Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Cronkite

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 327 ratings · 99 reviews

For decades, Walter Cronkite was known as "the most trusted man in America." Millions across the nation welcomed him into their homes, first as a print reporter for the United Press on the front lines of World War II, and later, in the emerging medium of television, as a host of numerous documentary programs and as anchor of the CBS Evening News, from 1962 until his retire...more

Hardcover, 832 pages

Published May 29th 2012 by Harper

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

May 2012 Books

32nd out of 41 books — 35 voters

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley

Books I Read in 2012

489th out of 504 books — 44 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,137)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Aug 29, 2012 Stephanie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Brinkley is America's Historian and certainly has the resources to get us both the overall story and the inside scoop. The book is full of fascinating info on Walter Cronkite from archival sources and the subject's family, professional associates, and friends. It offers particularly juicy gossip about Cronkite's last years and his disdain for CBS and Dan Rather. It is worth reading for the information it provides about Uncle Walter's life and his opinions about newsmakers and the news.

But beware...more Brinkley is America's Historian and certainly has the resources to get us both the overall story and the inside scoop. The book is full of fascinating info on Walter Cronkite from archival sources and the subject's family, professional associates, and friends. It offers particularly juicy gossip about Cronkite's last years and his disdain for CBS and Dan Rather. It is worth reading for the information it provides about Uncle Walter's life and his opinions about newsmakers and the news.

But beware: this is not the quality of book one ever would expect to have been produced by a professional historian and writer, especially one with Brinkley's reputation. It is jarring and disappointing to think that Brinkley; his publisher; his associates; and Cronkite's family and influential admirers would let this extraordinarily sloppy book be published in its current state. Brinkley and his publisher have made a terrible mistake by releasing this book prematurely. That respected reviewers lead the book-buying public to believe the book is ready for prime time is an insult to both Cronkite and the reader.

This book is the most poorly edited biography I ever have read. It smacks of having been thrown together to meet a deadline. Opinion routinely is stated as fact (eg, "Brokaw of NBC News, as always, cut to the core of Cronkite adeptly"). Writing is sloppy (eg, "No television correspondent had covered civil rights or went after Nixon with more doggedness."). Nonsensical assertions abound (eg, "Cronkite's death was a national embarrassment because of how badly TV journalism had fared in his absence.") Proofreading is haphazard (eg, "Silver Seas" instead of Silversea). Non-sequitors are littered throughout (eg, "With an extra-high regard for scientists and professors, he visited the far reaches of the planet, trying to learn about the historic world..."). Wording is sometimes nonsensical ("and a colorful look at Mars photographs taken by Viking spacecraft in the 1970s"). Extraneous information unnecessarily diverts the reader (eg, "To Amanpour, just back in New York from Afghanistan [where she filmed the documentary Generation Islam about the lives of young Muslims]. Cronkite's life wasn't about anchoring the CBS News..." )

The book screams for a final edit. Until and unless it gets one, I give it an F for publication quality.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

May 08, 2013 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars

As described late in this book, in 2005, Ted Koppel gave an informal talk to young interns hoping to become news broadcasters. Koppel asked, did they knew anything about Eric Sevaried? Howard K. Smith? Frank Reynolds? Chet Huntley? John Chancellor? David Brinkley? Walter Cronkite? Of those seven names, Cronkite was the only one the interns recognized. Yet 40-50 years ago, all seven of these newsmen were household names to almost all Americans.

Why has Cronkite's legacy alone endured? Douglas Brin...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 20, 2013 Molly rated it 5 of 5 stars

When Walter Cronkite was 90 years old, he was dining out with friends Nick, Nina and son George Clooney (Nick was a newsman). Restaurant patrons recognized Cronkite, but didn’t bother him. But when he left, they rose. George said, "They didn't applaud, they just stood up, because that's what you do when a gentleman is leaving the room."

