Journalists like Walter Cronkite don’t come along every day. A trusted, upstanding news anchor who covered some of the biggest news stories of the 20th century — World War II, the moon missions, the John F. Kennedy assassination, and the Vietnam War, just to name a few — Cronkite brought people together through the power of story.
Cronkite got his start at a series of newspapers covering news and sports in the 1930s after dropping out of college, and went on to work as a local radio announcer. His big break came a few years later, in 1950, when fellow journalist Edward R. Murrow recruited him to join CBS News, then just a fledgling television division.
Cronkite’s levelheaded reporting and signature sign-off — “And that’s the way it is,” followed by the date — made his 15-minute Sunday evening newscast Up To the Minute a must-watch in many American households. It also earned him his nickname, “the most trusted man in America.”
Over the years, Cronkite served as the network's anchor for several political conventions; hosted the CBS programs You Are There, which reenacted historic events, and The 20th Century, a documentary series about the biggest events of the century; and covered the 1960 Winter Olympics.
At age 47, he became anchor of the CBS Evening News, which expanded from 15 to 30 minutes in 1963, making it America’s first nightly half-hour news show. For the 18 years that Cronkite hosted the program, some 29 million people tuned in each night; he signed off for the last time in 1981 at the age of 65. Suffice it to say, Cronkite’s influence on American history is hard to overstate.
Here, we’ve rounded up 12 quotes that showcase his trademark cool under fire and longstanding dedication to fair and balanced reporting.
In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story.
There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free.
I never had the ambition to be something. I had the ambition to do something.
Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.
Our job is only to hold up the mirror — to tell and show the public what has happened.
Those advocates who work for world peace by urging a system of world government are called impractical dreamers. Those impractical dreamers are entitled to ask their critics what is so practical about war.
I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I am a registered independent because I find that I cast my votes not on the basis of party loyalty but on the issues of the moment and my assessment of the candidates.
Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles.
People who understand music hear sounds that no one else makes when Frank Sinatra sings.
I grew my mustache when I was nineteen in order to look older. I never shaved it off even though it overran its usefulness many, many years ago. Once you get started in television, people associate you with your physical appearance — and that includes the mustache. So I can’t shave it off now. If I did, I’d have to answer too much mail.
Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.
As anchorman of the CBS Evening News, I signed off my nightly broadcasts for nearly two decades with a simple statement: “And that's the way it is.” To me, that encapsulates the newsman's highest ideal: to report the facts as he sees them, without regard for the consequences or controversy that may ensue.
Featured image credit: ClassicStock/ Alamy Stock Photo
