Walter Cronkite: "It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out . . . "

[Faygo Kid]

(Edited to add: Happy Father's Day, Walter. In many ways, our national Dad.)

In the midst of the lovefest for Tim Russert (RIP; his death is indeed tragic for his friends, family and coworkers), it's worth remembering that a REAL giant is still with us, at the age of 91:

"To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest that we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory conclusion. . . . It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out, then, will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could."

At the White House, President Lyndon Johnson watched the special report with some of his staff, including News Secretary George Christian and his assistant, Bill Moyers. According to Moyers, when the program was over, "The President flipped off the set and said 'If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America.'" Five weeks later, on March 31, Johnson announced that he would not seek reelection, this in the context of a unilateral bombing pause of North Vietnam . . .
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2751/is_n50/ai_20633193

Thinking of Walter, and Murrow, and Ida Tarbell, and so many other courageous journalists who spoke truth to power. Sadly, Tim Russert was not part of that pantheon.

[LaurenG]

1. I truly like Cronkite. I was raised on him and Huntley- Brinkley

:)

[Faygo Kid]

6. He retired at 64, and immediately regretted it. I still do, as well.

Different era then, in 1981, when you retired at a certain, fixed age.

My memories of Walter include not just the JFK assassination (of course), but the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.

Every Baby Boomer worth his or her salt remembers Cronkite telling us of Alan Shepherd and John Glenn (elementary school) or the moon landing (high school and beyond).

An extraordinary American. I am so glad he is still with us. Maybe Tim Russert would have eventually woken up, but I saw no indication of that happening.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

17. I met him and his wife once,

at Monticello, in the gift shop. He wanted to buy a silver box, and his wife, Betsy (now departed), told him it was too expensive. He turned to me and, with a twinkle, asked, "Do you think it's too expensive?" I couldn't even speak. I just shook my head. Then he came over to me, seeing how stunned I was, and asked me where I was from, how did I like the tour, stuff like that. When I mentioned that I'd once lived in Kansas City, where he was from, he lit up, and we ended up chattering about neighborhoods and old restaurants that were still there, and landmarks, and the icy winters. His wife, who was lovely, joined us, and then my spouse decided that he had to buy the silver box that Walter Cronkite's wife wouldn't let him buy.

I wouldn't let him. Cronkite loved that.

[Faygo Kid]

22. What a great moment that must have been.

That's one you will always remember. Always.

Thanks for sharing! Made the posting worthwhile for this story alone.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

25. Thank you, but here's the weird part

He didn't look like Walter Cronkite. He looked like a guy who looked like Walter Cronkite. It wasn't until he said something to his wife that I realized it really was him.

Strange how television cameras really change the face. I passed Cher once on a Manhattan street, and before my editor told me who it was coming towards us, all I could think was, "Wow! That nose has legs!"

[roguevalley]

24. he shut down the viet nam war. 'if I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the country"

LBJ

He is a giant.

[truedelphi]

28. Great story. Thanks for passing it around. n/t

[medeak]

2. Uncle Walter told me JFK died

when I came home for lunch in 5th grade (even then had to watch the news) was a little girl crying all alone with Uncle Walter...will never forget that. He was my other Dad and good to remember him on Father's Day.

[BlooInBloo]

3. Russert's ersatz-journalism, combined with his celebrity, is quite enough for Americans.

[Captain Hilts]

21. Cronkite HATED that his celebrity made it impossible for him to be a reporter any more. nt

[Tangerine LaBamba]

4. That wasn't his job

He was a news analyst, and commenting on the news was not what he was supposed to do. He put the questions out and let his guests answer them, and so many times, those guest hanged themselves with their own words.

Cronkite was a guy who read the news, without analysis. When he made that comment about Vietnam, the world stopped, because it was 'way out of his purview. I'm awfully glad he did, though. But, comparing the job that Tim Russert had with people like Cronkite is impossible, because they simply were not that same jobs.

[5X]

7. A journalist is a journalist. If Russert was only an entertainer,

that should have been made clear at the start of each program.
Otherwise, he wasn't doing the job of a journalist.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

12. I think the term "journalist" is used improperly

I agree. Russert wasn't a journalist, but an analyst. I don't know why that appellation has landed, but it has, and I think it causes a lot of confusion for the people who don't pay attention.

