Cronkite, Walter, 1916-2009

For newspapers, radio, and television, Walter Leland Cronkite (1916-2009) covered almost every major news event in the world from World War II to his retirement in 1982.

Since then, he worked on special projects and continued a career in writing. He was born Nov. 4, 1916 in St. Joseph, Mo., and grew up in Houston, where he attended high school. While attending the University of Texas, he worked at the capital bureau of the Scripps-Howard newspapers and in his junior year, he left school to work for the Houston Post. From there, he went on to KCMO radio in Kansas City. Back in journalism, working for United Press, he was one of the first journalists accredited to American forces after the United States entered World War II.

He covered the Nuremberg war crimes trials and served as the bureau manager in Moscow. In 1950, Cronkite became a correspondent for CBS-TV and after 1962 served as managing editor of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. He covered national and international affairs, taking a special interest in space exploration. He headed the coverage of the first nationally televised Presidential campaign and has covered every national political convention except the Democratic convention in 1964. After visiting Vietnam in 1968, he was disillusioned and called for negotiations to end the war. Cronkite has interviewed most world leaders, including American presidents from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton.