Cronkite, Walter

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Walter Cronkite

Born November, 4, 1916
St. Joseph, Missouri

Journalist, television newsperson

Walter Cronkite worked in television news from its beginnings in the early 1950s. He played a large role in creating the format of television news programs. From 1962 to 1981, Cronkite anchored the CBS Evening News program, not only reporting, but also summing up and analyzing the news. His calm, authoritative manner and his careful, hardworking approach to journalism earned him the trust of his viewers. More than other television personalities, Cronkite became a national figure. His news summaries were watched in millions of households. His nightly sign-off, "And that's the way it is," was familiar and reassuring to many viewers.

"[T]here was a sacred covenant between newspaper people and their readers. We journalists had to be right and we had to be fair."

—Walter Cronkite.

A nose for news

Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. was born on November 4, 1916, in St. Joseph, Missouri. His father, Walter Leland Cronkite Sr., was a dentist. When Walter Jr. was young, his family moved to Kansas City, Missouri. There, they lived a comfortable, though not wealthy, middle-class lifestyle. At age seven, Walter took a job selling a weekly magazine calledLiberty, earning a penny for each copy he sold. By the age of nine, he had progressed to selling copies of the Kansas City newspaper, the Star.

When Walter was ten, his family moved to Houston, Texas, where he lived for the rest of his childhood. They moved because Walter's father had an offer of a better job. However, the change in location was hard on the family in many ways. The racism and conservatism of the tight southern community shocked the liberal Cronkites. The pressure of the move caused his father to become distant and angry. Walter Sr. became an alcoholic and grew more and more separate from his family. The Cronkites divorced when Walter Jr. was in high school.

Young Walter also had some problems adjusting to life in the South. He was criticized by neighbors for playing with black children. Also, he was punished by a teacher for not saying "ma'am" and "sir" to his elders. However, he was a flexible and cheerful youth, who participated in sports, joined the Boy Scouts, took piano lessons, and got a job delivering purchases for a local drugstore to customers' homes.

Cronkite's early interest in the news was stirred when he entered San Janice High School. There he met Fred Birney, a former newspaper reporter who had begun teaching high school journalism. Inspired by Birney, Cronkite began to write and helped to start a school newspaper. Always a hard worker, he also got a job at the Houston Post, where his first on-the-job reporting experience was covering small social events.

Foreign correspondent

Cronkite continued working in the news business after he entered the University of Texas at Austin in 1933. He was fascinated by the exciting medium of radio, which was still in its infancy. He persuaded KNOW, a local radio station, to let him cover sports. He spent much of his leisure time at the state capitol, observing the workings of government. He met journalists there who helped him get a job as a reporter, writing for the International News Service (INS). A news reporting service, the INS was owned by legendary newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst (1863–1951). Cronkite's position led to a job offer from the Houston newspaper, the Press. By 1935, Cronkite had left college to go to work full-time for the Houston Press. Between 1935 and 1942, Cronkite worked on various papers and did news shows on radio as well. In 1939, he got a job with United Press (UP), a news service that collected and wrote news for a wide variety of newspapers.

World War II (1939–45) erupted in Europe in 1939. When the United States entered the conflict in 1941, Cronkite soon followed the U.S. troops to Europe as a war correspondent for the United Press. The war journalists of World War II were courageous reporters who often saw the same action that soldiers did, but they carried pens and cameras rather than weapons. Cronkite participated in the "D-day" invasion of Normandy, France, in 1944, which is considered a major turning point in the war. Allied forces stormed the beaches at Normandy and began a major push to defeat the Germans. He followed American soldiers as they fought, reporting on the war for those back home. His work sometimes put him in danger. He flew along on bombing missions and even parachuted out of planes, all in an effort to see and report on the events.

After the war ended in 1945, Cronkite covered the historic trials in the German city of Nuremberg. There, Nazi officers faced charges for crimes committed during the war, such as illegal medical experiments and the extermination of Jews in concentration camps. Far from a hardened reporter, Cronkite was moved many times by the suffering and bravery he witnessed during the war and its aftermath. He communicated these emotions in the reports he sent back to the United States.

After the Nuremberg trials ended in October 1946, Cronkite continued to work in the UP foreign offices for several more years. In 1940, he married his long-time sweetheart "Betsy," Mary Elizabeth Maxwell. Between 1946 and 1949, the couple lived in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Brussels, Belgium, and Moscow, USSR, while Cronkite worked in these European capitals' news bureaus. In 1950 he returned home to the birth of a new communication and entertainment medium, television.

