I was two years old when Walter Cronkite stepped down from his role as anchor for the CBS Evening News. I don’t remember ever having watched any of his news specials or special reports as I was growing up. But somehow, despite the fact that I don’t have a specific memory of watching him on television, I feel as though I know Walter Cronkite well. (He did do the voiceover narrations on the soundtrack recording of the Broadway Revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, but that’s not it.)
I just got finished watching Discovery Channel’s rebroadcast of Walter Cronkite Remembers, an eight-part series of Cronkite recalling his career and the multitude of world events that he was there to witness. It was an absolutely fascinating bit of television. Besides being a completely engaging history lesson through some of humanity’s most turbulent and exciting times, Cronkite brought a humanity and a personal insight to the history of that time period that I have never seen anywhere else. It was like listening to your grandfather tell stories from his life, only your grandpa is exceptionally intelligent, cogent, and has a truly amazing voice.
It’s always enthralling and exciting to watch someone who is at the top of their craft do what they have trained to do. Watching Walter Cronkite read the news, talk to the audience, and relate his stories was akin to watching Pavarotti sing, Michael Phelps swim, or Mario Batali cook. There was nobody better than Cronkite. Even well after his retirement, he was the master of television. His approach to the news was even-handed, suave, and above all, professional. He would never have lowered himself to the debauchery of modern evening news, or, even worse, jokes of news outlets like Fox News.
The other thing that really struck me when watching this recap of history through the eyes of one news journalist was this: as much as we have progressed as a people, we are still the same. I watched Cronkite recount story after story that could have just as easily belonged on the evening news within the last year: terrorism, war, dependence on foreign oil, poverty in America, the inadequacy of the American school system, crime, environmental catastrophes, natural disasters. Cronkite mentioned that the last century has seen the development of six major eras simultaneously—any of which could have stood on its own as an age of man. Despite this, however, we still have the same concerns, the same struggles, and the same battles to fight.
It was fascinating to watch Cronkite interview Anwar Al-Sadat, the former president of Egypt, and hear Sadat say that he hoped for peace in the middle east. Or to watch the lines at the pumps following the 1973 oil embargos and hear the talking heads complain about America’s dependence on foreign oil, and a 400% increase of gas prices causing a swift worldwide recession.
So, Walter, rest in peace. Even after your death, you’re still enlightening and enriching people.
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