Colonel Paul’s Corner – The Most Trusted Man in America

On 30 January, 1968, during the Lunar New Year (Tet) Holiday, North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces launched a surprise nationwide offensive throughout South Vietnam. When the fighting was over, thousands of U.S. troops had died. Total Vietnamese dead numbered 40,000, including soldiers on both sides and Vietnamese civilians. In concluding his news broadcast the night of 27 February, Walter Cronkite, in one of his few editorials, told the nation that the war was unwinnable and must end with a negotiated truce. President Johnson, hearing Cronkite’s comments, was reported to have said, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost the war”. After all, Cronkite was “the most trusted man in America”.

The 50s and 60s were the “Golden Age” of news reporting. Our newscasters just told us what happened, not why it happened. On the rare occasion when they editorialized, they labeled it as such. The first joint reporting was by the team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. It was an experiment with Chet in New York and David in Washington switching seamlessly back and forth. Chet was from Cardwell, Montana. When he retired from broadcasting, he returned to ranching and died of cancer at the age of 62.

The list of legendary newscasters included John Cameron Swayze, Eric Sevareid, Edward R. Murrow, John Chancellor, Roger Mudd, Harry Reasoner, Peter Jennings, and others. Douglas Edwards became the first CBS “anchor”. Howard Cosell reported sports. John Steinbeck wrote newspaper columns in the 50s. Gary Trudeau won a Pulitzer Prize for his Doonesbury comic strip. Barbara Walters became the first news anchor to be paid a million-dollar salary. Tom Brokaw went on to write his acclaimed novel of American soldiers returning from WWII, “The Greatest Generation”. Charles Kuralt wrote a book about his travels across America, including a chapter on Twin Bridges, Montana.

Cronkite reported from the front lines in WWII. He was well respected by those in command.
He reported from the USS Texas during the North Africa campaign. The 8th Air Force allowed him to ride along on a B-17 bombing mission over Germany in 1944. He reportedly manned one of the 50-caliber machine guns. He also landed in a glider on the front lines with the 101st Airborne Division. Throughout his long career, the accuracy of his reporting was never challenged. Our most trusted man always closed his broadcast with a simple phrase, “and that’s the way it is”.

After the war, Cronkite stayed busy. He covered the Nuremberg trials. He introduced The Beatles to America with a four-minute story on the CBS Morning News. In 1959, he and a co-driver completed the 12 hours of Sebring in a Lancia sports car. He anchored the CBS Evening News from 1962 until his retirement in 1981, making it America’s most watched news. He provided the nation with the most in-depth coverage of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, our first moon landing, and the Watergate scandal. He was a strong supporter of NASA, which offered him a ride on the space shuttle, canceled after the Challenger disaster of 1986. Cronkite was an expert sailor with his 64 foot sailboat.

Though not active in politics, he spoke his mind when asked. He opposed the invasion of Iraq, comparing it to Vietnam. He described our War on Drugs as a failure. He advocated free airtime for all Presidential candidates. When asked about Fox News, he described it as “unethical and overtly political”.

At the funeral service for The Most Trusted Man in America on 23 July, 2009, those delivering the eulogy included his friends Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

“And that’s the way it is.”
Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

By Paul Warrick: December 26, 2025 - Great Falls, Mt