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A review by reneedecoskey
Cronkite by Douglas Brinkley
5.0
If you enjoy any or all of the following, this book is for you: news, journalism, media, history, politics, sociology. To make it even better, Cronkite was actually a pretty humorous guy, so there were some very entertaining parts of this that made me laugh out loud.
Walter Cronkite had already retired in 1981 by the time I was born in 1982, so I never got to witness the golden age of Cronkite. I recall seeing him on various television shows growing up and my dad saying, "That's Walter Cronkite," which, of course, meant nothing to me. "He's the one who told us that Kennedy was assassinated." As a teenager, I have to admit that I didn't care much. But as I got older and became more interested in stories, their place in history, and especially everything surrounding the Kennedy assassination, it was hard to NOT see Walter Cronkite.
Until I read this (or, I suppose, listened to it -- if you want to get technical), I'd had no idea just how big of a presence Cronkite had been, nor how long his career had spanned. He had reported on everything from the Great Depression to WWII, The Kennedy Assassination to Vietnam. He covered debates and presidential elections and so much more, and became known as the most trusted voice in America. He never bothered with frivolous fluff stories and he always made sure to fact check.
Some of my favorite parts of this included:
1. Cronkite's presence during the Kennedy Assassination and the role that he played. I have (many, many times) seen the footage of him -- first cutting into the soap opera that was on with just a CBS slide and Cronkite's voice announcing that "3 shots were fired in Dallas, Texas today..." before coming back a few minutes later to show Cronkite sitting at a desk in his shirtsleeves. The back story there was that he had been eating his lunch -- fruit and cottage cheese -- when he received word over the wire that JFK had been shot. The reason he wasn't seen in the initial announcement and was only heard was because, in those days, it took a long time for the lights to heat up on the set. They weren't ready to film there. So he ran into a radio booth and recorded that spot until they could find a place to film him, which ultimately ended up being another desk. He'd been so shaken by the news and by the rush to report (taking extra precautions by mentioning several times that his story was unconfirmed at that point) that he'd forgotten to put his coat on and only realized it much later. He noted that he was surprised he hadn't been scolded, but people had other worries that day.
2. Cronkite's "behind-the-scenes" take on just about everything. We're all familiar with these stories, but he was there and he saw what was happening. He saw what the public was never meant to see -- especially when dealing with politicians. One great example of this that I loved: In the early 50s, JFK had actually taken a course with Cronkite that was to help him prepare to be able to speak and be on TV. In preparing for the 1960 election, Cronkite had the idea to film interviews with each of the candidates -- Kennedy and Nixon -- and air them on television. Kennedy absolutely did NOT want to do it, even though he'd taken the course -- WITH Walter -- years ago to prepare him for such opportunities. He thought he'd get out of it because Nixon would never agree. Nixon agreed, so Kennedy had to. He completely bombed the interview by being awkward and inarticulate. After it was over, he demanded that Cronkite allow him to redo it. Walter said they couldn't do that, and if they did, they'd have to make it known that it was re-filmed. Kennedy relented and the interview aired. Not long after that, you might remember the famous televised debates for the 1960 presidential election. I was familiar with the fact that Kennedy did very well during those debates, whereas Nixon had been sweaty and nervous and didn't know how to talk to the camera. That background story on Kennedy's previous performance made that a little more interesting for me. Kennedy actually hated Walter Cronkite for that.
3. Walter Cronkite didn't really hate anyone. ... EXCEPT for Dan Rather. Cronkite liked him when he was a young up-and-coming journalist, but soon grew to really despise him. For his part, apparently Rather had a habit of making enemies. Though he still maintains his respect for Cronkite's work. He was was especially displeased with Rather when he reported in 2004 about an AWOL Scandal from long ago involving GW Bush. It turned out that Rather was wrong -- he hadn't fact-checked like Cronkite always said to do. He took a gamble and lost. He lost his job with CBS, and several others lost their jobs with him. He sued, but to no avail.
