99 Facts About Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite was known for his extensive coverage of the US space program, from Project Mercury to the Moon landings to the Space Shuttle.

Walter Cronkite was the only non-NASA recipient of an Ambassador of Exploration award.

Walter Cronkite is known for his departing catchphrase, "And that's the way it is", followed by the date of the broadcast.

Walter Cronkite died at his home in 2009, at the age of 92, from cerebrovascular disease.

Walter Cronkite lived in Kansas City, Missouri, until he was ten, when his family moved to Houston, Texas.

Walter Cronkite attended elementary school at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, junior high school at Lanier Junior High School in Houston, and high school at San Jacinto High School, where he edited the high school newspaper.

Walter Cronkite attended college at the University of Texas at Austin, entering in the fall term of 1933, where he worked on the Daily Texan and became a member of the Nu chapter of the Chi Phi Fraternity.

Walter Cronkite was a member of the Houston chapter of DeMolay, a Masonic fraternal organization for boys.

Walter Cronkite dropped out in 1935, not returning for the fall term, to concentrate on journalism.

Walter Cronkite left college in his junior year, in the fall term of 1935, after starting a series of newspaper reporting jobs covering news and sports.

Walter Cronkite entered broadcasting as a radio announcer for WKY in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Walter Cronkite would explain later that radio stations at the time did not want people to use their real names for fear of taking their listeners with them if they left.

Walter Cronkite ultimately accepted the UP offer, a move which angered Murrow and drove a wedge between them that would last for years.

Walter Cronkite became one of the top American reporters in World War II, covering battles in North Africa and Europe.

Walter Cronkite landed in a glider with the 101st Airborne Division in Operation Market Garden and covered the Battle of the Bulge.

In 1950, Walter Cronkite joined CBS News in its young and growing television division, again recruited by Murrow.

Walter Cronkite began working at WTOP-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC.

Walter Cronkite anchored the network's coverage of the 1952 presidential election as well as later conventions.

In 1964 he was temporarily replaced by the team of Robert Trout and Roger Mudd; this proved to be a mistake, and Walter Cronkite returned to the anchor chair for future political conventions.

From 1953 to 1957, Walter Cronkite hosted the CBS program You Are There, which reenacted historical events, using the format of a news report.

Walter Cronkite hosted It's News to Me, a game show based on news events.

Walter Cronkite considered this discourse with a puppet as "one of the highlights" of the show.

Walter Cronkite was the lead broadcaster of the network's coverage of the 1960 Winter Olympics, the first-ever time such an event was televised in the United States.

Walter Cronkite replaced Jim McKay, who had suffered a mental breakdown.

In 1969, during the Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 Moon missions, Walter Cronkite received the best ratings and made CBS the most-watched television network for the missions.

Walter Cronkite had been standing at the United Press International wire machine in the CBS newsroom as the bulletin of the President's shooting broke and he clamored to get on the air to break the news as he wanted CBS to be the first network to do so.

Walter Cronkite then recapped the events as they had happened: that the President and Governor Connally had been shot and were in the emergency room at Parkland Hospital, and no one knew their condition as yet.

The cast had continued to perform live while Walter Cronkite's bulletins broke into the broadcast, unaware of the unfolding events in Dallas.

Walter Cronkite remained on the air for the next ten minutes, continuing to read bulletins as they were handed to him, and recapping the events as they were known.

Walter Cronkite related a report given to reporters by Texas Congressman Albert Thomas that the President and Governor were still alive, the first indication of their condition.

At 2:00 pm EST, with the top of the hour station break looming, Walter Cronkite told the audience that there would be a brief pause so that all of CBS' affiliates, including those in the Mountain and Pacific time zones which were not on the same schedule, could join the network.

Walter Cronkite then left the radio booth and went to the anchor desk in the newsroom.

The camera was finally operational by this time and enabled the audience to see Walter Cronkite, who was clad in shirt and tie but without his suit coat, given the urgent nature of the story.

Walter Cronkite reminded the audience, again, of the attempt made on the life of the President and tossed to KRLD news director Eddie Barker at the Dallas Trade Mart, where Kennedy was supposed to be making a speech before he was shot.

