When Walter Cronkite left the CBS anchor desk in 1981, he said "Old anchormen don't fade away; they just keep coming back for more."
And he did in recent years, appearing in documentaries on the Discovery Channel, and providing weekly commentaries for Retirement Living TV's "Cronkite Commentaries."
Cronkite told his viewers, "If I could tell you one thing about retirement, of course, one thing would be: Don't."
"Cronkite Commentaries" gave the veteran newsman a platform to offer his take on a host of hot-button issues.
Global warming was one topic he addressed, saying, "If ever there was a problem that the world had reason to discuss, it would be the matter of global warming and water."
Cronkite also turned his commentaries toward hot national issues, such as illegal immigration. "We brag about being a nation of immigrants," he said, "yet, time after time, newcomers to our shores have met prejudice and sometimes violent opposition from those already here."
Cronkite's time at CBS News was dominated by the Cold War, and he kept a critical eye on China-U.S. relations in the years after he left the newsdesk: "Maybe," he said in a commentary, "these two giants could learn to cooperate for their own sakes, and the good of the world," Cronkite said.
And just as he stated his opinion about Vietnam while th ewar was still raging, saying it was time the U.S. negotiated an end to it, Cronkite shared his perspective about the Iraq War in what would be his last broadcast:
"I guess the ultimate lesson is that, being a democracy, we the people, are responsible for the actions of our leaders."
Cronkite also shared this reflection with viewers: "Life has been very good to me and I intend to be good to it, right on down through to the end, whatever that may be."
Cronkite died Friday at age 92. A private funeral will be held Thursday at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York.
Cronkite's Final Commentaries
/ CBS
When Walter Cronkite left the CBS anchor desk in 1981, he said "Old anchormen don't fade away; they just keep coming back for more."
And he did in recent years, appearing in documentaries on the Discovery Channel, and providing weekly commentaries for Retirement Living TV's "Cronkite Commentaries."
Cronkite told his viewers, "If I could tell you one thing about retirement, of course, one thing would be: Don't."
"Cronkite Commentaries" gave the veteran newsman a platform to offer his take on a host of hot-button issues.
Global warming was one topic he addressed, saying, "If ever there was a problem that the world had reason to discuss, it would be the matter of global warming and water."
Cronkite also turned his commentaries toward hot national issues, such as illegal immigration. "We brag about being a nation of immigrants," he said, "yet, time after time, newcomers to our shores have met prejudice and sometimes violent opposition from those already here."
Cronkite's time at CBS News was dominated by the Cold War, and he kept a critical eye on China-U.S. relations in the years after he left the newsdesk: "Maybe," he said in a commentary, "these two giants could learn to cooperate for their own sakes, and the good of the world," Cronkite said.
And just as he stated his opinion about Vietnam while th ewar was still raging, saying it was time the U.S. negotiated an end to it, Cronkite shared his perspective about the Iraq War in what would be his last broadcast:
"I guess the ultimate lesson is that, being a democracy, we the people, are responsible for the actions of our leaders."
Cronkite also shared this reflection with viewers: "Life has been very good to me and I intend to be good to it, right on down through to the end, whatever that may be."
Cronkite died Friday at age 92. A private funeral will be held Thursday at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York.
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