Walter Cronkite

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Birthday:

4 November 1916, St. Joseph, Missouri, USA

Birth Name:

Walter Leland Cronkite Jr.

Height:

183 cm

Walter Cronkite was born on November 4, 1916 in St. Joseph, Missouri, USA as Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. He was an actor, known for The Twentieth Century (1957), Fail Safe (2000) and You Are There (1953). He was married to Mary Elizabeth "Betsy" Maxwell. He died on July 17, 2009 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

It is increasingly clear that the only rational way out will be to negotiate, not as victors but as an honorable people who lived up to the ...Show more »

It is increasingly clear that the only rational way out will be to negotiate, not as victors but as an honorable people who lived up to the pledge to defend democracy." (Cronkite's famous quote after the disastrous North Vietnamese Tet Offensive, which many say was the turning point in the Vietnam Conflict. President Lyndon Johnson, upon hearing Cronkite pull his support for further military involvement, is quoted as saying, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America. Show less «

The great sadness of my life is that I never achieved the hour newscast, which would not have been twice as good as the half-hour newscast, ...Show more »

The great sadness of my life is that I never achieved the hour newscast, which would not have been twice as good as the half-hour newscast, but many times as good. Show less «

And that's the way it is, March 6, 1981. [Sign-off line on his last night as anchor]

Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough. ...Show more »

Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough. [on the superficiality of television news] Show less «

[About George Bush] I like George Bush, he seemed to be a straight arrow, the sort you'd like to have as your lawyer or your banker or as a ...Show more »

[About George Bush] I like George Bush, he seemed to be a straight arrow, the sort you'd like to have as your lawyer or your banker or as a friend. And of course, he had Barbara. Show less «

[About President Clinton] "Clinton, I've not come to know that well, but in my one sit-down interview with him, I found him forthcoming and ...Show more »

[About President Clinton] "Clinton, I've not come to know that well, but in my one sit-down interview with him, I found him forthcoming and humorous." Show less «

[About the Presidents that he met] "They were all giant egos, anxious about their place in history"

[About President Johnson] "It has been said, and truthfully so, that Lyndon Johnson was larger than life. You felt in his presence that here...Show more »

[About President Johnson] "It has been said, and truthfully so, that Lyndon Johnson was larger than life. You felt in his presence that here was raw power capable of lifting great weights and crushing enemies." Show less «

[About President Nixon] "Nixon, to me, never seemed comfortable in the Presidency. He always seemed to be acting out a rehearsed role. I tho...Show more »

[About President Nixon] "Nixon, to me, never seemed comfortable in the Presidency. He always seemed to be acting out a rehearsed role. I thought I could see his knees knocking with stage fright" Show less «

[About President Ford] "Ford was the genuine good fellow well met. He was the guy you wish you had known in college."

[About President Carter] "Carter, I think, was the brainiest President of my time, not in political ability but intelligence that could stor...Show more »

[About President Carter] "Carter, I think, was the brainiest President of my time, not in political ability but intelligence that could store and recall an incredible amount of complicated material." Show less «

[About President Reagan] "In Reagan, what you saw was what you got. Without surrendering the dignity of the office he maintained that hail-f...Show more »

[About President Reagan] "In Reagan, what you saw was what you got. Without surrendering the dignity of the office he maintained that hail-fellow comradeship of the locker room. He was fun to be with, shady stories and all." Show less «

[About President Hoover] "Herbert Hoover seemed to me about as stiff in person as he was in public. A highly intelligent man, dedicated to p...Show more »

[About President Hoover] "Herbert Hoover seemed to me about as stiff in person as he was in public. A highly intelligent man, dedicated to public service who just couldn't connect with the average man" Show less «

[About FDR] "With his radio talks and his fireside chats he brought all Americans into the White House. At the times I saw him, at his infor...Show more »

