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Iconic Newsman Walter Cronkite Dead at 92
By Neal Colgrass
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Posted Jul 17, 09 7:38 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman who revolutionized television news for a generation, died today at age 92, CBS News reports. He had suffered a long illness and was at home in New York with his family. Cronkite helmed the CBS Evening News throughout the 1960s and '70s, guiding America through the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and President Nixon's resignation. “It is impossible to imagine CBS News, journalism or indeed America without Walter Cronkite,” CBS News President Sean McManus told the New York Times.
Cronkite's broadcasts gripped America emotionally and politically. He stayed on air for hours after JFK was murdered, helping "pull together a nation stricken with grief," one Times writer noted. When he concluded that the Vietnam war had reached a stalemate, LBJ said, ”If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” He had, too. Dubbed "the most trusted man in America," Cronkite retired in 1981 to work on television projects and write his memoir. He leaves behind his son and two daughters.