Cronkite (89 page)

Laurence, John (1940– ):
CBS News correspondent who covered the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1970. Cronkite regarded Laurence, who wrote
The Cat from Hu
é, about his experiences in Southeast Asia, as one of the best reporters of the conflict.

Leiser, Ernest (1921–2002):
Reporter and producer for CBS who helped the network in its expansion to television. He was key in selecting Cronkite as anchor for the
CBS
Evening News
.

Leonard, Bill (1916-1994):
CBS executive who oversaw the network’s 1964 election coverage as head of a specially created Elections Unit before serving as president of CBS News from 1979 to 1982.

LeSueur, Larry (1909–2003):
Correspondent for United Press during much of the 1930s and a CBS correspondent from 1939 until 1963. As one of the Murrow Boys, LeSueur covered the major events of World War II from Europe.

Lippmann, Walter (1889–1974):
Journalist and author whose nationally syndicated column “Today and Tomorrow” won two Pulitzer Prizes. Cronkite read Lippmann’s work while living in Houston in the 1930s and interviewed him in 1961 for a
CBS Reports
special.

Lumet, Sidney (1924–2011):
Academy Award–winning director of
Network
, one of Cronkite’s favorite movies. Lumet worked with Cronkite on
You Are There
, the historical reenactment TV series, from 1953 to 1957.

Manning, Gordon (1917–2006):
Writer for
Newsweek
and later executive for CBS News from 1964 to 1974, where he was responsible for the Tiffany Network’s reporting of Watergate, Vietnam, and Nixon’s 1972 trip to China.

Midgley, Leslie (1915–2002):
Executive producer of the
CBS
Evening News
from 1967 to 1972. He produced many other CBS programs and won multiple Peabody and Emmy awards for his work.

Moonves, Les (1949– ):
Longtime CBS executive who became president of CBS Entertainment in 1995, president and CEO of CBS Television from 1998 to 2003, and chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation in 2003. His friendship with Cronkite ended the anchorman’s years of relative inactivity at CBS beginning in 1995.

Mudd, Roger (1928– ):
Correspondent for CBS from 1961 to 1980. After Dan Rather was chosen to replace Walter Cronkite on the
CBS Evening News
, he left to join NBC News. During his tenure with NBC, Mudd served as co-anchor of the
NBC Nightly News
and co-moderator of
Meet the Press
.

Murrow, Edward R. (1908–1965):
American broadcast journalist with CBS who came to prominence during World War II. He is noted within the field for his honesty and integrity and was instrumental in the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Paley, William “Bill” (1901–1990):
Developer of the CBS radio and television networks. Starting with a collection of sixteen affiliates, he built CBS into a network that could compete with NBC by creating an independent news division in 1934, hiring Edward R. Murrow as director of talks in 1935, and promoting Frank Stanton to president of CBS in 1946.

Pierpoint, Robert (1925–2011):
CBS News White House correspondent who covered six administrations (Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter) and was a part of the second generation of Murrow Boys.

Polster, Sandor M. (1942– ):
Reporter for the AP and
The New York Post
from 1967 to 1973, writer for
CBS Evening News
from 1973 to 1985, news editor for
NBC Nightly News
from 1986 to 1993, visiting lecturer to Colby College in 2004, and student adviser at Bowdoin College from 1999 to 2010.

Rather, Dan (1931– ):
CBS News correspondent from 1963 to 2006. He succeeded Walter Cronkite as anchor of the
CBS Evening News
in 1981, a position he held until 2005.

Rooney, Andy (1919–2011):
Writer for
Stars and Stripes
during World War II and longtime CBS News commentator. Rooney became famous for his “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney” segment on
60 Minutes
and was Cronkite’s frequent tennis partner and longtime friend.

Safer, Morley (1931– ):
CBS News correspondent since 1964. He angered the Johnson administration with his broadcast about a search-and-destroy mission carried out by U.S. Marines on the village of Cam Ne and became notable throughout the conflict in Vietnam for his war reporting. Morley has hosted
60 Minutes
since 1970, when he replaced Harry Reasoner.

Salant, Richard “Dick” (1914–1993):
CBS executive from 1952 to 1979. As president of CBS’s news division, he built the
CBS Evening News
into a vehicle that could compete with the wildly popular
Huntley-Brinkley Report
, primarily by replacing Douglas Edwards with Cronkite in 1962.