This biography tells how Walter Cronkite came to earn that silent standing ovation. It was difficult to finish because the final pages meant saying goodbye not o...more When Walter Cronkite was 90 years old, he was dining out with friends Nick, Nina and son George Clooney (Nick was a newsman). Restaurant patrons recognized Cronkite, but didn’t bother him. But when he left, they rose. George said, "They didn't applaud, they just stood up, because that's what you do when a gentleman is leaving the room."

This biography tells how Walter Cronkite came to earn that silent standing ovation. It was difficult to finish because the final pages meant saying goodbye not only to him, an extraordinary individual, but to an entire way of seeing and reporting on the world that is so rare (non-existent?) today. Cronkite was admired - revered – for his deep integrity and discipline in reporting the news – but also for his joyous enthusiasm for life and storytelling.

He believed in facts, in witnessing events and reporting faithfully on what he discovered. He guided the country through its soaring achievements - men landing on moon - and heartbreak; Kennedy assassination, Vietnam War (it was his decision - after visiting Vietnam during the Tet Offensive - to report that the war was best a "stalemate," that is credited with turning the anti-war movement mainstream).

Read this book if you are a fan of journalism, if you want to understand why we were lucky to have Edward R. Murrow for the first half of the 20th century and Cronkite for the second. Read it for a thrilling sweep of twentieth century history or for a chronicle of a lost world, where newsmen (okay, and it was male-dominated, but Cronkite was not a chauvinist) smoked and drank and worked all hours to get the story. Imagine television reporters not rushing to be first without double-sourcing the facts. Remember in 2012 when CNN reported live that Congress had stuck down Obama’s healthcare law, without bothering to read past the first paragraph of the judicial ruling? Cronkite wouldn't report on Kennedy's death until he got confirmation from the hospital in Dallas.

While I was growing up, I watched Cronkite deliver The CBS Evening News and when Dan Rather replaced him, I remember feeling that we had lost something, but at the time couldn’t articulate just what.

President Obama, who attended the entire two-and-a-half-hour memorial for Walter Cronkite captured the “just what" about him, echoing the sentiment of so many others; “He was family. He invited us to believe in him and he never let us down.”
(less)

like · see review

Oct 28, 2012 Harry Lane rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is an old argument about whether the times make the man or vice-versa. When you read a biography like this, you realize that in at least some cases, the times and the man come together in an extraordinary way. In the first half of the book, Brinkley details Cronkite's innate intelligence and character and development of his talents through his early work experience. In later chapters, he shows how these particular traits and skills made Cronkite so well fitted for the TV medium, and how the n...more

like · see review

Oct 13, 2012 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

To the cacophony of reviewers, I would like to add my thoughts. This book was interesting read, but it was not a novel. Having read many biographies, the most important point is getting information from the individual, if possible (Jobs biography) and those who dealt with him. You getting a better balance of the excellent with the warts. As time goes by you are left with only records that lose the nuance or the even the history and background of why. Cronkite had many terrific friends that were...more

like · see review

Aug 24, 2012 Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction-history, nonfiction-biography

I have just finished reading Cronkite, the new biography by Douglas Brinkley of "the most trusted man in America," and I have mainly good things to say about it--coupled with one big criticism. Walter Cronkite is just endlessly fascinating, and his life makes terrific grist for a lengthy biography. Anyone who remembers watching him report on President Kennedy's assassination, the civil rights marches, the Vietnam War, the Begin-Sadat summit, and especially the space launches will probably enjoy...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 18, 2012 Dan Oko rated it 3 of 5 stars

Once upon a time, author and historian Douglas Brinkley tells us, giants roamed the earth -- and the airwaves! Nowadays, of course, a figure such as Walter Cronkite is in danger of being forgotten. So let's visit a time when there was a TV anchorman of such stature he was consider 'America's favorite uncle.' This compelling life-and-time treatment reminds us of an era when television news was more than car crashes and following up Internet scoops. Brinkley knew Cronkite, interviewed his family a...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 17, 2012 Socraticgadfly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, history

I'd like to have given this a third star, but with other reviews running in the four-star average, I can't.

