Cronkite, Walter (1916–)

Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. spent nearly 19 years as anchor of CBS Evening News and became known as “the most trusted man in America.” Over the years, he won numerous journalism awards.

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Cronkite grew up in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Texas in Austin, though he did not graduate. After working for several small newspapers and radio stations, he joined United Press in 1937. For them he reported on World War II in Europe and North Africa, covered the Nuremberg Trials, and spent 2 years reporting in Moscow.

In 1950, Cronkite joined CBS News after being recruited by Edward R. Murrow. Two years later, Cronkite reported for CBS at the Democratic and Republican presidential conventions where the term anchorman was first used for news presenters. CBS coined the term by drawing on a sports metaphor with Cronkite handling the anchor leg of the relay race. From 1953 to 1957, Cronkite hosted CBS's You Are There, a news program that included reenactments of historical events. He also briefly co-hosted the CBS Morning Show with a puppet.

On April 16, 1962, Cronkite began his tenure as the CBS Evening News anchor. The following year the broadcast expanded from its 15 minutes format to become the first half-hour evening news program. From 1967 until he left the anchor chair in 1981, Cronkite would dominate his competition in the ratings. Cronkite's famous closing line for the show was “and that's the way it is.”

After being handed a piece of paper while on the air, Cronkite became the first to report that President John F. Kennedy had died. During the Apollo 11 moon landing, Cronkite remained on the air for 27 of the 30 hours. As the spacecraft landed on the moon he shouted on the air, “Wow!” Cronkite considers the event the most important one he witnessed.

After a trip to Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, Cronkite stated that the war was a stalemate. This led to President Lyndon Johnson's response, “If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America.” Johnson dropped his bid for reelection shortly thereafter. Cronkite's broadcasts have been used in historical movies, such as Apollo 13 and JFK.

Following his retirement as CBS Evening News anchor on March 6, 1981, Cronkite continued to offer reports for CBS, CNN, NPR, and PBS. Among his other projects, Cronkite has voiced kids' television shows and movie characters, provided the voice for a character in a Broadway play, narrated advertisements for the University of Texas, and provided the voice-over for a Disney World ride.

More recently, Cronkite has spoken out against the 2003 invasion in Iraq, appeared in the documentary Outfoxed, and penned a blog at The Huffington Post. The Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication is located at Arizona State Unviersity. In Sweden and Holland, news anchors are called Kronkiters and Cronkiters, respectively.