Salinger, Pierre (1925–2004):
Press secretary to JFK and LBJ. Salinger interfered in Cronkite’s 1963 interview with JFK for the
CBS Evening News
in such a way that Cronkite’s journalistic integrity was compromised, resulting in bad blood between the two men until the president was assassinated later that same year.

Schieffer, Bob (1937– ):
CBS News correspondent since 1969. He anchored the Saturday edition of the
CBS Evening News
from 1973 to 1966 and has moderated
Face the Nation
since 1991.

Schirra, Walter “Wally” (1923–2007):
One of seven astronauts selected for NASA’s Project Mercury. As one of the “Mercury Seven,” Schirra orbited Earth six times in the
Sigma 7
spacecraft in 1962 as part of the manned space mission Mercury-Atlas 8. He was the commander of
Apollo 7
and served as a news consultant for the subsequent Apollo missions. In this capacity, he co-anchored the
Apollo 11
moon landing with Cronkite.

Schorr, Daniel (1916–2010):
CBS News correspondent from 1953 to 1976. He won three Emmy Awards while at CBS and famously read Nixon’s Enemies List (including his own name) on live television. After resigning from CBS in 1976, Schorr served as a news analyst for CNN from 1979 to 1985 and then as senior news analyst for NPR until his death in 2010.

Sevareid, Eric (1912–1992):
CBS News correspondent from 1939 to 1977. He famously covered the surrender of France and the London blitz during World War II as a Murrow Boy and won several Emmy and Peabody awards for the two-minute segments he made for the
CBS Evening News
with Cronkite from 1964 until his retirement from CBS in 1977.

Shadel, Willard Franklin “Bill” (1908–2005):
CBS Radio correspondent from 1943 to 1957 and ABC correspondent from 1960 until his retirement from broadcasting in 1975. He covered World War II for Edward R. Murrow before working at WTOP for the decade following the war. At ABC, Shadel replaced John Daly as the anchor of the network’s evening news show, moderated the third presidential debate between Nixon and JFK in 1960, and covered John Glenn’s Mercury-Atlas 6 flight in 1962.

Shaw, Bernard (1940– ):
Broadcast journalist for CBS News from 1971 to 1977 and for CNN from 1980 until his retirement in 2001. As a corporal in the U.S. Marines, Shaw met Cronkite, his idol, and expressed a desire to become a news anchor. After corresponding with Cronkite throughout his education at the University of Illinois–Chicago, Shaw became his colleague when he was hired by Bill Small in 1971 to work in CBS’s Washington, D.C., bureau.

Shepard, Alan, Jr. (1923–1998):
One of the seven astronauts selected for NASA’s Project Mercury. Shepard became the first American to travel to space in 1961 when he piloted the
Freedom 7
, an event covered by Cronkite for CBS. He commanded
Apollo 14
in 1971, becoming the fifth person to walk on the Moon.

Shirer, William L. (1904–1993):
CBS correspondent from 1937 to 1947 who worked closely with Edward R. Murrow to report on World War II from Europe. He left CBS after a public falling-out with Murrow and went on to publish the wildly successful
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
:
A History of Nazi Germany
in 1960.

Simon, Bob (1941– ):
CBS News correspondent since 1967. Simon has been a
60 Minutes
correspondent since 1996 and was won twenty-four Emmys, two Peabodys, and five Overseas Press Club Awards for his foreign reporting. He was Cronkite’s favorite.

Simon, Joanna (1940– ):
Opera singer and real estate broker who began dating Cronkite after their respective spouses died within a year of each other. They were together from 2005 until Cronkite’s death in 2009.

Small, William “Bill” (1926– ):
CBS News Washington bureau chief from 1961 to 1974 (during which time he hired Lesley Stahl, Connie Chung, and Bernard Shaw) and CBS senior vice president for news from 1974 to 1979. He left CBS to become president of NBC in 1979. After failing to overtake CBS in the nightly news ratings, Small was forced to resign in 1982.