[eleny]

8. Russert is one of those who changed things to how they are today

And back when Cronkite was reporting the news, he probably wrote a lot of his own copy. It wasn't an age of "news readers" with pretty faces and thousand dollar haircuts.

[Faygo Kid]

10. Cronkite was indeed no "news reader." He wrote his own stuff. Read his bio; fascinating.

Murrow and Shirer were his mentors, and he was a war correspondent in WWII. Walter Cronkite was about as far from a Faux News news reader as you can get.

[eleny]

11. Doggone right

It's too bad that so many never had the experience of watching serious news reporting on a nightly basis. I remember back in the early 70s visiting my cousin here in Colorado and thinking that the news felt "cutesy". And then it spread even to local news in NYC where I was born and raised.

It's really disgusting how the news evolved when it needed to make money for the networks.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. I liked the old way better, didn't you?

I must be getting older faster than I think, but these people today, with their inappropriate affect and Botoxed faces, I get the distinct impression that if someone doesn't feed them information via their earpieces, they wouldn't know how to find the rest rooms.

In the old days, those guys knew what they were talking about, but they kept their agendae to themselves. That's why Cronkite's busting out was so incredibly significant. Remember when LBJ said something like "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America"?

[eleny]

14. I did

When the news started getting "cutesy" it felt so annoying. Now, it's spread everywhere.

[eleny]

5. My earliest memory of him is his You Are There series on tv

He tried to teach history by putting you there into the events. The one that comes back to me is him in a boat during the Chicago Fire pointing back to the city in flames reporting as if it was happening right then.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

16. Sunday afternoons!

That's when I remember seeing those shows. They were brilliant! I'd forgotten about them - thank you for the wonderful reminding.

[kskiska]

19. You Are There!

Fantastic program narrated by Walter Cronkite (What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times... and you were there.), along with the books by Jim Bishop that gave an hour-by-hour account of historic events such as "The Day Lincoln Was Shot," and "The Day Christ Died" that really made these events come to life.

I have a video of an old "I've Got a Secret" from the 1950s in which an elderly contestant's secret was that he, as a boy, was in Ford's Theatre the night Lincoln was shot. It sort of blows my mind to think that the Civil War wasn't all that far back in history when I was a child watching these programs.

[maryf]

9. A hero for truth

I will never forget hearing Cronkite on NPR in a hearing on journalism during the first Desert Storm, Cronkite was asked whether he thought the American people were hearing the truth, or enough truth, about what was going on. He was asked this question at least five times in a row, aboutfive different ways. to each he emphatically stated "NO Sir, I do not". I never could find anything on that again.

[bluesmail]

15. When I was a kid I would catch the news from him on KPIX

I remember reading how the neocons didn't care how long it took, they had a goal. I'm with the people on the other side, I don't care how long it takes to rid this country of Fascists. My only regret is that I won't be around for the celebration. :cry:

[JNelson6563]

18. A stark contrast with what passes for "reporting"

and "reporters" today.

Julie

[A-Schwarzenegger]

20. Walter Cronkite, more than any other media rep, saved the USA from the awful terrible nasty claims

that Lee Harvey Oswald didnt kill JFK or was in on a conspiracy. Thank you, Uncle Walter, for supporting the Warren Commission Report through your exhausted fact-finding many-parted truth-seeking heroic CBS investigations that concluded unequivocabally that Oswald was the wacky lone gunman. :*

[A-Schwarzenegger]

23. Kick for Uncle Walter & his reports on the JFK assassination.

Saved us from a lot of unnecessary & troubling worry.

[eShirl]

26. as a pre-schooler, I thought Walter Cronkite and Captain Kangaroo were the same guy

so I always watched the news with my Dad

[Faygo Kid]

29. They DID look alike! I miss the Captain, too. And Mr. Green Jeans, Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Moose, etc.

And of course, Tom Terrific and Mighty Manfred, the Wonder Dog.

Thank you, Bob Keeshan.

[whistler162]

27. Hopefully he likes his birthday present this year...

I know I will!!!!

Vote for Barack H. Obama as a birthday present to Walter Cronkite or Me.... PLEEEEASE!!!!

[Faygo Kid]

30. Walter was there for the civil rights movement, too. What a life.