While I learned a number of things about Cronkite from this book (see below), I learned even more about Douglas Brinkley as a history/biography writer, especially since this isn't the first book of his I've read.

Brinkley is the new Stephen Ambrose, I am thinking more and more, and that's not a compliment. Cronkite deserves a better biographer.

I think Brinkley, like his mentor Ambrose, uses...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 13, 2012 Jay Connor rated it 5 of 5 stars

“You don’t know what you’ve got, ‘til it’s gone.”

In reflecting on Walter Cronkite and his era, this 1970’s Joni Mitchell refrain from “Big Yellow Taxi” kept spinning through my mind. Not only is it a way of processing the diminution of the art of news and information for which Cronkite was the high water mark – “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot” – but it is a way of doing so without sounding (or feeling) crotchety and out of touch with today’s wolf-pack incarnation.

“You don’t know...more
“You don’t know what you’ve got, ‘til it’s gone.”

In reflecting on Walter Cronkite and his era, this 1970’s Joni Mitchell refrain from “Big Yellow Taxi” kept spinning through my mind. Not only is it a way of processing the diminution of the art of news and information for which Cronkite was the high water mark – “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot” – but it is a way of doing so without sounding (or feeling) crotchety and out of touch with today’s wolf-pack incarnation.

“You don’t know what you’ve got, ‘til it’s gone.”

Cronkite’s era was my coming of age era. I don’t go back to his WWII UPI reporting start, and was barely aware of his early NASA Mercury work, but I do vividly recall him as being there, with his profound sense of comity, as I pecked out of the introverted shell of adolescence, beginning with Cronkite’s coverage of the JFK assassination to the ‘68 assassinations to countless political conventions and election nights to Armstrong on the moon to Viet Nam to Watergate and through the Iran hostages. In college, I remember nightly finishing my dining hall meal and running off to the media room of the Dahlgren Memorial Library to get my headset and watch the CBS Evening News.

“You don’t know what you’ve got, ‘til it’s gone.”

At first glance, I was surprised that a historian of Brinkley’s erudition would tackle such a recent biography. Cronkite only just passed away in 2009. And weren’t most of Brinkley’s other subjects past presidents? (As a TR acolyte, I’ll particularly point to Brinkley’s wonderful 2009 The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America). But in reading “Cronkite,” you quickly see how apt Brinkley’s choice of subject truly is. For it is through this subject – the television anchorman – that Brinkley gains the unique lens of a medium at its height to reflect a history ever changed by its presence.

“You don’t know what you’ve got, ‘til it’s gone.”

Though Brinkley isn’t above painting broadly the corrosive effect that profit/cable/reality television is having on our national conversation and politics, he does, by not providing a proscriptive list of things to do, for the most part, leave it to us to reflect on the implications.

“You don’t know what you’ve got, ‘til it’s gone.”

Two quotes from eulogies for Cronkite back in 2009 help further this introspection of how to capture our better angels in our quest for information and truth: “he invited us to believe in him, and NEVER let us down.” And, if ever anyone could recapture the “most trusted man in America” high ground, they would need to possess three things: “accuracy, timeliness and trust of the audience.”

“You don’t know what you’ve got, ‘til it’s gone.”
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 12, 2012 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an interesting walk down the history of the 20th century. There was much to recall about when news and time were much slower, news less "frequent" and more controlled. Narrated by the guy who read me all three volumes of the Civil War (among other things), it had the ring of Walter Cronkite himself. The story is told with the intensity of a newscast, much of which I have childhood and youth recollection of. For all you WWII fans, there is lots of that from the reporters eye view. There...more

like · see review

Sep 14, 2012 Katesisco added it

Can't wait to tell you. Long book included most radio personalities; the book mostly valuable for its inclusive report of radio from start to take over by tv.

My conclusion as to the 'uniqueness' of Mr Cronkite is that he was in the current educational parlance ADHD. In my age and his it was called being a 'late bloomer.'
I offer his difficulties in school, not being a good student in college. What happens today to ADHD kids that can't do the educational level? Be a cut-up.