Socolow, Sandy:
Longtime producer of Walter Cronkite who was with CBS News from 1956 to 1988. He produced political convention coverage from 1960 to 1980, the
CBS Evening News
(under Cronkite and Rather), and CBS News coverage of NASA’s various manned space programs. He was a founding producer of Cronkite, Ward from 1993 to 1997 and worked for Cronkite Productions from 1998 to 2002.

Stahl, Lesley (1941– ):
CBS News correspondent since 1972. She moderated
Face the Nation
from 1983 to 1991 and has reported for
60 Minutes
since 1991.

Stanton, Frank (1908–2006):
President of CBS from 1946 to 1971, a period of significant growth for the network. Believing that the television networks had a public service duty, he helped orchestrate the first televised presidential debate in 1960 and risked going to jail for his role in the 1971
CBS Reports
documentary “The Selling of the Pentagon.”

Trout, Robert (1909–2000):
Longtime CBS broadcaster who coached Edward R. Murrow for his career in radio and hosted the “European News Round-Up” for CBS immediately following the
Anschluss
in 1938. After Cronkite’s ratings for the coverage of the 1964 Republican Convention came in behind Chet Huntley and David Brinkley’s, Trout was called in to anchor the Democratic gathering. When he also failed to beat the NBC dream team, Cronkite was permitted to remain as the host of the
CBS Evening News
.

Turner, Ted (1938– ):
Media tycoon who founded TBS in 1976 and CNN in 1980. He made a failed attempt to buy CBS in 1985. Cronkite was a fan of CNN and even covered John Glenn’s return to space for the network in 1998.

Vitarelli, Bob (1930– ):
Longtime friend of Cronkite’s and decades-long employee of CBS. He started out in the CBS mail room in 1953 and eventually worked his way up to be named the director of the
CBS Evening News
under Cronkite and of
Face the Nation
.

Wallace, Mike (1918–2012):
CBS correspondent and close friend of Cronkite who hosted an early iteration of the
CBS Morning News
from 1963 to 1966 and reported for
60 Minutes
from its inception in 1968 to his semiretirement in 2006.

Walters, Barbara (1929– ):
Broadcast journalist who got her start writing copy for CBS’s
The Morning Show
(hosted by Walter Cronkite) and subsequently anchored NBC’s
Today
show from 1961 to 1976, the
ABC Evening News
from 1976 to 1978,
20/20
from 1984 to 2004, and
The View
since 1997.

Ward, Jonathan:
Producer of the
CBS Evening News
during the Cronkite years and founding partner of Cronkite, Ward, and Company, which produced hours of documentary footage for PBS and the Discovery Channel.

Weisman, Alan (1950– ):
Longtime producer, senior producer, and executive producer at CBS News, Time-Warner, PBS, and ABC who accompanied Cronkite to Cairo in 1981 to help CBS News cover the assassination of Anwar Sadat.

Wenner, Jann (1946– ):
Founder of
Rolling Stone
magazine who became friends with Cronkite during the anchorman’s retirement from the
CBS Evening News
.

Wershba, Joseph (1920–2011):
CBS News journalist from 1944 to 1988. He worked with Cronkite at WTOP in the 1950s and was one of the original producers of
60 Minutes
. Wershba and his wife, Shirley, helped Cronkite prepare his memoirs in the 1980s.

Wershba, Shirley:
CBS producer and wife of Joseph Wershba who helped Cronkite ready
A Reporter’s Life
for publication.

Weymouth, Lally (1943– ):
Daughter of Katharine and Philip Graham, publishers of
The Washington Post
, who conducted an interview with Cronkite in 1981 about his “Report from Vietnam”; she is now senior associate editor of the
Post
.

Zenker, Arnold (1938– ):
Manager of news programming for CBS in 1967 when he was asked to fill in for Walter Cronkite on the
CBS Evening News
during an AFTRA strike that lasted thirteen days.

N
OTES

The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

Prologue

2 “The actual crisis is upon”:
Kurt Vonnegut, “A Reluctant Big Shot,”
The Nation
, March 7, 1981.

2 Cronkite trained himself to speak:
David Hinckley, “Walter Cronkite Remains Gold Standard for Journalists,”
New York Daily News
, July 18, 2009.

2 “God, mother, the American flag”:
Harold Jackson, “The Age of Cronkite,”
World Press Review
, April 1981, p. 46.

