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Thursday, March 11, 2010
I had seen Walter Cronkite thousands of times on TV, but, I had never had the opportunity to meet him in person.
I was working the afternoon shift at the Washington Post in DC. One evening, I went with a group of printers across the street to a bar to get lunch. After we had sit down, I realized I was sitting next to Walter Cronkite. Someone asked him why he wasn't at the annual dinner for the Washington press corps.
Walter responded: "I didn't get an Invitation. That SOB Nixon snubbed me. He probably was afraid I might say something truthful about him."
He talked with me for about 15-20 minutes. It was a very memorable experience.
I was working the afternoon shift at the Washington Post in DC. One evening, I went with a group of printers across the street to a bar to get lunch. After we had sit down, I realized I was sitting next to Walter Cronkite. Someone asked him why he wasn't at the annual dinner for the Washington press corps.
Walter responded: "I didn't get an Invitation. That SOB Nixon snubbed me. He probably was afraid I might say something truthful about him."
He talked with me for about 15-20 minutes. It was a very memorable experience.
A Short Biography of
Walter Cronkite's Professional Life
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was born on November 4, 1916, in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was an only child. His father was a dentist and his mother, Helena Lena (Fritsch) managed the home. When he was still a youngster the family moved to Texas. His father has taken a position at the University of Texas Dental School. During that time Walter read an article in American Boy magazine about the adventures of reporters working around the world. It inspired his interest in journalism and when he was in junior high school he decided that he wanted to be a reporter. His preparation for that career began with his work on his high school yearbook and newspaper. He was also active in student government and track.
Walter Cronkite's Professional Life
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was born on November 4, 1916, in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was an only child. His father was a dentist and his mother, Helena Lena (Fritsch) managed the home. When he was still a youngster the family moved to Texas. His father has taken a position at the University of Texas Dental School. During that time Walter read an article in American Boy magazine about the adventures of reporters working around the world. It inspired his interest in journalism and when he was in junior high school he decided that he wanted to be a reporter. His preparation for that career began with his work on his high school yearbook and newspaper. He was also active in student government and track.
In 1933 Cronkite entered the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied political science, economics, and journalism. While attending school, he got a part-time job with the Houston Post newspaper.
He was married for nearly sixty-five years to Mary Elizabeth 'Betsy' Maxwell Cronkite (January 25, 1916 - March 15, 2005), whom he married on March 30, 1940. Betsy died from cancer. They had three children: Nancy Cronkite, Mary Kathleen Cronkite (Kathy) Cronkite and Walter Leland (Chip) Cronkite III (who is married to actress Deborah Rush). They also had four grandchildren Will Ikard, John Ikard, Peter Cronkite and Walter Cronkite IV. Peter and Walter are alumni of St. Bernard's School. Peter Cronkite is currently attending Horace Mann School. Walter attends Hamilton College, having graduated from the same school.
Walter began his career as a news writer and editor for Scripps-Howard and United Press. He was a correspondent for United Press during World War II and became one of the top American reporters in the War, covering battles in North Africa and Europe. He was one of eight journalists selected by the United States Army Air Forces to fly bombing raids over Germany in a B-17 Flying Fortress. Walter also landed in a glider with the 101st Airborne in Operation Market-Garden and covered the Battle of the Bulge.
After the war, he reopened the news bureaus for United Press in Amsterdam and Brussels. He also covered the Nuremberg trials as well as serving as the United Press bureau manager in Moscow for two years.
Walter was a pioneer broadcast journalist who began his distinguished career as a wire service reporter. In 1950, he joined CBS News in its young and growing television division. Walter was recruited by Edward R. Murrow, who had previously tried to hire Walter from United Press during the war. Walter began working at WTOP-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C..