In the book p 559 -A...more Can't wait to tell you. Long book included most radio personalities; the book mostly valuable for its inclusive report of radio from start to take over by tv.

My conclusion as to the 'uniqueness' of Mr Cronkite is that he was in the current educational parlance ADHD. In my age and his it was called being a 'late bloomer.'
I offer his difficulties in school, not being a good student in college. What happens today to ADHD kids that can't do the educational level? Be a cut-up.

In the book p 559 -A hallmark of the Cronkites' successful marriage was that Betsy could cut Walter down to size-and he love it. p 617 What Williams understood was that the Cronkites--Walter and Betsy-lived for humor. Practical jokes and clever asides consumed their days. In his late marriage they shared a dirty humor book often read aloud.

He is comfortable with facts, agin the hallmark of ADHD, p 665 ---Facts are sacred. I feel people should know about the world, should know the truth as much as possible. Those inappropriate little blurbs: p 251 buy newspapers.

Locking Murrow out of the anchor booth and himself in. P 470 his night life enjoyment and his KayCee MO Chesterfield Club scene was not an attempt to 'hang a lantern' but rather just how it was.

Briefly mentioned are the facts that both girls married early--18 and 19. I wonder why the parents did not push the girls to finish college before marriage? Is this another example of ADHD parents?

My biggest point of Mr Cronkite's ADHD: his inclusion of the days of imprisonment in his nightly broadcast seems indicative of not seeing how this could affect the Carter Administration. I believe it was the primary factor in forcing Mr Carter to implement the rescue that left a black spot on Carter's administration. While he had learned by mistakes to fact check, he often did things that had consequences far past his statement.

I point to p 218 White wanted 'honesty' and felt a biased report only temporarily increased the view slant and trained the viewer to take none at face value. I suggest that has proven correct; the corpocracy now actively solicits individuals whose limited view of the world and themselves allow a projected 100% confidence. This applies only to the individuals understanding which is deceptive and therefore results in this deceptive view being projected with 100% confidence. This is ultimately a con game where the utterly believable individual is merely a front for the double-dealing behind the scenes.

I suggest that Mr Cronkite"s ADHD was primarily beneficial to America but on the rare occasion as in the Carter issue above, harmful.

Is that a typo on p 530 --The Anti-Pefamation League--maybe Anti-Defamation?

(less)

like · see review

Jun 24, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed Douglas Brinkley's comprehensive biography of Walter Cronkite - but it was SO LONG. Brinkley's research was extensive - but he suffered from a problem he claims Cronkite did not- the inability (or unwillingness)to distinguish the wheat from the chaff. There is so much detail. While it is true that Cronkite, who was a journalist before TV and was involved in that medium from its inception, was involved in almost every major journalistic issue from the beginning of WWII until his death i...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 23, 2012 Diane rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was an aspiring journalist in the early '70's and Walter Cronkite was my hero. I was excited to read this biography by the well-respected historian, Douglas Brinkley. But I think my idol, Walter, is turning in his grave. The writing is mostly engaging but tends to get gossipy. Brinkley had access to Cronkite's personal papers and had interviews with many close friends and colleagues so it is terribly disappointing to read so many errors in both facts and style.

Cronkite was the consummate profe...more I was an aspiring journalist in the early '70's and Walter Cronkite was my hero. I was excited to read this biography by the well-respected historian, Douglas Brinkley. But I think my idol, Walter, is turning in his grave. The writing is mostly engaging but tends to get gossipy. Brinkley had access to Cronkite's personal papers and had interviews with many close friends and colleagues so it is terribly disappointing to read so many errors in both facts and style.