4 The humor. First there was Walter's fake obituary that he wrote about himself (after a publication offered him the opportunity) in 1981 when he retired, stating that his cause of death was being smothered by people asking about his retirement. He was so acerbic. Next, Cronkite's wife, Betsy, was very funny, and they liked to joke around a lot. Some of my favorite stories included great one-liners from Betsy. In later years, they were traveling together and in a gift shop at Yellowstone, a woman tapped Betsy on the shoulder, pointed to Walter, and said that man looked like Walter Cronkite. Betsy took it and ran, saying that she thought that man was way too thin. The other woman believed Walter Cronkite was dead. And what did he die of? "I think it was thinness."
Later, in 1993, when they were on a press junket to promote the Cronkite Report, Walter's back was bothering him a lot. He didn't want to cancel on anyone, so he sat and grimaced his way through an interview. Betsy took his arm to help him up out of the chair when it was over, saying, "Come on, Walter. It's time to get to the orgy." Walter replied: "Oh golly, another one? I don't know if my back can take it."
When the Cronkites decided to sell the home they'd lived in for ~40 years, Tom Brokaw asked Betsy about the move and if it would be sad. They were, after all, relocating to a condo in a Manhattan highrise. Betsy's reply was, "I'll miss the backyard we had, for I had a plot of land where I could bury all of Walter's plaques."
I just really loved the banter and sarcasm between Walter and Betsy, but there were several parts of this where the anecdotes were just really amusing.
5. Walter's love life in late years. Betsy Cronkite died in 2005, leaving a devastated Walter behind. But he moved on quickly because he appreciated pretty women. He began dating Joanna Simon. Daughter of Richard Simon -- co-founder of Simon & Schuster. Pretty cool, no? Oh, and also? Sister of CARLY SIMON. This just floored me. I don't know why.
6. Cronkite stuck in Italy during 9/11 - He was an old man and he still desperately wanted to get back to NYC, to go to Ground Zero himself and report through any medium that would give him a place to do so. I love 9/11 stories from everyone. His was just ironic because the man who had reported some of the biggest news stories of the 20th century was on the other side of the world, retired, when the biggest news story of the 21st century happened.
I could go on. There were so many things I loved about this. Learning more about history, hearing anecdotes, finding out what a huge impact Cronkite had made. This book won't disappoint you. It's not dry. I feel like it would likely take a long time to read, but I listened to the whole thing in about 1.5 weeks. It was time well spent. There were hardly any dull moments (though distracted by work, I'm sure there are things that I missed). If nonfiction is your thing, this is a must-read.
Walter Cronkite had already retired in 1981 by the time I was born in 1982, so I never got to witness the golden age of Cronkite. I recall seeing him on various television shows growing up and my dad saying, "That's Walter Cronkite," which, of course, meant nothing to me. "He's the one who told us that Kennedy was assassinated." As a teenager, I have to admit that I didn't care much. But as I got older and became more interested in stories, their place in history, and especially everything surrounding the Kennedy assassination, it was hard to NOT see Walter Cronkite.
Until I read this (or, I suppose, listened to it -- if you want to get technical), I'd had no idea just how big of a presence Cronkite had been, nor how long his career had spanned. He had reported on everything from the Great Depression to WWII, The Kennedy Assassination to Vietnam. He covered debates and presidential elections and so much more, and became known as the most trusted voice in America. He never bothered with frivolous fluff stories and he always made sure to fact check.
Some of my favorite parts of this included:
1. Cronkite's presence during the Kennedy Assassination and the role that he played. I have (many, many times) seen the footage of him -- first cutting into the soap opera that was on with just a CBS slide and Cronkite's voice announcing that "3 shots were fired in Dallas, Texas today..." before coming back a few minutes later to show Cronkite sitting at a desk in his shirtsleeves. The back story there was that he had been eating his lunch -- fruit and cottage cheese -- when he received word over the wire that JFK had been shot. The reason he wasn't seen in the initial announcement and was only heard was because, in those days, it took a long time for the lights to heat up on the set. They weren't ready to film there. So he ran into a radio booth and recorded that spot until they could find a place to film him, which ultimately ended up being another desk. He'd been so shaken by the news and by the rush to report (taking extra precautions by mentioning several times that his story was unconfirmed at that point) that he'd forgotten to put his coat on and only realized it much later. He noted that he was surprised he hadn't been scolded, but people had other worries that day.
