The man that guided a nation through some of the most tumultuous decades of the 20th century has died. Longtime CBS reporter and anchor of the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite, died Friday evening in Manhattan. He was 92.
Tweets about his failing condition had been reported over the last few weeks, as the man referred to as “the most trusted man in America” finally succumbed to cerebral vascular disease.
As Katie Couric broke into regular programming last night to announce the news about her predecessor, she reminded viewers that Cronkite chronicled American history as it happened, from North Africa in WWII as a wire service reporter, to the Nuremberg trials, through the 1950’s as a reporter then as CBS’s anchor in 1962. Video that is indelible in the mind of Americans is one of sheer grief as Cronkite announced the wire flash that President Kennedy had died, along with the glee he showed at the landing of the Apollo 11 lunar module 40 years ago Sunday. He held the anchor chair until 1981, when he went on to do special projects and documentaries well into his 80’s.
I don’t recall ever having occasion to hear him speak in person, but perhaps our local CBS veterans can share any Cronkite encounters they had.

July 18th, 2009
joel
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