Some personal recollections…
1) He was one of the gravediggers of Vietnam, a key member of that band of journalists and opinion-mongers who turned the Tet offensive from what it actually was – a crushing defeat for the Communist guerillas, that permanently destroyed the Viet Cong as an effective fighting force – into a defeat for U.S. and South Vietnamese military forces. Cronkite helped the Communists snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by contributing to a massive shift in public opinion in the U.S. that eventually led our government to abandon Southeast Asia to the inevitable bloodbath.
2) In 1984, Cronkite hosted a one-hour program supposedly inspired by George Orwell’s novel of that fateful year, and managed to get through the entire 60 minutes without once mentioning Communism or the Soviet Union.
3) I remember seeing Cronkite and the opera singer, Beverley Sills, on television hosting an event – I believe it might have been one of the bicentennial celebrations – and Cronkite pointedly tried to lure Sills into confessing whether she ever felt uncomfortable doing command performances at the White House for presidents whose politics she didn’t like; this was obviously a crude attempt to get her to say something snotty about former president Nixon. I don’t remember whether she rose to the bait or not, but I do recall the hilarious sequel. Somehow the two got on the subject of dogs, and Sills said that hers were so frisky and mischievous that sometimes she “just wanted to take them down to Martha’s Vineyard and drown them.” Cronkite, sensing that this clumsy exercise in hyperbole was likely to remind viewers of another famous drowning death in Massachusetts, laughed nervously, and practically spluttered, “No, no, don’t do that” before immediately changing the subject.
4) When he retired, Cronkite openly proclaimed himself to be a liberal - always had been, he said - and occasionally served as a noisy, unofficial spokesman for the farcically-named liberal organization, People for the American Way.
The most trusted man in America. As Mencken said, “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” And Archie Bunker was right, too: “Ol’ pinko Cronkite,” indeed.
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8 comments:
My immediate thought upon hearing this: "Took him long enough to die. Hopefully Jimmie Carter will take the hint."
It strikes me that putting your faith in one man is definitely not the American Way.
Four or five years ago I read and interview with Uncle Walter in which he admitted he came back from his Vietnam visit convinced the war was wrong and determined to use his position as a journalist to advance this opinion among his viewers. This may not sound very shocking after eights years of the press actively undermining W, but Uncle Walter was talking about the sixties when we still thought journalists had integrity.
Retread
Cronkite made it evident to everyone that journalists abdicated their role as objective observers of events and reporters of current facts. They became advocates and activists of a subjective area of thinking. In so doing, they stopped being mere witnesses to events and, instead, became parties or participants.
Dan Rather and Mary Mapes were only two of many that followed in his footsteps.
I did like Walter Cronkite. But at the same time I know he harmed journalism greatly. Whereas before we could place a degree of trust in what they reported, we no longer can do that now.
wronwright
wron, I used to like Cronkite at one time. I recall his coverage of the Apollo program most vividly....and I was barely into middle school at the time. He was also an avid amateur radio operator, a hobby I follow as well; he supported it by producing informational videos. For free. Not to mention his WWII coverage.
Yet, in the end, he worked to destroy the system that gave him the freedom to succeed, and he contributed to the downfall of an ally, South Vietnam, and the enslavement/death of many people.
For that, I can never forgive him.
Cronkite died? I didn't know the old fart was even still alive.
Once again, JeffS has put my thoughts out here where y'all can see them.
Cronkite was the beginning of what I believe to be the end of "reporters" and the beginning of "journalists." Didn't used to take a degree from the right Liberal Arts university. Took grit, and work and good writing. His work against his own country and his collaboration in the death and enslavement of millions lives on today, all over the "media."
Thanks a bunch for absolutely nuthin, Uncle Walter.
Paco: Spot-on commentary. I found myself agreeing with every word you wrote.
Quoted from and linked to you posting at:
http://www.thecampofthesaints.com/2009.07.19_arch.html#1248114950337
where I offer some additional thoughts on the man and the myth.
PS: Turns out, Archie Bunker was right about a lot of things [girls wre girls and men were men].
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