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Cronkite made his radio debut as a football announcer in 1937. This 1958 photo shows him with Sandra Nemser broadcasting CBS Radio's Answer Please.
AP Photo![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-10_h3vmnp](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/O5QL3IYNCJI6ZC5SR2IPNOVREY.jpg?auth=8b1a4eda5a99ad957349a3a53ae1685a0a4db488944236f709957aec824b43b8&width=800&height=812)
Walter Cronkite on The Morning Show in 1954.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-14_fup9q0](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/P4P5UFTDBBNSBL7F2DDL7FZDYE.jpg?auth=ae9f405e6b27e9adabce0f0da74cccd4e399d3de98a6843b5e538c31539be2b6&width=800&height=560)
President Truman gives Cronkite a televised tour of a newly renovated White House in 1952. They stand in the Diplomatic Reception Room, Cronkite tethered by microphone to his off-screen crew.
AP Photo![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-18_uvevme](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/ODVQZTY5KFJ6PFZMJHJCKA3LFI.jpg?auth=8843f05f34231f359cec3d7e91427594bef6633b3ac664537457276fb5e696df&width=800&height=755)
A cameraman sports 1957's most high-tech equipment as Cronkite announces the inauguration of President Eisenhower.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-6_x9oxcb](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/IMG64DSE5JPJRJILRGY5276MFE.jpg?auth=747b4088c056ed1f9742bcf7d881315f49eaa5879a2ece0c7546ad4265cc6922&width=800&height=560)
Then-Vice President Richard Nixon shares a sofa with Cronkite in 1960.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-7_mx5qx6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/4LHUMAG475ORJHHAJOTUZVNDNI.jpg?auth=c2f7a999da37f579f80c809a487e24689eced238a32621d92b886676b376d227&width=800&height=560)
Cronkite traveled to Normandy to commemorate D-Day with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1963.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-16_sni3an](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/A6B4DGIE45L53LRCN5OEGY2FAM.jpg?auth=20340fe734bf4ad0bbb5fa8887e10a3277f054ccaff4268c02a5e6607ef99892&width=800&height=794)
New Hampshire was a big primary, then, too: ca. 1965, Cronkite stands with CBS producer Bill Leonard, executive producer of the CBS News Election Unit, in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Hulton Archive / Getty Images![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-5_s6m0t2](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/QIF6OSNZSRNAJGTV4HMURMT4AY.jpg?auth=a939da7880cb2a754c0df9d1831321deeb79567297367a237abcacb216a35f75&width=800&height=560)
John F. Kennedy talks to Cronkite in a segment for the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite in Hyannis Port, Mass.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-19_qy8imj](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/KN3S7KZNORLVDOKNNWJGEQFM7M.jpg?auth=5127a74b3cfdfc23d1ec3c941dd06fa9e638638dc5a33353ffef758159f714f6&width=800&height=560)
Cronkite reports the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Friday, November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-3_ict7zx](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/BWYKRQWND5MYPAH5QA47P7OR6I.jpg?auth=fad8edd2f0b1f774ade38e18aba917bb2079f4b219814b2d92856e7db93a5e00&width=800&height=1027)
Cronkite delivers news from Vietnam in 1968.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-17_s8riuj](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/VFNVOEELKZKDTAA3NG7KTUF6LY.jpg?auth=ed6dbb58dce2db9337cc6cde46cb3fadd8504d0ad0f3599257f58a2fc2ec72e2&width=800&height=560)
Former astronaut Wally Schirra talks to Cronkite—who holds a copy of the New York Daily News—about Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, the day of the famed lunar landing.
CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-11_ypz3pv](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/OZ2HIWRPGNP4HJY22YTJKQGGMQ.jpg?auth=23d74684e96d32697392c6419dbc4610a19e1d1312846f1c3e660d30e360e467&width=800&height=1018)
In pinstripes and cufflinks at the 1974 CBS anchor desk.
CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-9_cctu17](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/BSDLA2JSDRN3LMVWCYGL3CHHLI.jpg?auth=3bd72b229e4db7dea5cadfa192582e5dbbc1946d0745b22c0390ae35d903bdcb&width=800&height=560)
Ted Kennedy and Walter Cronkite at the 1976 Democratic National Convention.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-20_uehrqz](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/JTAIQRNFDJMLRNIVNHNMDKMNO4.jpg?auth=1bad4700daeeadaae639faf395e66919563353bdf633e382b25fba705a9b34c8&width=800&height=560)
Cronkite broadcasts the CBS Evening News while in a low orbit space test of weightlessness.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-4_k5gue0](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/OMI67IDQBVJ4FC2EBYTPWY4RQI.jpg?auth=44dc325d757f5e0f62b61c564deed26abaff882d86074bfc1499245ba1fa396a&width=800&height=1141)
In 1979, the newsman was awarded the Governor's Award at the Emmy's.
AP Photo![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-23_asr4dg](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/RKF7F7ZZ3FOWNGP655OVDUPIUQ.jpg?auth=32756bea08e7e8e36c4a0a20fdd2ea965e40e2bda76229255eb1460440de8471&width=800&height=1084)
Cronkite talks with George Lucas about the science behind science fiction on Universe in 1980.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-12_x3i9xq](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/N2LVOYN745MU3AWOWWX36R263Q.jpg?auth=2f370f9927014c3e3742f548eab6bf5a207698c9e308a978badd38e75cc67dd3&width=800&height=560)
In 1981, Cronkite retired after 31 years at CBS. The anchor desk went to Dan Rather, who stuck around CBS until 2006, ultimately departing to produce and report for his own network.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-15_tp1smg](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/UIYJGVNAWBJAHCPIDKI6X7KCJI.jpg?auth=9d5948f803eddb59b80a763d8faa4bc88dcdbe9e1603f705e14897cc8d0c104f&width=800&height=560)
A pensive Cronkite sits at the CBS News anchor desk before his final broadcast on March 6, 1981.
CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-24_zdpibs](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/JCBURDYS6FMADIY6Y5S2CUSF5Y.jpg?auth=a6457064be3a4aedda62b50177a6580b040b5a0e410c68d7a11b9d0f965af46f&width=800&height=832)
Walter Cronkite and his wife, Betty, aboard their 42-foot yawl.
CBS / Landov![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-2_uix0p6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/MUZIK2T6KNPNBLTKXXO37MVGYU.jpg?auth=c40af93f6379cb2af7d5f560127ada38be3e68187de31a6d585698f5c9a10809&width=800&height=854)
As chairman of the Free TV for Straight Talk Coalition, Cronkite worked with President Clinton to call on broadcasters to give free TV time to political candidates in 1997.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-1_vpsmsy](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/PGK4WZMVPVNM3HUIX5W6EBMYBU.jpg?auth=20d99e752f18ca9a9f58f64f696ac8b95c94c747ea7e82da2b964786a259474f&width=800&height=560)
Cronkite attends the International Radio And Television Society Foundation's 2004 Gold Medal Dinner with Brian Williams, Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw.
Evan Agostini / Getty Images![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-13_k4uxsw](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/YPH7XBM64NMPPDFA5XSHBWRG6Q.jpg?auth=a8d03034e81d60f0a65bbf53db68cead7c7add17a38c5fc101b159d5c72ac612&width=800&height=560)
Among Cronkite's most sober moments was announcing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. At a 2005 forum at Boston's John F. Kennedy Library, the newsman met with Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg.
Steven Senne / AP Photo![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-21_zznqmw](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/UNC5A74YXVMB3AGQ2O3MUJHY6Y.jpg?auth=23606f70a62bf7294ef753e74318b9989d3b21374ab2a74fd06935dfcee8ceca&width=800&height=560)
The retired newsman inspects a gun position on a B17 bomber at an air museum in England in 2005. Cronkite flew in a B17 over Normandy while covering the D-Day landings in 1944.
Chris Young / AP Photo![galleries/2009/06/26/walter-cronkite-1916-2009/walter-cronkite-22_ypbhon](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/M6B5BHQXEBL4HN6ZG5EQT774AM.jpg?auth=7175447e9ec86808452cd8805dc3f6261b0c202be8925499f0899b3ffddcd501&width=800&height=1065)
Hailed as the "most trusted man in America" during his 18-year stint at the CBS Evening News anchor desk, Cronkite sits under a projected image during a forum at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston in 2005.
Steven Senne / AP Photo