3 “the calm eye of the newsgathering storm”:
Doug James,
Walter Cronkite: His Life and Times
(Brentwood, TN: JM Press, 1991), p. 4.

3 “I never spent any time examining my navel”:
Walter Cronkite and Don Carleton,
Conversations with Cronkite
(Austin: Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin, 2010), p. 7.

3 “It can be said of three men”:
John J. O’Connor, “Exit Cronkite, a Conscientious Superstar of TV News,”
New York Times
, March 8, 1981.

4 “He had the voice, calmness, and organic writing style”:
Author interview with Roger Ailes, October 26, 2011.

4 “Cronkite has the capacity to make people believe”:
“1981: A Conversation with Fred Friendly,”
Nieman Reports
(Winter 1999–2000), http://nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102063/1981-A-Conversation-With-Fred-Friendly.aspx.

4 “I don’t suppose you’ll see another Cronkite”:
“1981: A Conversation with Fred Friendly,”
Nieman Reports,
(Winter 1999–2000).

5 “I guess Dad is leaving us”:
Mary Battiata, “Anchor’s Away,”
Washington Post
, March 7, 1981.

5 “In many countries during four such traumatic days”:
“1981: A Conversation with Fred Friendly,”
Nieman Reports
(Winter 1999–2000).

5 “You’ve always been a pro”:
“Ronald Reagan: Excerpts from an Interview with Walter Cronkite of CBS News,” March 3, 1981, John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters,
The American Presidency Project,
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=43497#axzz1hm0H9919 (accessed September 5, 2011).

6 The banner read, “After Cronkite”:
H. F. Waters, “After Cronkite,”
Newsweek
, March 9, 1981.

6 “Introducing Our Newest Correspondent”:
William Leonard,
In the Storm of the Eye: A Lifetime at CBS
(New York: Putnam, 1987), p. 226.

6 “Thank you, Walter” ads:
Steven Reddicliffe, “Tonight Cronkite Is the Big Story,”
Miami Herald
, March 6, 1981.

6 more media attention was being paid to Cronkite’s departure:
“Cronkite Leaves as Anchorman,” Sentinel Wire Services, March 7, 1981.

6 “he looks like everyone’s dentist”:
Cleveland Amory, “What Walter Cronkite Misses Most,”
Parade Magazine
, March 11, 1984, p. 4.

6 “When it no longer appears at the anchor desk”:
Mark Crispin Miller and Karen Runyon, “And That’s the Way It Seems,”
New Republic
, February 14, 1981.

7 Cronkite’s wife, children, and agent watched the public adieu:
Tom Shales, “Anchor’s Away: A Farewell from Walter Cronkite’s Sign Off,”
Washington Post
, March 7, 1981.

7 “And that’s the way it is”:
Tony Schwartz, “Amid the Fuss, Cronkite Says a Quiet ‘Good Night,’ ”
New York Times
, March 7, 1981.

7 “As a parting gesture”:
Nine-part oral history of James Wall, Television Academy Foundation’s Archive of American Television, http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/james-wall (accessed July 5, 2011).

7 “School’s out!”:
Shales, “Anchor’s Away.”

One
: Missouri Boy

11 “My father and I went up in an old Curtiss-Wright”:
David Friend, “Space Shuttle: Interview with Walter Cronkite,”
Life
, August 9, 1984 (unpublished), David Friend Archive, Garden City, NY (hereafter Friend Archive).

12 “begin with ancestors”:
Clarence Darrow,
The Story of My Life
(New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1932), p. 1.

12 “We Dutch are a very pragmatic people”:
Walter Cronkite, “200th Anniversary of Friendship and Unbroken Diplomatic Relations with the Netherlands,” August 18, 1981 (script draft), Box: M630, Folder: Dutch Filming, Walter Cronkite Papers, University of Texas at Austin (hereafter WCP-UTA).

12 Cronkite’s pride in his Dutch heritage:
Author interview with Kathy Cronkite, March 22, 2010.

12 “our Dutch ancestry is a valued legacy”:
Ibid.

13 Even Coca-Cola had to stop:
David Dary,
Frontier Medicine: From the Atlantic
to the Pacific
(New York: Knopf, 2008), pp. 271–302.

