Cronkite (111 page)

“Cronkite Diplomacy,” 529

Cronkite, F. P. (paternal grandfather), 13–14, 19, 21, 38

Cronkite, Helen Fritsche (mother), 14–15, 17, 18, 21, 25, 27–29, 38, 43, 46, 49, 80, 114, 178, 235, 255–56, 581, 591, 621, 622

Cronkite, Mary Elizabeth “Betsy” Maxwell (wife), 222, 231, 264, 278, 486, 500, 509, 525, 578, 592, 606

   children, 145–46, 153, 181, 231, 401–2

   courtship with Cronkite, 50–51, 54, 55, 56, 58, 60, 64

   death of, 644, 659

   on early years of marriage, 72–73

   family and personal life, 452, 578–79

   health issues, 624

   journalism career, 54, 55, 56, 70–71, 76, 136

   marriage to Walter, 69–70

   media profiles of, 306

   pilot’s license, 72

   and sailing, 581

   travels with Walter, 77, 134, 136–37, 138, 140, 147, 153, 310, 311, 398, 557, 617–18, 633–34

   and Walter during World War II, 71–85, 86–87, 88, 95, 103, 110, 113, 114–15, 131

   and Walter’s retirement, 535, 559

   on Walter’s star quality, 360

Cronkite, Mary Kathleen “Kathy” (daughter), 12, 41, 136, 137, 153, 181, 231, 327, 394, 401, 414, 453, 501, 521, 559–60, 580, 581, 583, 593, 624, 652, 656, 659, 663

Cronkite, Nancy (daughter), 145, 181, 231, 309, 315, 319, 327, 340, 401, 414, 453, 580–81, 624, 656, 659, 663

Cronkite, Walter, IV (grandson), 626

Cronkite, Walter Leland, Jr.

   and automobile racing, 16, 180–81, 243

   animal lover, 78

   annual Christmas Party, 500, 551

   archival papers of, 648

   awards and honors to, 436, 438, 454, 455, 458, 503, 532, 543, 548, 559, 583–84, 630, 648

   and Benjamin’s death, 600

   birth of, 15

   as bookie joint announcer, 231

   books on sailing, 579–80

   as a Boy Scout, 25

   with Braniff Airlines, 59–60, 61, 89

   business partnership, 579–80

   and cable television, 558–59

   on CBS board of directors, 584, 586

   cerebrovascular disease diagnosis, 652–53

   and charitable causes, 618–19

   childhood and family history, 11–21

   children, 145–46, 153, 181, 231, 401–2, 414–15, 452–53, 579, 580–81

   Christian upbringing, 28

   color blindness, 72, 98

   courtship with Betsy Maxwell, 50–51, 54, 55, 56, 58, 60, 64

   Credibility Gap Award to, class of ’33, 33

   Cronkite-Simon relationship, 646–47, 649, 653–54

   death of, 656–67

   and death of Bob Post, 101–2

   drinking problem, 39, 45, 578, 597–98

   Dutch and German heritage, 12–13, 71, 121, 128–29

   and elder-statesman role, 584–611

   entrepreneurial ventures, 579–80, 600–603, 618

   family and personal life, 231, 452–54, 578–82

   and father’s alcoholism, 27–28, 180, 492

   first car, 27

   fund-raising efforts, 582–83

   grandchildren, 580

   and the Gulf War, 605–6

   and ham radio operator’s license, 649

   health issues, 480, 512–13, 619–20, 622, 623–24, 632, 642, 652

   High Cronkite and Low Cronkite personas, 195, 517

   and high school class ring, 33, 34

   and high school reunions, 33–34

   high school sweetheart, 32, 36, 37, 38, 43–44, 45, 46, 50

   high school years, 29–33, 35

   honorary degrees to, 540, 633, 634

   in Houston public school system, 26–27

   journalism classes, 29, 30, 32

   journalism school named after, 583–84

   as King Features columnist, 637–39

   Latrio band, 92

   liberalism defense, 600–602, 622–23, 637

   “living legend” designation, 618

   marriage, 69–70

   on Martha’s Vineyard, 470, 491, 578–79, 593, 625, 626, 629–30, 649

   memoir, 15, 20, 40, 109, 139, 313, 355, 374, 461, 513, 597, 622, 656

   military service ineligibility, 72, 77, 121–22

   as “Most Trusted Man in America,” 481, 497, 582–83, 657

   and mother’s death, 621, 622

   and music, 592–93, 594, 623–24, 656

   nicknames, 12, 29, 96, 277, 310, 313

   and nightlife, parties, and strip clubs, 50, 469–70, 561, 592

   and 9/11, 633–36

   in Northridge earthquake, 612–13

   in Nuremberg, Germany, 131–36, 654

   paperboy jobs, 19–20, 26–27

   and parents’ divorce, 28

   pop culture knowledge, 190

   and prejudice, 24–25, 297–98

   Presidential Medal of Freedom to, 543

   and Rather feud, 595–97, 604, 644, 645, 646

   and Rather’s forced dismissal from CBS, 641–42

   residences, 70, 147, 181, 500–501, 624

   and retirement decision, 559, 566

   and sailing, 243–45, 306, 315, 317, 427, 439, 471, 480, 501, 524, 526–27, 535, 539, 579–80, 581–82, 594, 599, 602, 608, 620, 625–26, 649