[About FDR] "With his radio talks and his fireside chats he brought all Americans into the White House. At the times I saw him, at his informal news conferences, he could be tough with questioning reporters but he usually ended the exchange with a wide grin or with a hearty laugh. He seemed to say, in the manner of a sporting man, 'Well tried, sir'" Show less «

[About President Truman] "Truman never shucked the image of a country boy in the big city. But in his self-confident righteousness, he impre...Show more »

[About President Truman] "Truman never shucked the image of a country boy in the big city. But in his self-confident righteousness, he impressed you with the courage of a lion" Show less «

[About President Eisenhower] "Eisenhower made political enemies of course but he never lost the aura of the war hero. In doing his memoirs f...Show more »

[About President Eisenhower] "Eisenhower made political enemies of course but he never lost the aura of the war hero. In doing his memoirs for television with me, he revealed a great deal more detailed knowledge of the arcane decisions of his administration than the press generally gave him credit for." Show less «

[About President Kennedy] "Kennedy could be as charming in public as he had been in private. But he had another side, a certain attitude of ...Show more »

[About President Kennedy] "Kennedy could be as charming in public as he had been in private. But he had another side, a certain attitude of superiority, an arrogance that I found disturbing." Show less «

[About Oliver Stone's JFK (1991)] Stone combines real and fictional footage in a very clever way that completely obliterates the truth. He u...Show more »

[About Oliver Stone's JFK (1991)] Stone combines real and fictional footage in a very clever way that completely obliterates the truth. He uses my announcement of the President's death to provide an air of reality that he avoids for the rest of the picture. His preposterous theory is that top echelons of the United States government committed the Kennedy murder in order to put Lyndon Johnson in the White House. That work of fiction is dangerous, it seriously misleads a whole generation of Americans who were not alive at that time. Show less «

[About announcing President Kennedy's death] "At that moment I teared up, I just had a little trouble getting the words out."

[Looking back at the 20th Century] "I had a pretty good seat at the parade. I was lucky enough to have been born at the right time to see mo...Show more »

[Looking back at the 20th Century] "I had a pretty good seat at the parade. I was lucky enough to have been born at the right time to see most of this remarkable century." Show less «

[The day President Harding died] "The Kansas City Times had a big picture of President Harding with a black border around it. So I ran down ...Show more »

[The day President Harding died] "The Kansas City Times had a big picture of President Harding with a black border around it. So I ran down the street to my best friend's house and I said 'Alfred, take a look because that's the last picture you'll ever see of President Harding'. I don't know where I got that crazy idea but it proved early in life that I could pontificate even when wrong." Show less «

I only met Martin Luther King on a few occasions but I was always struck by the obvious force, the power of his character which is clearly w...Show more »

I only met Martin Luther King on a few occasions but I was always struck by the obvious force, the power of his character which is clearly what the Civil Rights movement needed at that point. Show less «

I got along pretty well with Nixon. Whenever he promised me an interview he delivered and I didn't make his famed "Enemies List". I'm still ...Show more »

I got along pretty well with Nixon. Whenever he promised me an interview he delivered and I didn't make his famed "Enemies List". I'm still sort of ambivalent about that. Show less «

I firmly believe in the necessity of military censorship but there is considerable danger to the democracy when in the guise of military cen...Show more »

I firmly believe in the necessity of military censorship but there is considerable danger to the democracy when in the guise of military censorship our government engages in political censorship. Show less «

I am probably not that different from most reporters, highly competitive, always determined to get that big story. The big story is always t...Show more »

I am probably not that different from most reporters, highly competitive, always determined to get that big story. The big story is always the one that's just a little bit out of reach. Show less «

In broadcasting, I learned the hard way how prepared you need to be to be spontaneous.

They're still playing our song and have been for over 60 years. [About his wife Betsy]

I learned at an early age how to pontificate even when wrong.

Twenty-four hours after I told CBS News that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday I was already regretting it and I've regretted it every...Show more »

Twenty-four hours after I told CBS News that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday I was already regretting it and I've regretted it every day since. It's too good a job for me to have given it up the way that I did. Show less «