The voice that impacted more than one generation, and the man who delivered some of the most sobering and exciting news of the 20th Century, has passed away. The iconic newsman of his time, Walter Cronkite was a fixture at the CBS anchor desk for nearly 20 years, the culmination of a career that begin in the early 1930’s as a reporter for the Daily Texan, student newspaper of the University of Texas, and at the Houston Post. He dropped out of UT in 1935 to begin his long career in journalism with a full-time job at the Post.

Cronkite’s connection to the country began with his reports as a war corespondent in World War II, when he covered battles in the European front, including following the famous 101st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge. He returned to the States and was recruited to CBS by another news legend, Edward R. Murrow. This is where Cronkite would become “the most trusted man in America” as anchor of the CBS Evening News.

It was Cronkite’s words that Americans now remember as the roadmap of a turbulent time in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He was the anchor for the sad day in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. His newscast of the incident is now ingrained in the collective conscience of America. “From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time… some 38 minutes ago.”

His former network says it best:
It was a defining moment for Cronkite, and for the country. His presence – in shirtsleeves, slowly removing his glasses to check the time and blink back tears – captured both the sense of shock, and the struggle for composure, that would consume America and the world over the next four days.

Cronkite’s influence was again felt in 1968 when, after a series of reports from Vietnam, America’s anchorman concluded on air that the war was officially a stalemate. That report, echoing all the way to the White House, reportedly caused President Lyndon Baines Johnson to say, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost America.” But Cronkite didn’t only cover sad incidents of his day, he was also the voice of man’s most triumphant moment – landing on the moon.

After the Apollo 11 astronaut touched down into the gray, dusty surface of Earth’s smaller orbital cousin, an excited, almost speechless Cronkite said, “Oh boy!” then uttered these famous words, “Neil Armstrong, 38 year old American, standing on the surface of the moon.” It was the pinnacle of NASA’s space program, the apex of man’s exploration of our solar system, and an international television event like no other. As Ted Koppel said, “When Walter rejoiced over man landing on the moon, America rejoiced with him.”

This was a different time, not only for America, but for TV news. It’s hard to recall the differences of a world in the 1960’s and 1970’s when there was no 24-hour news cycle, no Fox News or CNN, and we were ages away from the Internet and the influence of blogs and citizen journalism sites like TNL. Today news is dispersed, a matter of osmosis, available all the time on your TV, online, even in your pocket on your cell phone. No, in those days American’s got their news from one of three TV stations, ABC, NBC and Cronkite’s CBS. This was an age in journalism where, even if the reporters were personally liberal or conservative, whether they liked or despised the subject of their interview, they reported the facts and treated people with respect. Sure there were columnists, and editorial writers, but news was… well news. Inflammatory types like Keith Olbermann or Bill O’Reilly didn’t dominate TV news ratings — instead, Walter Cronkite was America’s source for news and it came in 30 minute chunks at the end of each day, just before families sat down for dinner.

In 1981 when Cronkite stepped down as anchor of CBS’ Evening News and handed the reins to another Texan, Dan Rather, the New Republic declared that his departure from the airwaves was like “George Washington leaving the dollar bill,” a characterization that in today’s dispersed news environment may seem impossible, but in Cronkite’s era, was probably an understatement. His departure from the anchor desk didn’t signal his official exit from the world of TV news though. Starting in 1984, Cronkite and the Cronkite Endowment Board of Trustees began presenting the “The Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism”, whose recipients include some of the biggest names in journalism including Bob Woodward, Roone Arledge, Tom Brokaw, Ted Turner and many more.

Cronkite also embraced his college home in his later years, serving as the voice of the University of Texas, in a series of commercials titled, “We’re Texas.” The legendary newsman lent his voice to the ad campaign free of charge. In my favorite of these ads, and one I saw many a time during my days at UT, Cronkite highlights Texas’ housing of a Gutenberg Bible. With his classic American tone he says, “We are the proud and privileged guardians of a rare and priceless book called, the Gutenberg Bible, and a Longhorn named Bevo. Amen.” Cronkite said of his time at UT, “It was a very happy time in my life… I had too good a time.” He has been an adjunct member of of Texas’ College of Communication since 1988, and his journalistic notebooks and papers reside at the University’s Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.

Although I am too young to have experienced Walter Cronkite’s major moments live, as a student of history, I’ve learned to appreciate his perspective, his narrative of so many key moments in the 20th Century. From battles fought by the Greatest Generation throughout Europe, to the loss of important American personalities, to the landing of man on the moon, and the beginning of the next era in journalism that came with the Watergate scandal, Cronkite’s words, his news coverage, served as the quintessential visual and audio guide for wondrous times in our history. His influence, nearly always for the good, can be seen in the newsmen and women that follow in his footsteps today.

As Cronkite used to say at the end of each broadcast, “And that’s the way it is…” Rest in peace Walter.