First published 2012
Walter Cronkite earned recognition as America's most trusted journalist across four decades of reporting. Douglas Brinkley draws from Cronkite's personal papers and family interviews to trace his journey from Missouri roots through the Great Depression into his early career. The biography follows Cronkite's World War II reporting from Allied front lines in North Africa, D-Day, and the Battle of the Bulge. Edward R. Murrow brought him to CBS in 1950, where he covered presidential campaigns, the space program, and Vietnam before becoming evening news anchor from 1962 to 1981. Brinkley examines how Cronkite reported the Kennedy assassination, Apollo missions, Watergate, and the Iran hostage crisis. The book reveals the private man behind the public figure who shaped television journalism and guided America through its most significant moments. Brinkley offers readers access to the untold story of this remarkably reserved icon.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, 21st-century, journalism, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: private-life-of-public-figure, untold-story
Setting: North Africa, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge
Period: Great Depression, World War II, Vietnam War, Kennedy Assassination, Apollo Missions, Watergate, Iran Hostage Crisis
832 pages · Hardcover · HarperCollins Publishers