Walter Cronkite

He met Mary Elizabeth “Betsy” Maxwell in 1936, while working as a sports announcer for ‘KCMO (AM)’ radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, and got married to her in March 1940. They had three children: Nancy, Mary Kathleen, and Walter Leland Cronkite III.

He loved sailing and owned a custom-made boat with which he often sailed in the coastal waters of the US.

His wife died of cancer in March 2005. Following this, he dated singer Joanna Simon, till his death. He died at the age of 92, due to cerebrovascular disease, in July 2009, at his home in New York City.

Walter Leland Cronkite was born on November 4, 1916, in St. Joseph, Missouri, US, to Helen Lena and Dr. Walter Leland Cronkite. He was raised in Kansas City, Missouri, till the age of 10, after which he moved with his family to Houston, Texas.

He started his education at the ‘Woodrow Wilson Elementary School’ and later joined the ‘Lanier Junior High School.’ He then went on to graduate from the ‘San Jacinto High School’ and joined the ‘University of Texas at Austin.’

During his high-school days, he was part of the ‘Boy Scouts’ and was the editor of the high-school newspaper. In college, he worked with the ‘Daily Texan’ and was a member of the Nu chapter of the ‘Chi Phi Fraternity.’ In his quest for journalism, he also became a member of the Houston chapter of ‘DeMolay.’

Walter quit college in 1935, before completing his degree, to take up a full-time career in newspaper reporting. Within a year, he gained entry into the broadcasting industry as an announcer for ‘WKY’ radio station in Oklahoma.

Cronkite soon gained recognition as “Walter Wilcox,” which was his broadcast name. He became a member of the ‘United Press’ in 1937 and established himself as one of the best American war reporters during World War II, covering wars in North Africa and Europe.

He received an offer from ‘CBS News,’ to join the ‘Murrow Boys’ team that covered the war and to take over the Moscow bureau. However, he declined the offer and decided to continue with the ‘United Press.’

He was one of the first war correspondents to report on the Anglo–American campaign against the French, during ‘Operation Torch’ in North Africa. He flew in a ‘United States Army Air Forces’ bomber over Germany and even operated the machine gun of the aircraft in combat.

He covered the ‘Nuremberg’ trials after the war and was the main reporter of the ‘United Press’ in Moscow, from 1946 to 1948.

Cronkite joined ‘CBS News’ in 1950, to become the anchor of the Sunday evening news program called ‘Up To the Minute’ and covered the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections with his program titled ‘Pick the Winner.’

His major contributions have been as a reporter for the ‘United Press’ and ‘CBS.’

In 1996, he published his book, ‘A Reporter’s Life,’ which narrated his experiences as a reporter during World War II and the period that followed.