Cronkite was the consummate professional and Brinkley's admiration shows through. He spends a good deal of time outlining Cronkite's ethics in journalism and he contrasts news reports of his day with those of present day television theatrics. His writing is at its best when he showcases the other side of "the most trusted man in America." There are funny anecdotes from Cronkite's wife, Betsy and from old colleagues such as Morley Safer, Mike Wallace and Andy Rooney. What was fascinating to me was the change in Cronkite's politics during the VietNam War. By the time I was watching CBS news, Cronkite was already what we called a "dove." I was too young to realize that he came through the early VietNam years as a hawk. His transformation was news to me. Old Walter was ahead of his time in the early '70's when he championed Women's Rights and he was "green" before it was popular. He saw Lumet's movie, Network, as prophecy and he was so right! The final chapters are devoted to Cronkite's years after he officially left CBS and the most moving chapter recounts the eulogies at his funeral.

So why just two stars? The book is SLOPPY. Facts are wrong, the index is shoddy and there are some terrible proof-reading errors. It's hard to believe that a historian would make such a mess.

Brinkley calls WXYZ in Detroit WKYZ.

In one chapter he talks about a president's Sept 2nd "Memorial Day" speech! Really!? A historian is confusing Memorial Day and Labor Day?

Page 589... " When word reached Cronkite that President Reagan would soon be was accepting applications from civilians...." Doesn't make sense... sloppy editing!

There are many other similar errors. Sad.

Favorite quote: 'When Cronkite was asked to sum up President-elect Clinton he said, " Clinton has Carter's intelligence, Johnson's experience, and Kennedy's gonads." It is said to be Clinton's favorite shorthand summation of his style ever uttered. '(less)

like · see review

Aug 27, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good book, the subject is a fascinating one. To have been a friend and confidant of Walter would have been a great time. There is a lot of gossip, there is a lot of hatred for Dan Rather, and the last 200 pages is the slow and steady decline of one of the most beloved people in American history.
In the penultimate paragraph thee is a quote: "unafraid to flag-wave, but uncompromising when it came to exposing societal inequities of any kind, Cronkite, in last analysis, became the TV conscience of...more

like · see review

Apr 21, 2013 Chuck Collins rated it 5 of 5 stars

'Cronkite' is a personal journey through America's Twentieth Century that is both parallel to our cultural trends and a departure at times from a man who had remained committed to his convictions. Mr. Cronkite took the clear and concise dissemination of information very seriously, from newspapers to radio and ultimately television.

Mr. Brinkley, (no relation to one of Cronkite's closest rivals, David) delivers an easy to read and fascinating portrait of the man we all seemed to know, if not trus...more

like · see review

Oct 11, 2012 Jim Kelsh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Walter Cronkite is part of the soundtrack of my life and interests. We were a Cronkite household and watch almost exclusively. He was solid, professional, and trusted.
Douglas Brinkley has put together a complete biography of the network anchor. Complete but hardly compelling. Brinkley's "The Great Deluge" about Hurricane Katrinais one of the great history books I've read. "Cronkite" lacked a narrrative flow and is really just a chronology of Cronkite's life. There are juicy tidbits: his dogged...more

like · see review

Oct 27, 2012 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was really informative and I learned a lot about Cronkite and about CBS News before and during his tenure. Brinkley, while sympathetic to Cronkite, did not pull any punches and painted him as a less than perfect man, which I appreciated. He had an ego, which was not unexpected, and held a very liberal political philosophy, which was also not unexpected. Brinkley even mentioned some of Cronkite's philanthropic endeavors, which was a good thing to add for readers disenchanted with his pe...more

like · see review

Oct 31, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is never pleasant to read about people you hold in high regard because you always find out things you did not want to know. It is so much more comfortable to think of them as all good or smart or pretty much without blemish. On the other hand, it is foolish and perhaps dangerous to not know the weaknesses of those you would support and defend. I still think we would all benefit from news anchors who reported these news rather than tried to make it or spin it, but I am an old fogey who still b...more

like · see review

Jan 22, 2013 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-media-history

Let me start out by saying this. I really wanted to like this book, really I did. For as historically accurate as it was with its telling of the rise of Broadcast Newscasting (told through the storied career or legendary CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite) I found the writing style of the story to be dull and at times pedantic. The author brings the reader into the different channels of history he ascribes to but at the same time the story is at most times bland and blase. I found the back story of w...more

like · see review

Dec 01, 2012 Steve Bookman rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fluent, evenly paced review of the journalist's life from early childhood to his demise in his early 90s. Most arresting - the reader is brought face-to-face with all the angst and culture swings of the 1960s through the lens of how Cronkite covered key political, sociological, and technological milestones of that era. This book might well be one of the best ways for the many at this stage of the 21rh Century who were not there to experience it in person.