He originally served as anchor of the network's 15-minute late-Sunday-evening newscast Up To the Minute, which followed What's My Line? at 11:00pm ET from 1951 through 1962. He was named anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in 1962, and the following year launched network television’s first 30-minute newscast. He was the anchor and managing editor of the “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.” For most of his 20 years as anchor, he was the "predominant news voice in America." Affectionately known as "Uncle Walter,"
Walter was a longtime champion of journalism values, who was often referred to as "the most trusted man in America". He was also called "Old Ironpants" because of his long stints onscreen during many political conventions and moon launches.
He covered many of the important news events of the era so effectively that his image and voice are closely associated with the Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the Watergate scandal. The magazine USA Today wrote that "few TV figures have ever had as much power as Cronkite did at his height."
Walter Cronkite reported on location during the Vietnam War. In February 1968, Walter went to Vietnam to report on the aftermath of the Tet Offensive.
Upon his return, on February 27, 1968, he closed his "Report from Vietnam: Who, What, When, Where, Why?" with an editorial report: "We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the
darkest clouds. They may be right, that Hanoi's winter-spring offensive has been forced by the Communist realization that they could not win the longer war of attrition, and that the Communists hope that any success in the offensive will improve their position for eventual negotiations. It would improve their position, and it would also require our realization, that we should have had all along, that any negotiations must be that -- negotiations, not the dictation of peace terms. For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. This summer's almost certain standoff will either end in real give-and-take negotiations or terrible escalation; and for every means we have to escalate, the enemy can match us, and that applies to invasion of the North, the use of nuclear weapons, or the mere commitment of
one hundred, or two hundred, or three hundred thousand more American troops to the battle. And with each escalation, the world comes closer to the brink of cosmic disaster."
"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 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. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to
defend democracy, and did the best they could."
Following Walter's editorial report, President Lyndon Johnson, who had been watching it on TV, is reported to have said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America." Several weeks later, President Johnson announced that he would not be seeking re-election.
During the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Cronkite was anchoring the CBS network coverage as violence and protests occurred outside the convention, as well as scuffles inside the convention hall. When Dan Rather was punched to the floor (on camera) by security personnel, Cronkite commented, "I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan."
Walter began his career as a news writer and editor for Scripps-Howard and United Press. He was a correspondent for United Press during World War II and became one of the top American reporters in the War, covering battles in North Africa and Europe. He was one of eight journalists selected by the United States Army Air Forces to fly bombing raids over Germany in a B-17 Flying Fortress. Walter also landed in a glider with the 101st Airborne in Operation Market-Garden and covered the Battle of the Bulge.
After the war, he reopened the news bureaus for United Press in Amsterdam and Brussels. He also covered the Nuremberg trials as well as serving as the United Press bureau manager in Moscow for two years.
Walter was a pioneer broadcast journalist who began his distinguished career as a wire service reporter. In 1950, he joined CBS News in its young and growing television division. Walter was recruited by Edward R. Murrow, who had previously tried to hire Walter from United Press during the war. Walter began working at WTOP-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C..
He originally served as anchor of the network's 15-minute late-Sunday-evening newscast Up To the Minute, which followed What's My Line? at 11:00pm ET from 1951 through 1962. He was named anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in 1962, and the following year launched network television’s first 30-minute newscast. He was the anchor and managing editor of the “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.” For most of his 20 years as anchor, he was the "predominant news voice in America." Affectionately known as "Uncle Walter,"
Walter was a longtime champion of journalism values, who was often referred to as "the most trusted man in America". He was also called "Old Ironpants" because of his long stints onscreen during many political conventions and moon launches.
He covered many of the important news events of the era so effectively that his image and voice are closely associated with the Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the Watergate scandal. The magazine USA Today wrote that "few TV figures have ever had as much power as Cronkite did at his height."
Walter Cronkite reported on location during the Vietnam War. In February 1968, Walter went to Vietnam to report on the aftermath of the Tet Offensive.
