50 years after Cronkite took the anchor chair, his legacy lives on

(CBS News) - Fifty years ago, John Kennedy was in the White House, and Barack Obama was in diapers. The future of Berlin was in the morning papers, and the future of CBS News moved into the anchor chair.

"Good evening from CBS News headquarters in New York. Civil war threatens Algeria tonight," Walter Cronkite announced on during one of his early broadcasts.

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Newspaper ads heralded the arrival of a new era at CBS News. Forty-five-year-old Cronkite, who had covered war, political conventions, the Olympics and space shots, was about to become a daily presence in America's living rooms.

"This is the evening edition of CBS News with Walter Cronkite," the announcer proclaimed.

The new set featured a bank of black-and-white monitors. Variety, the showbiz magazine, called it "visual razzmatazz." The technology was primitive by today's standards.

"Paris is worried by developments in its one-time colonial capital. Robert Kleinman reported from there earlier today by telestar," Cronkite stated during the broadcast.

Unfortunately, Cronkite's debut was not recorded. This edition -- four months later -- is the only known recording of the broadcast from that era.

"More news in a moment after this word from Aerowax," Cronkite said.

Don Hewitt, who went on to create "60 Minutes," was the producer. But, Cronkite took the title managing editor.

"Everyone understood that Cronkite was the last word on how stories were handled," Sanford Socolow explained to CBS News.

Socolow eventually became the executive producer of the CBS Evening news with Walter Cronkite. He was there for that very first broadcast, which ended in Cronkite inviting viewers to get the details of the stories he'd reported in the next day's papers.

"An explosion broke out amongst the suits and management, who were very upset that Walter was sending people to read newspapers instead of coming to him for the news," Socolow recalled.

So, Cronkite came up with an alternative sign off, the one he'd use for the next 19 years: "And that's the way it is." He would eventually pass the anchor torch to Dan Rather.

And, that's the way it was April 16, 1962.

[GORD2100]

I am old enough to remember my frustration in seeing my beloved Douglas Edwards replaced by Walter but it worked out well for both Walter and Doug and us viewers. Scott Pelley is continuing the rich tradiiton of quality reporting on The CBS Evening News.

[Davlen12]

Amazed by the comments that say we withdrew from Vietnam and nothing happened! Obviously written by folks too young to remember and who were never taught recent history. North Vietnamese tanks rolled south taking over the entire country; the people of the south were rounded up in "re-education camps", hundreds of thousands of refuges fled in leaky, over-crowded boats; next door the Kmer Rouge was emboldened by the US departure and began a genocide that would claim 2.5 million lives in under two years.

[longtree-2009]

grandfather says cronkite was the best ever and that there has never been anyone since cronkite that even comes close to the man.

[MagnaCartaUK]

I never had the priviledge of seeing this man present my news, but I remember seeing him on T.V. in Britain. He was a very concise, articulate, measured news-caster, and one that would have graced any T.V. broadcast. It would have been nice to have him at the B.B.C. on an exchange-a-newscaster deal! That and the fact he was a cat-lover says volumes for the man. He passed on one Friday in July 2009 if I remember correctly - a sad day indeed. Hope you value him - he realy was very good.

[RichZubaty]

Walter Cronkite was the best, most thorough, most responsible TV newsman of all time. Yeah, he was slow getting off the mark about Vietnam because, like Obama, he believed the generals. But once he went over there and saw for himself that we were fighting a guerrilla police action against a population that hated us (like Afghanistan today) the tide turned, and we began the slow, painful withdrawal. If not for his brave reporting we'd still be fighting in Vietnam today, like Korea! We left and what happened? Nothing. Just like what is gonna happen when we leave Afghanistan. Nothing. Bless you Walter.

[TheHelix]

Telstar was not launched until July 10th 1962, so this clip of a cross by "Telstar" must have been one of a very few. The web clip does say that the clip was four months after Walter's debut but I don't think that made it to air. Telstar only lasted a year before being disabled by high energy particles from a US nuclear test. We had the good fortune to have Walter with us for many more years!

[Mark_this]

Kudos, TheHelix, for catching this. My father worked in network news for Cronkite's rivals at NBC and I remember the big deal that Telstar, Early Bird and other first generation communication satellites represented. My father helped coordinate the broadcast of the JFK funeral to the UK and Europe and I seem to recall they could only beam a half-hour of live coverage to Europe because the satellites back then were not in a geosynchronous orbit. It was the same situation beaming TV signals to the states for Churchill's funeral in 1965. We've become so used to seeing live satellite feeds from remote corners that most people today don't realize it was absolutely cutting-edge technology in 1962.
Also, I'm slightly appalled that nobody at CBSNews.com caught the mistake — it's "Telstar" not "telestar". I realize that the 20- and 30-somethings producing content for the website were not alive in 1962, but even so they should make it their business to know the history of their organization. Or at least Google unfamiliar terms. Or ask somebody with a few gray hairs. Someplace in heaven, Uncle Walter is not amused.

[TJphoto]

Mr. Cronkite, You knew what "Who-What-When-Where- & Why meant. In the the words of Edward R. Morrow. "Just because your voice reaches half way around the Globe, doesn't make it any more important when it only reached to the end of the bar." Today look at what what "Fair & Balanced" means. Thank you for raising the bar which today has sunk to new lows for the uneducated.

[DAlbert1st]

I was only 6 months old when he started as an anchor for CBS and don't remember any of what he broadcasted, but I can still hear him as he would then finish each broadcast with, "And that's the way it is..."

[TakeNoBull]

Walter Cronkite propagandist for the enemy

[plrbr]

WE had just beat the main-force Vietcong and the NVA in Feb. 1968, really beat them, and good ole Uncle Walter declared we had lost the war. Well he helped defeat us at home. I hope the old commie rots in hell where he belongs!

[TakeNoBull]

You exactly right. Cronkite did all he could to feed the anti war protestors at home. USA won the TET offensive Cronkite lied to the nation said we lost. He was the Jane Fonda on the home front.

[RichZubaty]

TakeNoBull is fulla bull if he thinks we had any business being in Vietnam other than making war profiteers rich. Win? Win what? We left and nothing happened. Other than the USSR flew apart at the seams. Walter a Commie? Look at China and tell me about commies. You wanna point your bitterness somewhere point it at Wall Street. They're the "commies". Privatize profits socialize costs. They killed us then and they're killing us now. It's 44 years later. Wake up.