   sailing memoir, 636–37

   and Sevareid’s death, 616

   speaking engagements, 197, 578, 600–603, 618, 622

   and Telstar communications satellite, 253–54

   twilight years, 647–55

   at University of Texas, 36–41, 44–45

   on USIA blacklist, 571–72, 620

   and Vietnam War, 301–3

   in Washington, D.C., 147–49, 151–66

   on
What’s My Line?
, 186–87

   and wife’s death, 644

   and World War II, 71–85

   youthful hobbies of, 23, 24

   youth in Houston, Texas, 22–34, 297–98

   
See also
aviation; CBS entries; early journalism career; radio career; television; television news

Cronkite, Walter Leland, Sr. (father), 12, 14–17, 20–21, 24–25, 27–28, 36, 45, 46

Cronkite, Walter Leland, III, “Chip” (son), 181, 231, 401, 410, 414–15, 432, 452, 453, 579, 580, 624, 634, 652, 653, 656, 659, 663

Cronkite Remembers
(documentary), 397, 496, 622, 623, 663

Cronkite Report
,
The
(Discovery Channel), 619, 620, 650

Cronkiters, 482–87

Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASU), 583–84, 648

Cronkite, Ward and Company, 619

Cronkitiana, 486, 648

Cronkititis, 418

Crosby, John, 158, 165, 175, 179

C-SPAN, 381, 389, 506, 558

Cuban Missile Crisis, 256

Culbert, David, 383–84

Cunningham, Chris, 82, 83

Cuomo, Mario, 574

Curtiss-Wright biplane, 11–12

Cushman, Robert, 372

Cuyahoga River, Ohio, fire of 1969, 429

Dachau death camps, 135

Daily News
(Saigon newspaper), 343

Daily Show, The
(NBC TV), 499, 666

Daily Texan, The
(college newspaper), 36, 37, 38, 44, 148, 648

Daley, Eleanor, 404

Daley, Richard J., 400, 403–4

   Cronkite’s interview with, 404–5, 406

Dalí, Salvador, 470, 579

Dallas, Texas, Kennedy assassination in, 266–84

Daly, John, 158, 167, 186

Daniel, Margaret Truman, 574

Dan Rather Reports
(HDNet), 644

Darrow, Clarence, 12

Davis, Elmer, 78, 167

Davis, John Paul, 44

Davis, Peter, 450

Davis, Rennie, 406

Dayan, Moshe, 529

Day, John, 248

daytime programs, CBS’s, 252, 288, 289, 354

D-day (invasion of Normandy), 80, 103, 110–14, 119, 288, 298–99, 572–73, 620

D-day (Plus
50
) (CNN), 620

“D-Day Plus Twenty Years: Eisenhower Returns to Normandy” (CBS News), 114, 288, 298–99

Dean, Morton, 604

de Gaulle, Charles, 147, 280

Dellinger, David, 406

Democratic National Committee, Watergate scandal, 164, 445, 470–71

Democratic National Convention (DNC)