Upon his return, on February 27, 1968, he closed his "Report from Vietnam: Who, What, When, Where, Why?" with an editorial report: "We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the
darkest clouds. They may be right, that Hanoi's winter-spring offensive has been forced by the Communist realization that they could not win the longer war of attrition, and that the Communists hope that any success in the offensive will improve their position for eventual negotiations. It would improve their position, and it would also require our realization, that we should have had all along, that any negotiations must be that -- negotiations, not the dictation of peace terms. For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. This summer's almost certain standoff will either end in real give-and-take negotiations or terrible escalation; and for every means we have to escalate, the enemy can match us, and that applies to invasion of the North, the use of nuclear weapons, or the mere commitment of
one hundred, or two hundred, or three hundred thousand more American troops to the battle. And with each escalation, the world comes closer to the brink of cosmic disaster."
"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 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. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to
defend democracy, and did the best they could."
Following Walter's editorial report, President Lyndon Johnson, who had been watching it on TV, is reported to have said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America." Several weeks later, President Johnson announced that he would not be seeking re-election.
During the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Cronkite was anchoring the CBS network coverage as violence and protests occurred outside the convention, as well as scuffles inside the convention hall. When Dan Rather was punched to the floor (on camera) by security personnel, Cronkite commented, "I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan."
During the early part of his tenure anchoring the CBS Evening News, Cronkite competed against NBC's anchor team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, who anchored the Huntley-Brinkley Report. For most of the 1960s, the Huntley-Brinkley Report had more viewers than Cronkite's broadcast. This began to change in the late 1960s, as RCA made a corporate decision not to fund NBC News at the levels CBS funded CBS News. Consequently, CBS News acquired a reputation for greater accuracy and depth in its broadcast
journalism. This reputation meshed nicely with Cronkite's wire service experience, and in 1968 the CBS Evening News began to surpass The Huntley-Brinkley Report in viewership during the summer months.
One of Walter Cronkite's trademarks was ending the CBS Evening News with the phrase "..And that's the way it is," followed by the date.Beginning with January 16, 1980, Day 50 of the Iran hostage crisis, Cronkite added the length of the hostages' captivity to the show's closing to remind the audience of the unresolved situation, ending only on Day 444, January 20, 1981.
Walter contrasted his support for accountable global government with the opposition to it by politically active Christian fundamentalists in the United States: "Even as with the American rejection of the League of Nations, our failure to live up to our obligations to the United Nations is led by a handful of willful senators who choose to pursue their narrow, selfish political objectives at the cost of our nation’s conscience. They pander to and are supported by the Christian Coalition and the rest of the religious right wing. Their leader, Pat Robertson, has written that we should have a world government but only when the messiah arrives. Any attempt to achieve world order before that time must be the work of the Devil! Well join me… I'm glad to sit here at
the right hand of Satan."
Walter 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. In the letter, Cronkite wrote: "Today, our nation is fighting two wars: one abroad and one at home. While the war in Iraq is in the headlines, the other war is still being fought on our own streets. Its casualties are the wasted lives of our own citizens. I am speaking of the war on drugs. And I cannot help but wonder how many more lives, and how much more money, will be wasted before another Robert McNamara admits what is plain for all to see: the war on drugs is a failure."
journalism. This reputation meshed nicely with Cronkite's wire service experience, and in 1968 the CBS Evening News began to surpass The Huntley-Brinkley Report in viewership during the summer months.
One of Walter Cronkite's trademarks was ending the CBS Evening News with the phrase "..And that's the way it is," followed by the date.Beginning with January 16, 1980, Day 50 of the Iran hostage crisis, Cronkite added the length of the hostages' captivity to the show's closing to remind the audience of the unresolved situation, ending only on Day 444, January 20, 1981.
Walter contrasted his support for accountable global government with the opposition to it by politically active Christian fundamentalists in the United States: "Even as with the American rejection of the League of Nations, our failure to live up to our obligations to the United Nations is led by a handful of willful senators who choose to pursue their narrow, selfish political objectives at the cost of our nation’s conscience. They pander to and are supported by the Christian Coalition and the rest of the religious right wing. Their leader, Pat Robertson, has written that we should have a world government but only when the messiah arrives. Any attempt to achieve world order before that time must be the work of the Devil! Well join me… I'm glad to sit here at
the right hand of Satan."
