I’m sorry if it seems that, in the last few months, the Pop Culture blog has become more of the Dead Celebrity blog, but we have lost so many great personalities. Today, we lost another as Walter Cronkite died at the age of 92.
It sometimes seems as if there wasn’t a new story from the twentieth century that Cronkite didn’t cover. World War II? Check. Nuremberg Trials? Check. First man on the moon? Check. Assassination of President John F. Kennedy? Check. Watergate? Check. Not only was Cronkite there for the pivotal times of our last century, he covered each story with class and dignity.
Cronkite began his career as a sports announcer at KCMO in Kansas City, Missouri before joined United Press to cover World War II in 1937. He joined CBS in 1950 and by 1952 was the first to cover both the Democratic and Republican conventions for television. He hosted the historical program “You Are There,” the documentary series “The Twentieth Century,” and the game show “It’s News to Me.”
But, Cronkite will probably best be remembered as the reliable anchor of “CBS Evening News.” Cronkite brought the Vietnam War into our living rooms and even caused President Lyndon Johnson to say, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America” when Cronkite deemed the war unwinnable after the Tet Offensive. Not one to just report the news, Cronkite was also not afraid to give us his opinion of the news.
By 1973, Americans were so enamored of Cronkite that they named him “The Most Trusted Man in America.” For many Americas, Cronkite was the news. Over his career, he won the Governor’s Award Emmy, the Career Achievement Emmy, a Peabody Award, the Freedom of Press Award, and was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter.
Cronkite filmed his last “CBS Evening News” in 1981, being succeeded by Dan Rather. After he stepped down, Cronkite admitted that he regretted the decision to retire within 24 hours and never got over that regret.
It’s really hard to sum up a career like Walter Cronkite’s. When Michael Jackson died, many doubted whether there would ever be another international superstar as great as he was. I also question whether there will be a news anchor as loved and respected as Cronkite.
(This photograph is a work for hire created between 1952 and 1986 by one of the staff photographers at U.S. News & World Report. It is part of a collection donated to the Library of Congress. Per the deed of gift, U.S. News & World Report dedicated to the public all rights it held for the photographs in this collection upon its donation to the Library. Thus, there are no known restrictions on the usage of this photograph.)