Walter Cronkite played an audio report from KRLD that someone had been arrested in the assassination attempt at the Texas School Book Depository.

CBS cut back to Walter Cronkite reporting that one of the priests had administered last rites to the president.

Walter Cronkite stressed that these bulletins were simply reports and not any official confirmation of the President's condition; some of his colleagues recounted in 2013 that his early career as a wire service reporter taught him to wait for official word before reporting a story.

Still, as more word came in, Walter Cronkite seemed to be resigned to the fact that it was only a matter of time before the assassination was confirmed.

Walter Cronkite appeared to concede this when, several minutes after he received the Rather report, he received word that the two priests who gave the last rites to Kennedy told reporters on the scene that he was dead.

Walter Cronkite said that report "seems to be as close to official as we can get", but would not declare it as such.

At 2:38 pm EST, while filling in time with some observations about the security presence in Dallas, which had been increased due to violent acts against United Nations Ambassador Adlai Stevenson in the city earlier that year, Walter Cronkite was handed a new bulletin.

Walter Cronkite reminded the viewers that Vice President Johnson was now the President and was to be sworn in, that Governor Connally's condition was still unknown, and that there was no report of whether the assassin had been captured.

Walter Cronkite then handed the anchor position to Charles Collingwood, who had just entered the newsroom, took his suit coat, and left the room for a while.

The next day, on the day of the funeral, Walter Cronkite concluded CBS Evening News with the following assessment about the events of the last four dark days:.

Walter Cronkite was in the New York studio at Rockefeller Plaza as the first pictures to be transmitted and received were the Statue of Liberty in New York and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Walter Cronkite had anchored the CBS coverage of Nixon's address, announcing his impending resignation, the night before.

Once Walter Cronkite got what he needed, he thanked Johnson and asked him to stay on the line.

Walter Cronkite then turned to the camera and began to relay what Johnson had said to him.

On November 22,1963, Walter Cronkite introduced The Beatles to the United States by airing a four-minute story about the band on CBS Morning News.

On February 14,1980, Walter Cronkite announced that he intended to retire from the CBS Evening News; at the time, CBS had a policy of mandatory retirement by age 65.

Walter Cronkite hosted the annual Vienna New Year's Concert on PBS from 1985 to 2008, succeeded by Julie Andrews in 2009.

In 1998, Walter Cronkite hosted the 90-minute documentary, Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance, produced by the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association.

Walter Cronkite was shown inviting Disney guests and tourists to the Disney Classics Theater.

On May 21,1999, Walter Cronkite participated in a panel discussion on "Integrity in the Media" with Ben Bradlee and Mike McCurry at the Connecticut Forum in Hartford, Connecticut.

Walter Cronkite provided an anecdote about taking a picture from a house in Houston, Texas, where a newsworthy event occurred and being praised for getting a unique photograph, only to find out later that the city desk had provided him with the wrong address.

Walter Cronkite narrated the IMAX film about the Space Shuttle, The Dream is Alive, released in 1985.

Walter Cronkite provided the pivotal voice of Captain Neweyes in the 1993 animated film We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story, delivering his trademark line at the end.

Walter Cronkite was a finalist for NASA's Journalist in Space program, which mirrored the Teacher in Space Project, an opportunity that was suspended after the Challenger disaster in 1986.

Walter Cronkite held amateur radio operator license KB2GSD and narrated a 2003 American Radio Relay League documentary explaining amateur radio's role in disaster relief.

In 2006, Walter Cronkite hosted the World War One Living History Project, a program honoring America's final handful of veterans from the First World War.

Walter Cronkite provided the voiceover introduction to Couric's CBS Evening News, which began on September 5,2006.

Walter Cronkite made a cameo appearance on a 1974 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which he met with Lou Grant in his office.

Walter Cronkite routinely hosted the Kennedy Center Honors from 1981 to 2002.

Walter Cronkite appeared briefly in the 2005 dramatic documentary The American Ruling Class written by Lewis Lapham; the 2000 film Thirteen Days reporting on the Cuban Missile Crisis; and provided the opening synopsis of the American Space Program leading to the events in Apollo 13 for the 1995 Ron Howard film of the same name.