Walter 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. In the letter, Cronkite wrote: "Today, our nation is fighting two wars: one abroad and one at home. While the war in Iraq is in the headlines, the other war is still being fought on our own streets. Its casualties are the wasted lives of our own citizens. I am speaking of the war on drugs. And I cannot help but wonder how many more lives, and how much more money, will be wasted before another Robert McNamara admits what is plain for all to see: the war on drugs is a failure."
Walter Cronkite stepped down from the anchor desk at CBS News in 1981.
Walter's farewell statement:
“This is my last broadcast as the anchorman of The CBS Evening News; for me, it's a moment for which I long have planned, but which, nevertheless, comes with some sadness. For almost two decades, after all, we've been meeting like this in the evenings, and I'll miss that. But those who have made anything of this departure, I'm afraid have made too much. This is but a transition, a passing of the baton. A great broadcaster and gentleman, Doug Edwards, preceded me in this job, and another, Dan Rather, will follow. And anyway, the person who sits here is but the most conspicuous member of a superb team of journalists; writers, reporters, editors, producers, and none of that will change. Furthermore, I'm not even going away! I'll be back from time to time with special news reports and documentaries, and, beginning in June, every week, with our science program, Universe. Old anchormen, you see, don't fade away; they just keep coming back for more. And that's the way it is: Friday, March 6, 1981. I'll be away on assignment, and Dan Rather will be sitting in here for the next few years. Good night."
Walter repeatedly criticized President George W. Bush and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also 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. Walter remarked that when Rupert Murdoch founded Fox News "it was intended to be a conservative organization — beyond that; "a far-right-wing organization".
Referring to his coverage of President Kennedy's assassination, in a 2006 TV interview with Nick Clooney, Walter recalled: "I choked up, I really had a little trouble...my eyes got a little wet...[what Kennedy had represented] was just all lost to us. Fortunately, I grabbed hold before I was actually [crying]."
Walter's farewell statement:
“This is my last broadcast as the anchorman of The CBS Evening News; for me, it's a moment for which I long have planned, but which, nevertheless, comes with some sadness. For almost two decades, after all, we've been meeting like this in the evenings, and I'll miss that. But those who have made anything of this departure, I'm afraid have made too much. This is but a transition, a passing of the baton. A great broadcaster and gentleman, Doug Edwards, preceded me in this job, and another, Dan Rather, will follow. And anyway, the person who sits here is but the most conspicuous member of a superb team of journalists; writers, reporters, editors, producers, and none of that will change. Furthermore, I'm not even going away! I'll be back from time to time with special news reports and documentaries, and, beginning in June, every week, with our science program, Universe. Old anchormen, you see, don't fade away; they just keep coming back for more. And that's the way it is: Friday, March 6, 1981. I'll be away on assignment, and Dan Rather will be sitting in here for the next few years. Good night."
Walter repeatedly criticized President George W. Bush and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also 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. Walter remarked that when Rupert Murdoch founded Fox News "it was intended to be a conservative organization — beyond that; "a far-right-wing organization".
Referring to his coverage of President Kennedy's assassination, in a 2006 TV interview with Nick Clooney, Walter recalled: "I choked up, I really had a little trouble...my eyes got a little wet...[what Kennedy had represented] was just all lost to us. Fortunately, I grabbed hold before I was actually [crying]."
Awards and Honors
The journalism school at Arizona State University was re-named in his honor. He returned to campus each year to talk with students and present the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.
In 1968, the faculty of the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University voted to award Cronkite the Carr Van Anda Award "for enduring contributions to journalism." In 1970, Cronkite received a "Freedom of the Press" George Polk Award.
In 1981, the year Walter retired, Jimmy Carter awarded Cronkite the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1985, Walter Cronkite was honored with the induction into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
On March 1, 2006, Walter Cronkite became the first non-astronaut to receive NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award. Among Cronkite's numerous awards were four Peabody Awards For Excellence In Broadcasting.
