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A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year
For decades, Walter Cronkite was known as "the most trusted man in America." Millions across the nation welcomed him into their homes, first as a print reporter for the United Press on the front lines of World War II, and later, in the emerging medium of television, as a host of numerous documentary programs and as anchor of the CBS Evening News, from 1962 until his retirement in 1981. Yet this very public figure, undoubtedly the twentieth century's most revered journalist, was a remarkably private man; few know the full story of his life. Drawing on unprecedented access to Cronkite's private papers as well as interviews with his family and friends, Douglas Brinkley now brings this American icon into focus as never before.
Brinkley traces Cronkite's story from his roots in Missouri and Texas through the Great Depression, during which he began his career, to World War II, when he gained notice reporting with Allied troops from North Africa, D-day, and the Battle of the Bulge. In 1950, Edward R. Murrow recruited him to work for CBS, where he covered presidential elections, the space program, Vietnam, and the first televised broadcasts of the Olympic Games, as both a reporter and later as an anchor for the evening news. Cronkite was also witness to—and the nation's voice for—many of the most profound moments in modern American history, including the Kennedy assassination, Apollos 11 and 13, Watergate, the Vietnam War, and the Iran hostage crisis.
Epic, intimate, and masterfully written, Cronkite is the much-anticipated biography of anextraordinary American life, told by one of our most brilliant and respected historians.
Prologue 1
Part I The Making of a Reporter
1 Missouri Boy 15
2 Houston Youth 33
3 Learning a Trade 55
4 Making of a Unipresser 87
Part II The Second World War
5 Gearing Up for Europe 111
6 The Writing Sixty-Ninth 140
7 Dean of the Air War 171
8 Gliding to V-E Day 192
9 From the Nuremberg Trials to Russia 219
Part III Cold War Broadcaster
10 Infancy of TV News 237
11 Election Night and UNIVAC 262
12 Mr. CBS Utility Man 285
13 The Huntley and Brinkley Challenge 302
14 Torch Is Passed 331
15 New Space Frontier on CBS 367
Part IV Anchorman
16 Anchorman of Camelot 399
17 The Kennedy Assassination 438
18 Who's Afraid of the Nielsen Ratings? 475
19 Paley's Attempted Smackdown 506
20 Civil Rights and Project Gemini 540
21 What to Do About Vietnam? 568
22 The Tet Offensive 614
Part V Top Game
23 Calm and Chaos of 1968 651
24 Mr. Moon Shot 684
25 Avatar of Earth Day 713
26 The Nixon-versus-CBS War 740
27 Reportable Truth in the Age of Nixon 769
28 Fan Clubs, Stalkers, and Political Good-byes 812
29 A Time to Heal 851
30 Live with Jimmy Carter 880
Part VI The Spokesperson
31 Retirement Blues 921
32 Struggling Elder Statesman 959
33 Defiant Liberal 993
34 "The World's Oldest Reporter" 1033
35 The New Millennium 1069
Epilogue: Electronic Uncle Sam 1107
Acknowledgments 1127
Biographical Glossary 1150
Notes 1171
Author's Interviews 1404
Dr_Wilson_Trivino
Posted July 1, 2012
As a child of the 1970s when I think about Walter Cronkite, I don’t really remember seeing him broadcast the news on television. I have watched countless replays and reports on this iconic figure but he seems to me more of as a familiar great uncle. I did meet him once and he came across as that crazy uncle everyone has, who is full of stories that revolve around him.
In Cronkite by Douglas Brinkley, it gave me a new perspective on this newsman. He came to be in an age of the new world of television. What I found fascinating is that many of the criticism of television reporting in the day are the same that you hear about the new journalism on the internet. That these news bits are superficial, they are not real reporting, and that anyone now can call themselves a reporter.
What you learn in this book is that Cronkite was a make no waves kind of guy. The kind that everyone liked, he had a knack for sharing the events of the day in an easy conversational style. This boy from middle America could connect and until this day still holds the title the most trusted man in television. If he said it, it must be true, you could take his word to the bank as the old maxim goes.
