News and by all of America."

Mike Wallace, the 60 Minutes correspondent emeritus, said simply in a statement, "We were proud to work with him — for him — we loved him."

Reassurance was Mr. Cronkites stock in trade, the ability to convince viewers that when he was on the air all would turn out well.

In a review of Mr. Cronkite's autobiography in 1997, the former New York Times columnist Tom Wicker wrote:

" When John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas in 1963, Walter Cronkite stayed on the air for the Columbia Broadcasting System for countless hours. His performance that weekend helped pull together a nation stricken with grief and was a signal event in televisions evolution into the national nervous system. When Mr. Cronkite came back from Vietnam after the Tet offensive of 1968, he concluded on national television that the war had become no better than a stalemate. Hearing that, President Lyndon Johnson told associates, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America." And he had. When Mr. Cronkite asked Robert Kennedy, then a senator from New York, whether he would run for President in 1968, Kennedy turned the tables: he proposed that Mr. Cronkite should run for the Senate. Mr. Cronkite refused, but the idea reflected polls showing that a journalist — a television journalist at that — had become the most trusted man in America."

For his exhaustive and enthusiastic coverage of NASA, Mr. Cronkite was sometimes called the eighth astronaut. During the first moon landing in 1969, Mr. Cronkite was on the air for 27 of the 30 hours that Apollo 11 took to complete its mission.

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[snoops71]

I first remember watching him as a little girl in the '70s. In my family, you couldn't even be late turning over to the CBS Evening News. It was a daily ritual, whether Walter Cronkite was there, or on vacation. Those were precious days:)

[SITKASAILS]

All, thanks for comments, we that are of a certain age group grew up with Walter and miss him as if he were a part of our families, which indeed he was every night on CBS... you are greatly missed Walt!

[TungstenPi]

I hadn't seen or heard Walter for years, but like a Childhood friend you hear has passed on you will miss them forever.

Yes Mr. Cronkite was the voice that brought us through the Assassination of JFK and then MLK, Vietnam, Watergate and the Cold war.

The world was in turmoil, our heart had been broken so many times it sounded like a bag of broken glass.

Every night, We had a voice that let us know it was going to be all right.

Yes Walter Cronkite is that Man, now and Forever Gods Anchorman.

[DorvellTStewart]

"and that's the way it is!"

R.I.P Walter Kronkite! Sad that I wasn't around to watch you deliver the news!

:(

[roopr]

He filled my earliest memories from the Apollo 11 landings to 9/11. You will be sorely missed Walter, your honesty and integrity will likely never be matched yet should always be strived for. Rest in peace and God Bless.

[rufflesworld]

Rest in Peace, Uncle Walt!

the "news" will never be the same.