In 2008, The state-of-the-art journalism education complex in the heart of ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus was also built in his honor. The Walter Cronkite Regents Chair in Communication seats the Texas College of Communications dean.
Walter was the recipient of the William White Award for Journalistic Merit, an Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the George Polk Journalism Award and a Gold Medal from the International Radio and Television Society.
He was a longtime member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Walter's 1996 autobiography, “A Reporter’s Life,” was a bestseller. The taped memoirs became an integral part of an eight-part television series "Cronkite Remembers", which was shown on the Discovery Channel.
Walter Cronkite, being an avid sailor, wrote “South by Southeast,” a record of his impressions sailing the waterways from Chesapeake Bay to Key West. and a sequel, “North by Northeast.”
Walter Cronkite was reported to be gravely ill and on the verge of death, in late June 2009. He died several weeks later, on July 17, 2009, at his home in New York City, at the age of 92.
And that's the way it is: Thursday, March 11, 2010.
Good Night "Uncle Walter".
The journalism school at Arizona State University was re-named in his honor. He returned to campus each year to talk with students and present the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.
In 1968, the faculty of the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University voted to award Cronkite the Carr Van Anda Award "for enduring contributions to journalism." In 1970, Cronkite received a "Freedom of the Press" George Polk Award.
In 1981, the year Walter retired, Jimmy Carter awarded Cronkite the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1985, Walter Cronkite was honored with the induction into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
On March 1, 2006, Walter Cronkite became the first non-astronaut to receive NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award. Among Cronkite's numerous awards were four Peabody Awards For Excellence In Broadcasting.
In 2008, The state-of-the-art journalism education complex in the heart of ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus was also built in his honor. The Walter Cronkite Regents Chair in Communication seats the Texas College of Communications dean.
Walter was the recipient of the William White Award for Journalistic Merit, an Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the George Polk Journalism Award and a Gold Medal from the International Radio and Television Society.
He was a longtime member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Walter's 1996 autobiography, “A Reporter’s Life,” was a bestseller. The taped memoirs became an integral part of an eight-part television series "Cronkite Remembers", which was shown on the Discovery Channel.
Walter Cronkite, being an avid sailor, wrote “South by Southeast,” a record of his impressions sailing the waterways from Chesapeake Bay to Key West. and a sequel, “North by Northeast.”
Walter Cronkite was reported to be gravely ill and on the verge of death, in late June 2009. He died several weeks later, on July 17, 2009, at his home in New York City, at the age of 92.
And that's the way it is: Thursday, March 11, 2010.
Good Night "Uncle Walter".
QUOTATIONS BY WALTER CRONKITE
"We are not educated well enough to perform the necessary act of intelligently selecting our leaders."
"There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free. "
"The perils of duck hunting are great - especially for the duck."
"Our job is only to hold up the mirror - to tell and show the public what has happened."
"Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine."
"In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story."
"I`ve gone from the most trusted man in America to one of the most debated."
"I want to say that probably 24 hours after I told CBS that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday, I was already regretting it. And I regretted it every day since."
"I think somebody ought to do a survey as to how many great, important men have quit to spend time with their families who spent any more time with their family."
"I think it is absolutely essential in a democracy to have competition in the media, a lot of competition, and we seem to be moving away from that."
"I can`t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn`t give this game of life everything he`s got."
"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that`s supposed to be enough."
"Dan Rather and I just aren`t especially chummy."
"America`s health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system."
"I am dumbfounded that there hasn’t been a crackdown with the libel and slander laws on some of these would-be writers and reporters on the Internet."
"When Moses was alive, these pyramids were a thousand years old Here began the history of architecture. Here people learned to measure time by a calendar, to plot the stars by astronomy and chart the earth by geometry. And here they developed that most awesome of all ideas – the idea of eternity."
"And that`s the way it is."
"It is a seldom proffered argument as to the advantages of a free press that it has a major function in keeping the government itself informed as to what the government is doing."