   Cronkite’s demotion from 1964 DNC coverage, 317–19

   first televised, 1948, 141

   1928 (Houston, TX), 25

   1952 (Chicago), 159–66

   1956 (Chicago), 183–85, 186, 187

   1960 (Los Angeles), 203–6, 208–11

   1964 (Atlantic City), 307, 315–16, 317–22

   1968 (Chicago), 399, 400–401

   1972 (Miami Beach), 471–72

   1976 (New York City), 517, 518–19

   1980 (New York City), 542–43

   1984 (San Francisco), 573–76

Denmark, 125

dentistry, early, 13–14, 16, 17, 20–21, 27

Denver, John, 590

Denver Post, The
, 497, 508

Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S., 147, 148

Department of Defense, U.S., 196, 346, 371

   and Pentagon Papers, 458–60, 461–62, 463

   propaganda activities of, 449–50

Department of Justice, U.S., 177, 406, 454

Der Spiegel
, 305

Detroit News Magazine
, 153

Devlin, Art, 202

Dewey, Thomas, 147, 220, 311

“Dial-a-President” event, 526

Diaries
(Warhol), 593

Diary for Timothy, A
(TV documentary), 193

Didrikson, Babe, 156

Diem, Ngo Dinh, 261, 346

Dieppe, Battle of, 80

Dimbleby, Richard, 254

Discovery Channel, 329, 548, 558

   Cronkite and the, 609–10

   
Cronkite Remembers
on, 622, 623

   
Cronkite Report, The,
on, 619, 620

   Cronkite’s
Universe
on, 609

Disher, Leo, 82

Disney Channel, 558

Disney, Walt, 225

documentaries, news, 12, 34, 134

   
Eyewitness
(CBS), 179, 226, 228, 242, 243–45, 250, 253, 261

   “Harvest of Shame,” 208, 217, 219, 336

   narrated/hosted by Cronkite, 12, 34, 134, 609–10, 619, 622, 630, 654–55

   
NBC White Paper
, 217

   
Person to Person
(CBS), 189

   
See It Now
(CBS), 157, 177, 178, 219, 291, 293, 335

   
Sputnik One: The Soviet Space Satellite
(CBS), 194

   
Twentieth Century, The
(CBS), 179, 190, 191–94, 195, 196, 199, 200–201, 319, 320, 344, 350

   
You Are There
(CBS), 173–75, 176, 178, 179, 189, 191, 192, 196, 199, 333, 385, 458, 482

   
See also
CBS Reports
;
60 Minutes

Dole, Bob, 463, 621

Dombrow, Walter, 244, 343, 344, 345

Dos Passos, John, 131

Douglas Edwards with the News
(CBS News), 149, 150, 176, 245

Douglas, Helen, 214

Dow Chemical, 431, 437

Dowd, Maureen, 573, 574

Downs, William “Bill,” 105, 121, 124–25, 154, 157

Dozier, William, 174

Dream Is Alive, The
(NASA IMAX film), 589

Drinkwater, Terry, 353, 509

Drug Policy Alliance, 650, 651

drugs

   cocaine use by Carter confidant, 534

   Cronkite and decriminalization of marijuana, 650–51

   heroin use in Vietnam, 364–65

   patent medicines, 13

Dubos, René, 430, 438

DuBrow, Rick, 283

Dukakis, Michael, 597, 598, 599, 600

Duke University, 505, 506, 536

Dulles, Allen, 519

Dylan, Bob, 652

Eagle
(
Apollo 11
lunar module), 412, 419–23

Eagle’s Talon, The
(film), 449, 450

Eagleton, Thomas, 472

Eaker, Ira C., 89–90, 91, 94, 129

Eames, Bill, 308

early journalism career, Cronkite’s

   abandons print journalism, 49

   chief UP correspondent, 134–40, 145–46

   college newspaper, 38, 44

   D-day landings, 110–14

   early journalistic instincts, 19–20

   early newspaper jobs, 19–20, 26–27, 31, 38–39

   first newspaper story, 31

   freelance writer for Texas newspapers, 38–39, 42–43, 45

   on German bombing raids, 95, 97–98, 109, 112

   learning journalism trade, 39–52

   Murrow’s (CBS) job offer to Cronkite, 105–8

   1933 newswriting contest, 32

   1937 New London, TX, school explosion, 56–58, 613

   1939 Brookfield, MO, Lochinvar kidnapping case, 61–63

   Nuremberg trials, 131–36, 654

   in Operation Market Garden, 117–20, 125

   salaries, 39, 43, 105, 106, 108, 140

   school newspapers, 26, 29–30, 31–32

   for UP in Moscow, 136–40

   UP’s “Dean of the Air-War Writers,” 108–9, 129

   as UP war correspondent, 76–132

   V-E Day in Holland, 125–26

   wire-service reporter for UP, 53–58, 61–65, 69–76

   with Writing Sixty-Ninth, 95–103

“Earth Day: A Question of Survival” (CBS News), 432–33

Earth Day, 430, 432–34, 436–37, 438, 630

“Earthrise” (photo), 427, 428, 432, 436, 438–39

Eastland, James, 294

Ebb Tide for Pollution: A Program for Cleansing the Coast
report (NRDC), 603

ecology, and the environment, 429–30

Economic Club of Detroit, 451

Edmondson, Ed, 403

Ed Sullivan Show
(CBS TV), 290

Edward R. Murrow Award, 559

Edwards, Douglas R., 141, 149–51

   and CBS’s
Evening News
, 205, 223, 252

   Cronkite as replacement for, 158, 203, 242, 243

   Cronkite as substitute for, 179

   departure from
CBS Evening News
, 245, 251, 641

   
Douglas Edwards with the News
(CBS), 149, 150, 175–76, 245

   as model for TV newsmen, 156

   and 1952 elections, 166, 167, 169

   remains with CBS, 250

   
Sputnik One: The Soviet Space Satellite
(CBS), 194

   on
What’s My Line?
(CBS), 186–87

Edwards, John, 219, 638

Efron, Edith, 464–65

Egypt, 527–29, 530

Egyptian Islamic Jihad, 560