13 Honest and scrupulous, Dr. Cronkite made:
James,
Walter Cronkite
, p. 20.

13 “Office and Cabatory of Dr. F. P. Cronkite”:
Items of Interest: A Monthly Magazine of Dental Art, Science and Literature
21 (1899): 586.

14 He and his wife, Anna, enjoyed a spacious home:
George Gurley, “And Now the Newsman,”
Kansas City Star
, January 30, 1997.

14 Helen Fritsche, a Kansas girl:
“Helen F. Cronkite, 101, Mother of TV Anchor,”
Washington Times
, November 11, 1993.

15 “It is unlikely that my parents”:
Walter Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
(New York: Knopf, 1996), p. 6.

15 his father voted at the Frederick Boulevard firehouse for Woodrow Wilson:
Ibid.

16 “Report for examination”:
“Walter L. Cronkite,” Debra Graden, comp.,
Missouri State Offices Political and Military Records, 1919–1920
(Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2001), p. 384, http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=5594 (accessed August 14, 2011).

16 The Cronkites took up residence in Sapulpa, Oklahoma:
Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
, p. 8.

17 “he acknowledged having known the chap”:
Ibid.

17 “I know exactly how they felt”:
Ron Powers, “Walter Cronkite: A Candid Conversation with America’s Most Trusted Television Newsman,”
Playboy
, June 1973.

18 Ninth Street trestle:
Monroe Dodd,
A Splendid Ride: The Streetcars of Kansas City, 1870–1957
(Kansas City: Kansas City Star Books, 2002).

18 “I was always a researcher”:
Cronkite and Carleton,
Conversations with Cronkite
, p. 8.

19 six blocks away was the Electric Park:
Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
, p. 14.

19 “They had horses”:
“Walter Cronkite,”
St. Joseph News-Press
, 1994.

20 Besides peddling newspapers he also sold:
Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
, p. 10.

20 “I can’t quite reconstruct today what led me”:
Jim Poniewozik, “Walter Cronkite: The Man with America’s Trust,”
Time
, July 17, 2009.

20 Dr. Cronkite was invited to join:
“About the School,” University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Dental Branch, http://www.db.uth.tmc.edu/ (accessed July 22, 2011).

21 so “grown-up” about moving:
Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
, p. 26.

21 often dreamed about Buchanan County’s apple orchards:
Bob Slater, “Interview Provided Insights into Cronkite,”
St. Joseph News-Press
, July 18, 2009.

Two
: Houston Youth

22 Walter dutifully read up on Houston:
Richard Connelly, “Walter Cronkite’s Houston, or What Is Left of It,”
Houston Press
Blog
, July 20, 2009, blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/07/walter_cronkites_houston_or_wh.php (accessed August 1, 2011). Also see Dyer, “Forgotten Houston.”

22 “I expected to see an ocean-going ship”:
Cronkite and Carleton,
Conversations with Cronkite
, p. 8.

23 “We communicated by Morse code”:
Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
, p. 26.

23 “I might have grown up to help build the Lincoln Tunnel”:
Ibid., pp. 26–27.

23 “And the job boom was beginning”:
Walter Cronkite, “And That’s the Way It Was,”
Houston Post
, March 31, 1985.

24 “I hit a sparrow”:
Ibid.

24 The Ku Klux Klan was thriving:
Writers’ Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Texas,
Houston: A History and Guide
(Houston: Anson Jones Press, 1942), p. 115.

24 “My natural sympathy”:
Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
, p. 290.

25 “ ‘Helen, Walter, we’re leaving’ ”:
Powers, “Walter Cronkite: A Candid Conversation.”

25 “I was horrified about the incident”:
Walter Cronkite interview with the Archive of American Television (transcript), April 18, 1998.

26 “It had a wonderful aura”:
Walter Cronkite, “And That’s the Way It Was,”
Houston Post
, March 31, 1985.

27 “I guess the
Houston Post
was a small newspaper”:
Ibid.

27 During summer breaks:
David Barron, “With Houston Roots, Cronkite Left Mark on the World,”
Houston Chronicle
, July 17, 2009.

27 “I could get more kids in that car”:
“My First Car,”
Parade
, October 14, 1962.

28 “We had actually run out of food”:
Walter Cronkite interview, Archive of American Television, April 28, 1998, p. 6.

