‘And That’s the Way It Is’: 12 Walter Cronkite Quotes
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.