Cronkite also was a part of the greatest generation the ones that tried to do the right thing and a precursor to the “me” generation that we live in today. Cronkite covered the great stories of his day, the assassination of President Kennedy, the space race, and world events.
As Brinkley masterfully does in his writings he takes you into his world, as if you were a fly on the course of his life. You feel closer to this distant uncle and wish you would have been more appreciative of him while he was still around. Maybe he wasn’t as crazy as you thought.
A quick read, Cronkite takes you back to a simpler time where the world was not so noisy with information overload and America was the shinny city on the hill.
A good read for fans or those who want to learn more about this gentleman from Middle America.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.OlyDan
Posted June 26, 2012
I found this to be a very well written and intersting book. Since I don't care for "celebrity" biography, I was a bit concerned at first. But this book is anything but that. As a person who enjoys works of historical biography, I was not disappointed. Brinkley is an excellent writer and Cronkite a very intersting man. A very good book showing the growth of TV media, as well as the intersection between TV media and popular culture. Highly recommend this book.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.NewsieQ
Posted September 28, 2012
About 15 years ago, I read Walter Cronkite’s autobiography, A Reporter’s Life, and was extremely disappointed in it. It seemed a superficial and half-hearted attempt at chronicling his life. That may be due to the fact that I read his autobiography about the time I read Personal History by Katharine Graham, an autobiography which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998. Personal History was an amazing book, meticulously researched and sourced, and insightful. A Reporter’s Life suffered in comparison. When I saw that a real historian was writing a biography of Uncle Walter, I bought it right away. I was NOT disappointed. While it is not an “authorized biography,” Cronkite’s children were helpful to the author, and wanted a complete story of their father told, warts and all. And there are a few warts. Although I figured there was no love lost between Cronkite and his successor as CBS anchorman, Dan Rather, it appears that Cronkite detested Rather – and was elated when Rather’s career crashed and burned over some very sloppy reporting about President George W. Bush and his not-so-illustrious career in the Texas Air National Guard during the Viet Nam era. Cronkite is an engaging work of history by an academic who doesn’t write like one. And even with all the “warts” revealed, the book’s subject still comes out looking like a hero. Douglas Brinkley also evokes superbly the times during which Cronkite was a working journalist – World War II, the Kennedy assassination, the Cold War, the NASA space program -- and sheds light on the people Cronkite worked with and reported on. Cronkite is over 800 pages, heavy enough to serve as a doorstop, but well worth the time it takes to read and absorb it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 5, 2012
A very detailed description of Walter Cronkite's life.
Great overview along with the details of Mr. Cronkite's early life and a great description of the anchorman years.
Probably a bit too much gossip description or interactions about Dan Rather, Barbara Walters and other competitors involved in the journalism field. But all-in-all a great book too read on an individual who was so well known, trusted and part of 20th Century America.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 10, 2012
Simply an outstanding book
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 22, 2012
Great book that provides details of Walter Cronkite's rise to the CBS news editor/anchorman and his passion for unbiased news reporting.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.jklindley
Posted June 29, 2012
I have read ½ of the book so far. My father was a political journalist and much of his journey in journalism was very similar. I like that the book is not just about Walter Cronkite, but also touches on many of the others in the field. I knew of all them, as my father was only 5 years older than Walter Cronkite, and was a journalist and in Washington DC. I am enjoying the insider’s view of the adventures of life.
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Posted June 28, 2012
I especially liked the historical picture of CBS news and the workings of the press during world and national events and news anchor struggles with management.
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Posted July 28, 2012
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Overview
A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year
For decades, Walter Cronkite was known as "the most trusted man in America." Millions across the nation welcomed him into their homes, first as a print reporter for the United Press on the front lines of World War II, and later, in the emerging medium of television, as a host of numerous documentary programs and as anchor of the CBS Evening News, from 1962 until his retirement in 1981. Yet this very public figure, undoubtedly the ...