28 “Presbyterian-Lutheran kind of Calvinist background”:
James,
Walter Cronkite
, p. 35.

29 “It’s one of those gray areas, Walter”:
Parade
, March 23, 1980.

29 tales from the world of print:
Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
, p. 31.

29 “he was ordering me to don my armor”:
Ibid., p. 32.

29 “He was so in love with his work”:
Donna Sue Walker, “Army of Fans Enjoys ‘Evening with Cronkite,’ ”
Tulsa World
, April 21, 1999.

29 A typical news flash:
Joe Adcock, “Walter Cronkite,”
Texas Magazine
, November 27, 1966.

29 voted by his peers as best reporter:
Campus Cub
, May 22, 1933.

29 maintain a “high standard of quality”:
San Jacinto High School Yearbook, 1933.

30 “He was always running up and down the corridors”:
John G. Rogers, “Walter Cronkite’s Favorite Teacher,”
Parade
, February 18, 1973, p. 23.

31 as if he’d been “dipped in phosphorous”:
Amy Henderson,
On the Air: Pioneers of American Broadcasting
(Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institute Press, 1988), p. 186.

31 “an exalted copy boy”:
Walker, “Army of Fans.”

31 “I had discovered journalism”:
Cronkite, “And That’s the Way It Was.”

31 “I could watch fellow passengers reading my story”:
Ibid.

31 “No corrections”:
Walter Cronkite (clippings), WCP-UTA.

33 “Tall, very Blonde—Good Dancer”:
Cornelia “Bit” Winter scrapbook (1935), Don Michel Archive, Anna, IL.

33 he couldn’t afford to purchase a Balfour class ring:
Connelly, “Walter Cronkite’s Houston.”

33 “the smartest person in the school”:
Author interview with Fay Shoss, May 24, 2011.

33 “the man Americans are most likely to buy a used car from”:
“Press Club Hails Cronkite,”
Houston Post
, October 27, 1973.

33 “There’s nothing I would like to have more”:
Ibid.

34 “how broke his mother had been”:
Author interview with Andrew Goldberg, August 12, 2011.

34 to honor Cronkite’s mother:
“The Fun of Getting Your Senior Class Ring—70 Years Later,” Balfour Press Release, June 22, 2004.

Three
: Learning a Trade

36 “being the ham I’ve always been”:
Walter Cronkite interview, Archive of American Television, April 28, 1998.

36 he was on the Tube long before Murrow:
Lawrence Laurent, “Video Proves Nothing’s as Exciting as History,”
Washington Post
, December 13, 1953.

36
The Daily Texan
was an amazing college newspaper:
Don Carleton, “Cronkite’s Texas,”
The Alcalde
(September–October 2009).

36 journalism an extracurricular “flirtation”:
“Walter Cronkite: News Commenter,”
Detroit News Magazine
, September 24, 1972.

36 Woodrow Wilson’s closest advisor:
Ibid., p. 27.

36 Determined to be the big man on campus:
Ibid.

37 “the campus big shot of Fort Worth”:
Walter Cronkite to Helen Cronkite, 1934, Box: 2.325–E454a, WCP-UTA.

37 a “magna cum virgin”:
Art Buchwald, “Anchor’s Away: The Life of Walter,”
Washington Post
, July 17, 2009.

37 he and Bit resorted to letter writing:
Don Michel to Douglas Brinkley, October 15, 2011.

37 “For Vice-President—WALTER CRONKITE”:
Box: 2.325–C130, WCP-UTA.

37 The only consolation he ever gleaned:
Sharon Jayson, “And That’s the Way It Was—Revered Anchor Cronkite Fondly Recalls His Days at UT, Daily Texan,”
Austin American-Statesman
, October 1, 1999.

38 “I missed a lot of classes”:
Ibid.

38 “I am experiencing great difficulty”:
Walter Cronkite, January 23, 1935, uncited photocopy, WCP-UTA.

38 “She is genuine”:
Walter Cronkite, “Miss Stein Not Out for Show, But Knows What She Knows,”
Daily Texan
, March 22, 1936.

38 Cronkite secured a job:
Joe Adcock, “Walter Cronkite,”
Texas Magazine
, November 27, 1966.

39 “I’d never been in a place like this”:
Powers, “Walter Cronkite: A Candid Conversation.”