Minor demerit for perhaps getting too s...more

like · see review

Jul 05, 2012 Garry Wilmore rated it 3 of 5 stars

My own thoughts on this book are similar to those expressed in Stephanie's review. I give it three stars instead of her two, only because I found Cronkite's story to be so interesting and compelling, although it could and should have been told better, especially by someone with Douglas Brinkley's credentials. His acknowledgements include a long list of individuals who supposedly reviewed the manuscript before it was published, but if such was the case, I wonder how so many errors made it into th...more My own thoughts on this book are similar to those expressed in Stephanie's review. I give it three stars instead of her two, only because I found Cronkite's story to be so interesting and compelling, although it could and should have been told better, especially by someone with Douglas Brinkley's credentials. His acknowledgements include a long list of individuals who supposedly reviewed the manuscript before it was published, but if such was the case, I wonder how so many errors made it into the final version. The text is replete with them, but here a few examples suffice:

-- He mentions September 2, 1963 -- "Memorial Day" -- as the date of the inaugural 30-minute broadcast of CBS Evening News. The date is indeed correct, but it was Labor Day, not Memorial Day.

-- He refers to "a C-47 bombing mission over Germany during World War II." The C-47 was a transport plane, not a bomber.

-- He states that "only the CBS eye logo" was displayed on-screen as Cronkite announced the shooting of President John F. Kennedy. It is true that the first announcement was accompanied by a graphic, but it was not the famous eye logo; instead, it consisted simply of the words "CBS News Bulletin," set against a black background.

-- He identifies the police officer slain by Lee Harvey Oswald as "James Tippit." If I remember correctly, Tippit had no first or middle name and was always known as "J. D." But in any event, in the nearly 50 years since the JFK assassination, I have never once seen or heard him identified as "James," at least not until now. If that was in fact his first name, this is not technically an error, but referring to him thus is something akin to, say, identifying the 28th President of the United States as Tommy Wilson.

-- He mentions an anthology of speeches by Senator Robert F. Kennedy, supposedly titled To Make A Newer World. The correct title was To Seek A Newer World, from a line in Tennyson's Ulysses, which was one of RFK's favorite poems.

-- He identifies the launch vehicle for John Glenn's Friendship 7 space capsule as a Redstone rocket, when in fact it was an Atlas.

-- Finally, he refers to "Cape Kennedy" in connection with Glenn's second space flight, in 1998 aboard the shuttle Discovery. But the launch site had reverted to its former name of Cape Canaveral some 25 years previously.

I found the book worth reading once, although I won't read it a second time. It was a story that deserved to be told, but Douglas Brinkley, of all people, should have done a better job of telling it. (less)

like · see review

May 28, 2012 Michael J. Toro marked it as to-read

Shelves: biography

New Biography of CBS Newsman Walter Cronkite Dents His Halo via The Daily Beast: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek...

While this book paints a less than flattering portrait of Cronkite, I suspect much of it is far from surprising. Today, we're so inured to taking our heroes, both past and present, with a very sizable grain of salt.

In any event, I can't wait to read this biography. I'm very anxious to see if my admiration for Uncle Walter can withstand the test of passing time: the ever capri...more

like · see review

Aug 01, 2012 Scott Klemm rated it 3 of 5 stars

Walter Cronkite’s career extended from World War II as a journalist and radio commentator to being a respected television news anchorman up to his retirement in 1981. For me the most compelling parts of the book were the description of Cronkite’s reporting of such historic events as D-Day, Kennedy’s assassination and the first man on the moon. Other times the book seemed to drag a bit as Brinkley described the rivalries and jockeying for position within CBS.

