1 minute ago 2010-02-10T01:43:44-08:00
"And that's the way it is ... " That's how longtime CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite ended each nightly newscast. But his signature sign-off almost didn't come to be; in a 1998 interview, Cronkite revealed how the first night he used it, he got in trouble with the president of CBS:
For almost 20 years, Cronkite was the face of CBS Evening News. Before the 24-hour news cycle, the Internet and Twitter, Cronkite narrated some of the most important moments in American history — the Apollo 11 landing on the moon, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Vietnam War. Below, some newscasts from Cronkite's storied career:
In 1963, Cronkite announced the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas. Amid the confusion and turmoil of that day, Cronkite was unflappable, eloquent and professional:
Just a few years later, Cronkite announced the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
In a 1968 documentary, the "most trusted man in America" spoke out against the Vietnam War, effectively turning public opinion against the war. President Lyndon B. Johnson is reported to have said that night, "If I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost the American people."
Cronkite was anchoring the day Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969, punctuating the iconic video with a bouyant "man on a moon!"
On March 6, 1981, Cronkite gave his final broadcast, saying, "Old anchormen, you see, don’t fade away; they just keep coming back for more."
- Lili Ladaga
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