He was considered to be “America's most trusted man in media", said Leslie Clark in her article “About Walter Cronkite." He was the face of any and all reliable news viewed by America. With his experience over time, he was able to capture his readers to feel with each event he explained whether it were in grief or in happiness. Cronkite was always passionate and honest, and America loved him for it.
Starting out as a young boy with a knack for writing, Cronkite used to carry a notebook filled with his daily observations. Being a child during the Great Depression, his parents struggled financially, and he had to work many odd jobs to make extra money for his family, according to Todd Barnett from The State Historical Society of Missouri. Many may find these hard times in Cronkite's childhood to be surprising because his failures were unnoticed. Although his successful life in the News Industry makes him legendary, his journey to reaching his success is just as important.
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Walter Cronkite Jr.'s journey to making it big was quite inspiring. It began with a rough home life and later continued with going to college out of state. Cronkite went to the University of Texas and found himself struggling because of common things such as bad grades, attendance, and a greater interest in social life, according to the article written by Todd Barnett from The Historical Society of Missouri. Since he still had an interest in Journalism, he ended up dropping out of college and began working for the Houston Press. Later he was offered a position with the United Press where he became a war reporter. He went wherever the event was taking place and reported back to his country, United States of America, with the latest updates and facts on the war. As previously mentioned, this was the time when he was given the opportunity to cover stories like the Allied invasion, Battle of the Bulge and much more.
When Cronkite returned to America, he took on his first television news job at CBS. While doing so, he did a full coverage of the 1950 congressional election, which helped him obtain his fame alongside his war coverages in Europe. He began to interview every president from Truman to Reagan. The legendary Walter Cronkite Jr. held his position on the CBS evening news from 1962 to 1981, in which his channel became the most-watched broadcast in America.
Walter Cronkite's most famous coverages were the Apollo 11 moon mission and John F. Kennedy's assassination. "From the earliest days of the space program, Walter brought the excitement, the drama, and the achievements of space flight directly into our homes," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. This goes to show that Walter loved what he did and his passion was noticed by his audience. As far as the heartbreaking report on JFK's assassination, Cronkite made his audience feel what he felt as he told the story and continually updated the facts on the president's death. Cronkite was said to the have the ability to be taken seriously while make his viewers feel comfort when hearing the tragic story on the beloved President Kennedy.
In 1981, Walter Cronkite retired from his position as the CBS Evening News Anchor. Although he did remain very involved with the media and CBS. However in 2009, Cronkite passed away. He had a large memorial service put on for him in New York where his body was then returned home to Kansas City and he was cremated.
With all of Cronkite's accomplishments, he was honored and remembered by many people. Todd Barnett also said in his informational article that Cronkite was recognized as the best television news anchor of all time and had won many awards: Emmy Awards, inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame, and NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award. In the end, regardless of where he started out in his earlier years, Walter Cronkite was an inspirational man and was recognized and appreciated for the impact he made in the News Industry and The United States of America. As he used to say, “And that's the way it is... This is Walter Cronkite, CBS News; goodnight."