2. Cronkite's "behind-the-scenes" take on just about everything. We're all familiar with these stories, but he was there and he saw what was happening. He saw what the public was never meant to see -- especially when dealing with politicians. One great example of this that I loved: In the early 50s, JFK had actually taken a course with Cronkite that was to help him prepare to be able to speak and be on TV. In preparing for the 1960 election, Cronkite had the idea to film interviews with each of the candidates -- Kennedy and Nixon -- and air them on television. Kennedy absolutely did NOT want to do it, even though he'd taken the course -- WITH Walter -- years ago to prepare him for such opportunities. He thought he'd get out of it because Nixon would never agree. Nixon agreed, so Kennedy had to. He completely bombed the interview by being awkward and inarticulate. After it was over, he demanded that Cronkite allow him to redo it. Walter said they couldn't do that, and if they did, they'd have to make it known that it was re-filmed. Kennedy relented and the interview aired. Not long after that, you might remember the famous televised debates for the 1960 presidential election. I was familiar with the fact that Kennedy did very well during those debates, whereas Nixon had been sweaty and nervous and didn't know how to talk to the camera. That background story on Kennedy's previous performance made that a little more interesting for me. Kennedy actually hated Walter Cronkite for that.
3. Walter Cronkite didn't really hate anyone. ... EXCEPT for Dan Rather. Cronkite liked him when he was a young up-and-coming journalist, but soon grew to really despise him. For his part, apparently Rather had a habit of making enemies. Though he still maintains his respect for Cronkite's work. He was was especially displeased with Rather when he reported in 2004 about an AWOL Scandal from long ago involving GW Bush. It turned out that Rather was wrong -- he hadn't fact-checked like Cronkite always said to do. He took a gamble and lost. He lost his job with CBS, and several others lost their jobs with him. He sued, but to no avail.
4 The humor. First there was Walter's fake obituary that he wrote about himself (after a publication offered him the opportunity) in 1981 when he retired, stating that his cause of death was being smothered by people asking about his retirement. He was so acerbic. Next, Cronkite's wife, Betsy, was very funny, and they liked to joke around a lot. Some of my favorite stories included great one-liners from Betsy. In later years, they were traveling together and in a gift shop at Yellowstone, a woman tapped Betsy on the shoulder, pointed to Walter, and said that man looked like Walter Cronkite. Betsy took it and ran, saying that she thought that man was way too thin. The other woman believed Walter Cronkite was dead. And what did he die of? "I think it was thinness."
Later, in 1993, when they were on a press junket to promote the Cronkite Report, Walter's back was bothering him a lot. He didn't want to cancel on anyone, so he sat and grimaced his way through an interview. Betsy took his arm to help him up out of the chair when it was over, saying, "Come on, Walter. It's time to get to the orgy." Walter replied: "Oh golly, another one? I don't know if my back can take it."
When the Cronkites decided to sell the home they'd lived in for ~40 years, Tom Brokaw asked Betsy about the move and if it would be sad. They were, after all, relocating to a condo in a Manhattan highrise. Betsy's reply was, "I'll miss the backyard we had, for I had a plot of land where I could bury all of Walter's plaques."
I just really loved the banter and sarcasm between Walter and Betsy, but there were several parts of this where the anecdotes were just really amusing.
5. Walter's love life in late years. Betsy Cronkite died in 2005, leaving a devastated Walter behind. But he moved on quickly because he appreciated pretty women. He began dating Joanna Simon. Daughter of Richard Simon -- co-founder of Simon & Schuster. Pretty cool, no? Oh, and also? Sister of CARLY SIMON. This just floored me. I don't know why.
6. Cronkite stuck in Italy during 9/11 - He was an old man and he still desperately wanted to get back to NYC, to go to Ground Zero himself and report through any medium that would give him a place to do so. I love 9/11 stories from everyone. His was just ironic because the man who had reported some of the biggest news stories of the 20th century was on the other side of the world, retired, when the biggest news story of the 21st century happened.
I could go on. There were so many things I loved about this. Learning more about history, hearing anecdotes, finding out what a huge impact Cronkite had made. This book won't disappoint you. It's not dry. I feel like it would likely take a long time to read, but I listened to the whole thing in about 1.5 weeks. It was time well spent. There were hardly any dull moments (though distracted by work, I'm sure there are things that I missed). If nonfiction is your thing, this is a must-read.