Walter Cronkite wrote a syndicated opinion column for King Features Syndicate.

Walter Cronkite was a vocal advocate for free airtime for political candidates.

Walter Cronkite worked with the Alliance for Better Campaigns and Common Cause, for instance, on an unsuccessful lobbying effort to have an amendment added to the McCain-Feingold-Shays-Meehan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2001 that would have required TV broadcast companies to provide free airtime to candidates.

Walter Cronkite was a member of the Constitution Project's bipartisan Liberty and Security Committee.

Walter Cronkite supported the nonprofit world hunger organization Heifer International.

Walter Cronkite was a proponent of limited world government on the American federalist model, writing fundraising letters for the World Federalist Association.

Walter Cronkite contrasted his support for accountable global government with the opposition to it by politically active Christian fundamentalists in the United States:.

In 2003, Walter Cronkite, who owned property on Martha's Vineyard, became involved in a long-running debate over his opposition to the construction of a wind farm in that area.

Walter Cronkite appeared in the 2004 Robert Greenwald film Outfoxed, where he offered commentary on what he said were unethical and overtly political practices at the Fox News Channel.

In January 2006, during a press conference to promote the PBS documentary about his career, Walter Cronkite said that he felt the same way about America's presence in Iraq as he had about their presence in Vietnam in 1968 and that he felt America should recall its troops.

Walter Cronkite spoke out against the War on Drugs in support of the Drug Policy Alliance, writing a fundraising letter and appearing in advertisements on behalf of the DPA.

Walter Cronkite was married for nearly 65 years to Mary Elizabeth 'Betsy' Maxwell Walter Cronkite, from March 30,1940, until her death from cancer on March 15,2005.

Walter Cronkite's cousin is former Mayor of Kansas City and 2008 Democratic nominee for Missouri's 6th congressional district Kay Barnes.

Walter Cronkite was an accomplished sailor and enjoyed sailing coastal waters of the United States in his custom-built 48-foot Sunward "Wyntje".

Walter Cronkite was a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, with the honorary rank of commodore.

Walter Cronkite was reported to be a fan of the game Diplomacy, which was rumored to be Henry Kissinger's favorite game.

In June 2009, Walter Cronkite was reported to be terminally ill.

Walter Cronkite died on July 17,2009, at his home in New York City aged 92.

Walter Cronkite is believed to have died from cerebrovascular disease.

Walter Cronkite's funeral took place on July 23,2009, at St Bartholomew's Church in midtown Manhattan, New York City.

Walter Cronkite was cremated and his remains buried next to his wife, Betsy, in the family plot in Kansas City.

For many years, until a decade after he left his post as anchor, Walter Cronkite was considered one of the most trusted figures in the United States.

Walter Cronkite trained himself to speak at a rate of 124 words per minute in his newscasts, so that viewers could clearly understand him.

In 1977, Walter Cronkite was elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society, for which he was a proactive supporter and member, even participating in educational video materials for the society's 175th anniversary.

In 1985, Walter Cronkite was honored with the induction into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.

Walter Cronkite was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1994.

In 1999, Walter Cronkite received the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement's Corona Award in recognition of a lifetime of achievement in space exploration.

Walter Cronkite was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003.

On March 1,2006, Walter Cronkite became the first non-astronaut to receive NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award.

In 2003, Walter Cronkite was honored by the Vienna Philharmonic with the Franz Schalk Gold Medal, in view of his contributions to the New Year's Concert and the cultural image of Austria.

Minor planet 6318 Walter Cronkite, discovered in 1990 by Eleanor Helin, is named in his honor.

The Walter Cronkite papers are preserved at the curatorial Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Walter Cronkite Papers assemble a variety of interviews with US presidents, including Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, and Ronald Reagan.

The taped memoirs became an integral part of an eight-part television series Walter Cronkite Remembers, which was shown on the Discovery Channel.

Walter Cronkite passed on the Moon rock to Bill Powers, president of the University of Texas at Austin, and it became part of the collection at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.