Television and the news

A respected journalist for his work during World War II, Walter Cronkite was offered a new kind of job when he returned home. It would be in the brand new field of television news. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) television network hired Cronkite as a news reporter. Some of his early jobs on television were not the serious newscasting that he was used to doing. Still, Cronkite remained flexible and good humored. He hosted an early history program called You Are There, which aired from 1953 through 1957. The show featured re-enactments of historical events, such as Revolutionary War battles or the trial of Joan of Arc. Real news reporters, such as Cronkite, would interview the historical participants

The Nuremberg Trials

On November 30, 1945, just after the end of World War II, a series of ground-breaking trials began in the southeastern German city of Nuremberg. Twenty-four officials of the Nazi government of Germany were brought individually before a panel of judges from the Allied countries to face charges of violating accepted practices of war. They were accused of many crimes, including starting and waging an offensive war; torturing and murdering civilians (including millions of Jewish citizens); abusing prisoners of war; and using slave labor. Along with the twenty-four high officers, many lesser officials of the government and military were also placed on trial.

The Nuremberg trials represented one of the first times that individuals were held responsible and tried in court for the actions of their government during wartime. Some thought that the trials were just a way of getting revenge for what happened during the war. Others believed that the governments of Europe had agreed on basic rules of warfare and that the German government had violated many of these rules. They argued that individual citizens have a responsibility to refuse if their government asks them to do things which break these international laws.

The world followed the trials with great interest, reading the reports sent back by correspondents such as Walter Cronkite and Janet Flanner. When the trials ended on October 1, 1946, 26 people were sentenced to be hanged, 128 were given prison sentences, and 35 were acquitted.

The effects of the Nuremberg trials were still felt in the early 2000s. The trials increased the reach of international law, a system of laws that crosses national borders. They strengthened the idea that individuals are responsible for what they do, even if they are "following orders." The trials also gave birth to the international human rights movement. Supporters of the movement believe that individuals in every country have basic rights and that everyone has a responsibility to protect those rights, regardless of nationality.

being played by actors. The reporters then would give a history lesson, sometimes pointing out a connection between history and modern times.

Another early Cronkite news/entertainment program was The Morning Show, which first aired in 1954. There, the experienced reporter shared a news desk with a puppet named Charlemagne the Lion. However, the network saw and valued Cronkite's skill as a reporter, along with his deep voice and mature looks. In 1952, he gained praise for his balanced and accurate coverage of the first televised nominating conventions of the Democratic and Republican parties.

By 1962, Cronkite was a respected television newsperson. CBS decided to give him the lead role on a new program, CBS Evening News, creating a new position for Cronkite. Since he would be the solid foundation of the newscast, they called him the "news anchor." He would be the person to coordinate stories from other reporters, comment on them, and analyze the news. In an era when there were only three television networks delivering news, viewers depended on anchors such as Cronkite to sift through the news and bring them the most important facts. Cronkite's distinguished looks and kindly manner caused viewers to have confidence in him. However, Cronkite never became merely a television star. He remained a serious reporter, researching and writing most of his own material throughout his career.

Along with his work on the Evening News, Cronkite was a prominent figure in many other television programs. Between 1957 and 1970, he hosted a documentary series called Twentieth Century (the name changed to Twenty-First Century in 1967). From 1961 to 1979, he did in-depth reporting about current events on CBS Reports. From 1980 to 1982, he hosted Universe, a news/science magazine show. In addition, he filmed many special programs, including Vietnam: A War That Is Finished in 1975, Our Happiest Birthday in 1977, and Dinosaur! in 1991.

Cronkite continued to anchor the CBS Evening News until 1981. Then he exchanged the job for the less demanding one of "special correspondent." This position only required that he issue occasional reports on specific news stories. After leaving his nightly news job, Cronkite continued to be active in both his work and private life. He was often called on to give his opinion about current events. Cronkite did not hesitate to speak out when he saw unfairness or bad government policies. He hosted and narrated numerous television specials, including Children of Apartheid in 1987. In 1993, he started his own production company to make documentary films. Three years later, his company produced an eight-hour series called Cronkite Remembers, which was shown on both CBS and the Discovery Channel.

In spite of his dignified image as a newscaster, Cronkite also spent his life as an athlete and adventure-seeker. His life-long love of racecar driving led him to become part of a team that drove a twelve-hour race in Sebring, Florida, in 1959. He also loved sailing and spent many hours on his boat with his family. Cronkite wrote several books, including an autobiography called A Reporter's Life.