Uncle Walter

“And that’s the way it is”— Tuesday, January 31, 2023.

Did you love Walter Cronkite?

I did.

Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. (1916 – 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for CBS for 19 years, from 1962 to 1981.

During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as “the most trusted man in America.” Cronkite reported many events from 1937 to 1981, including bombings in WWII, the Nurembuerg trials, combat in the Vietnam War, the Iran Hostage Crisis, and the assassinations of President Kennedy, MLK Jr., and John Lennon. He was also known for his extensive support and coverage of the U.S. space program.

Walter Cronkite attended University of Texas, Austin, entering in 1933, where he worked on the newspaper, but he dropped out in 1935 to concentrate on journalism. He entered broadcasting as a radio announcer Oklahoma City. He met his future wife, Mary Elizabeth “Betsy” Maxwell, while working as a sports announcer in Kansas City. His broadcast name was “Walter Wilcox.” He would explain later that radio stations at the time did not want people to use their real names for fear of taking their listeners with them if they left.

Once his reputation was established, legendary Edward R. Murrow invited Cronkite to join his team of WWII correspondents at CBS. Cronkite became one of its top American reporters, covering battles in North Africa and Europe. After the war, he covered the Nuremberg trials and served as the United Press main reporter in Moscow from 1946-1948. In 1950, Cronkite joined CBS News at the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., in its young and growing television division. In 1962, Cronkite became anchorman of the CBS’s nightly feature newscast, making Cronkite the anchor of American network television’s first nightly half-hour news program. Cronkite’s tenure as anchor of the CBS Evening News made him an icon in television news. CBS News acquired a reputation for accuracy and depth in coverage. A key moment for Cronkite came during his coverage of JFK’s assassination.  

Who can forget Cronkite taking off his heavy black-rimmed eye glasses, then announcing our president’s death?

Cronkite trained himself to speak at a rate of 124 words per minute in his newscasts, so that viewers could clearly understand him. In contrast, Americans average about 165 WPM and fast, difficult-to-understand talkers speak close to 200 words per minute. For most of his 19 years as anchor, he was the “predominant news voice in America.” Affectionately known as “Uncle Walter,” USA Today wrote that “few TV figures have ever had as much power as Cronkite did at his height.”  

Cronkite is known for his departing phrase “And that’s the way it is,” followed by the date of the broadcast. 

Just few of his honors: In 1981, the year he retired, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, and the Paul White Award for lifetime achievement from the Radio Television Digital News Association. In 1985, Cronkite was honored with the induction into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy in 2003. In 2006, Cronkite became the first non-astronaut to receive NASA’s Ambassador of Exploration Award. Among Cronkite’s numerous awards were four Peabody awards for excellence in broadcasting. The Minor planet 6318N Cronkite, discovered in 1990, is named in his honor. Among many journalists who attended Walter Cronkite’s funeral in 2009: Tom Brokaw Connie Chung, Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Dan Rather, Andy Rooney, Morley Safer, Diane Sawyer, Bob Schieffer, Meredith Vieira, and Barbara Walters.