"Probably the most important single element that I found in my own marriage was a sense of humor. My wife had a delicious sense of humor, and I think I have an adequate one.
The funny things Betsy did to me on an almost daily basis could fill up one of those old Sears, Roebuck catalogs. She just wouldn't take things seriously that didn't need to be taken seriously. It was tough for us to get together and try to solve a serious problem because humor would begin to creep in-which would save the day most of the time."
“My piece just kind of was another bullet in his rear end.”
"We know that no one should tell a woman she has to bear an unwanted child. We know that religious beliefs cannot define patriotism."
Walter Cronkite - Liberalism in media - August 15, 2003 - "More likely it is because most of us served our journalistic apprenticeships as reporters covering the seamier side of our cities -- the crimes, the tenement fires, the homeless and the hungry, the underclothed and undereducated. We reached our intellectual adulthood with daily close-ups of the inequality in a nation that was founded on the commitment to equality for all. So we tend to side with the powerless rather than the powerful."
"If that is what makes us liberals, so be it, just as long as in reporting the news we adhere to the first ideals of good journalism -- that news reports must be fair, accurate and unbiased."
"Incidentally, I looked up the definition of "liberal" in a Random House dictionary. It gave the synonyms for "liberal" as "progressive," "broad-minded," "unprejudiced," "beneficent." The antonyms it offered: "reactionary" and "intolerant." "
"There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free. "
"The perils of duck hunting are great - especially for the duck."
"Our job is only to hold up the mirror - to tell and show the public what has happened."
"Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine."
"In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story."
"I`ve gone from the most trusted man in America to one of the most debated."
"I want to say that probably 24 hours after I told CBS that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday, I was already regretting it. And I regretted it every day since."
"I think somebody ought to do a survey as to how many great, important men have quit to spend time with their families who spent any more time with their family."
"I think it is absolutely essential in a democracy to have competition in the media, a lot of competition, and we seem to be moving away from that."
"I can`t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn`t give this game of life everything he`s got."
"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that`s supposed to be enough."
"Dan Rather and I just aren`t especially chummy."
"America`s health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system."
"I am dumbfounded that there hasn’t been a crackdown with the libel and slander laws on some of these would-be writers and reporters on the Internet."
"When Moses was alive, these pyramids were a thousand years old Here began the history of architecture. Here people learned to measure time by a calendar, to plot the stars by astronomy and chart the earth by geometry. And here they developed that most awesome of all ideas – the idea of eternity."
"And that`s the way it is."
"It is a seldom proffered argument as to the advantages of a free press that it has a major function in keeping the government itself informed as to what the government is doing."
"Probably the most important single element that I found in my own marriage was a sense of humor. My wife had a delicious sense of humor, and I think I have an adequate one.
The funny things Betsy did to me on an almost daily basis could fill up one of those old Sears, Roebuck catalogs. She just wouldn't take things seriously that didn't need to be taken seriously. It was tough for us to get together and try to solve a serious problem because humor would begin to creep in-which would save the day most of the time."
“My piece just kind of was another bullet in his rear end.”
"We know that no one should tell a woman she has to bear an unwanted child. We know that religious beliefs cannot define patriotism."
Walter Cronkite - Liberalism in media - August 15, 2003 - "More likely it is because most of us served our journalistic apprenticeships as reporters covering the seamier side of our cities -- the crimes, the tenement fires, the homeless and the hungry, the underclothed and undereducated. We reached our intellectual adulthood with daily close-ups of the inequality in a nation that was founded on the commitment to equality for all. So we tend to side with the powerless rather than the powerful."
"If that is what makes us liberals, so be it, just as long as in reporting the news we adhere to the first ideals of good journalism -- that news reports must be fair, accurate and unbiased."
"Incidentally, I looked up the definition of "liberal" in a Random House dictionary. It gave the synonyms for "liberal" as "progressive," "broad-minded," "unprejudiced," "beneficent." The antonyms it offered: "reactionary" and "intolerant." "
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