Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr, 1917 - 2009
At Naitonal Air and Space Museum (2004)
Born: 4 November 1916, St. Joseph, Missouri
Died: 17 July 2009, New York City
While in high school at Houston, Texas he was a cub reporter at the Houston Post, and had a paper route, possibly the only journalist to deliver his own words to subscribers. While attending the 1933 Chicago World's Fair he participated in a demonstration of television, thus allowing him to tell other journalists that he had been on TV before any of them. He left college for a job at the Houston Press, then worked at several midwest radio stations (he met his wife Betty at KCMO at Kansas City, Missouri in 1940) before joining United Press to cover World War II. He waded ashore on D-Day, parachuted into combat, and flew bomber missions. He was UP's lead correspondent for the Nürnberg trials, then reopened several European offices before opening and managing the Moscow office. Edward R. Murrow hired him at CBS in 1950. When he led the CBS team at the 1952 party conventions he was called the anchor, a term that is now almost universal in TV news. (In Sweden they are called "Kronkiters", in Holland "Cronkites".) In April of 1962 Cronkite became the anchor of the CBS Evening News, although he insisted on Managing Editor as his title, a position he held until 1981. When he returned from Vietnam after the Tet offensive of 1968 and described the war as a stalemate, President Johnson decided not to run for reelection. When the US sent men into space, Cronkite kept us up to date and kept America interested. Instead of hearing "Uncle Walter's" baritone delivery of the news, now I get my news delivered by e-mail. "And that's the way it is."
Biography from Wikipedia and New York Times obituary
Walter Cronkite quotes:
Quotes found : 39 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 3) 1 2 3 Next
Click here to find books by Walter Cronkite at Amazon.com
- America's health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system. permalink
Walter Cronkite - And that's the way it is. permalink
Walter Cronkite - Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day — 23 minutes — and that's supposed to be enough. permalink
Walter Cronkite - For how many thousands of years now have we humans been what we insist on calling "civilized?" And yet, in total contradiction, we also persist in the savage belief that we must occasionally, at least, settle our arguments by killing one another. permalink
Walter Cronkite - address at United Nations (19 October 1999) - For many years, I did my best to report on the issues of the day in as objective a manner as possible. When I had my own strong opinions, as I often did, I tried not to communicate them to my audience. permalink
Walter Cronkite - address at United Nations (19 October 1999) - I am a news presenter, a news broadcaster, an anchorman, a managing editor - not a commentator or analyst. I feel no compulsion to be a pundit. permalink
Walter Cronkite - I am dumbfounded that there hasn't been a crackdown with the libel and slander laws on some of these would-be writers and reporters on the Internet. permalink
Walter Cronkite - I am in a position to speak my mind. And that is what I propose to do. permalink
Walter Cronkite - address at United Nations (19 October 1999) - I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got. permalink
Walter Cronkite - I grew my mustache when I was nineteen in order to look older. I never shaved it off even though it overran its usefulness many, many years ago. Once you get started in television, people associate you with your physical appearance - and that includes the mustache. So I can't shave it off now. If I did, I'd have to answer too much mail. permalink
Walter Cronkite - I regret that, in our attempt to establish some standards, we didn't make them stick. We couldn't find a way to pass them on to another generation, really. permalink
Walter Cronkite - Newseum interview (1996) - I think it is absolutely essential in a democracy to have competition in the media, a lot of competition, and we seem to be moving away from that. permalink
Walter Cronkite - I think somebody ought to do a survey as to how many great, important men have quit to spend time with their families who spent any more time with their family. permalink
Walter Cronkite - I want to say that probably 24 hours after I told CBS that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday, I was already regretting it. And I regretted it every day since. permalink
Walter Cronkite - I've gone from the most trusted man in America to one of the most debated. permalink
Walter Cronkite
Quotes found : 39 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 3) 1 2 3 Next
Please report any problems on this page! If you see any typos, incorrect attributions, deformed characters, or any other problem with this page, we want to fix it as soon
as possible. Please click here to report errors.
Note: Do not use titles in author searches, we don't use them, including president, senator, prime minister, king, queen, saint, pope, or doctor, or abbreviations thereof. See explanation here.