Cronkite had a reputation for being on...more Walter Cronkite’s career extended from World War II as a journalist and radio commentator to being a respected television news anchorman up to his retirement in 1981. For me the most compelling parts of the book were the description of Cronkite’s reporting of such historic events as D-Day, Kennedy’s assassination and the first man on the moon. Other times the book seemed to drag a bit as Brinkley described the rivalries and jockeying for position within CBS.

Cronkite had a reputation for being one who stood for objective journalism and straight news truthfulness. Of course, Cronkite never really was as unbiased as many thought. He showed subtle support for Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement, for example, by the amount of coverage he devoted to it. He was also instrumental in turning public opinion against the Vietnam War with his report on the Tet Offensive that brought about Lyndon Johnson’s announcement that he would not seek a second term. In later life, especially after retirement, he became increasingly vocal in his advocacy of liberal causes.

The book’s author, Douglas Brinkley, stated that “journalist could now make or break a candidate. If you were Reagan or Carter, kissing up to Cronkite was far more important than kissing babies on the campaign trail.” The media is the new kingmakers.

Cronkite criticized the trend of news-as-entertainment and worried about the gullibility of the American public. “We need courses, beginning in junior high, on journalism for consumers.” he wrote in 1984. “How to read a newspaper, how to listen to the radio, how to watch television….People have got to be taught to be skeptical so that they won’t become cynical about all news sources.”

To this I would add the need for the public to be able to distinguish news from propaganda. Some in today’s media can’t decide whether their job is reporting the news or advancing a particular candidate or cause. It would be helpful if the American electorate could recognize such basic propaganda devices as bandwagon, name calling and card stacking. It’s alarming that too many voters don’t take the time to become better informed, and are ill-equipped to think critically and judge the quality of information. A scary thought -- a democratic society gets the representation it deserves.
(less)

like · see review

Jun 09, 2012 Jaye Ramsey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Amazing.

I did not want this book to end. Douglas Brinkley writes like a journalist/historian with detail, joy, and enthusiasm. It is an intimate book, an historical biography of one of the more important witnesses to the 20 Century.

Brinkley, a Rice University professor, has said that he writes about people of whom we will discuss in 100 years. This is another such work. He has a gift. His interviewees open up to him warmly and tell all with generosity and insight.

You will want the hardcover.

1 like · like · see review

Feb 26, 2013 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-history, biography-memoir, journalism, non-fiction

http://philadelphiareviewofbooks.com/...

America does not love its doddering geniuses. Even when the oldest and frailest commenters among us are the only ones willing to speak truth to power in public discourse, we tend to dismiss them, and everything they say, as foolish and, in the true sense of the word, demented. We neglect these voices, though, at our own peril.

Kurt Vonnegut, in the last years of his life, wrote columns for In These Times, the far-left magazine of commentary and investigativ...more

like · see review

Sep 29, 2012 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had always admired Walter Cronkite as the source of news in the 60s.
I had no idea of his background and was pleasantly surprised to find out what a regular guy he was.
I think this was a pretty good analysis of how news and entertainment fight for our attention and how news has changed in the past 50 years.
I appreciated that although Walter was a liveral, he kept his objectivity when reporting the news.
I was also delighted to find out that Walter, being a sailor had collaborated with Ray Ellis...more

like · see review

Jul 09, 2012 Justin Mitchell rated it 3 of 5 stars

I understand the complaints I've heard about this book--it does feel very slipshod a lot of the time, with facts being repeated, characters introduced over and over again as if each mention of them is the very first, and an elastic jumping back and forth in time. But it is a wealth of information--although I've read some credible critiques that say it is off-base. It's hard to know, I guess. Brinkley is far from a great writer, and maybe not a great historian, either, but I nevertheless enjoyed...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 22, 2012 Steve rated it 1 of 5 stars

To clarify my one-star rating:

Walter Cronkite was an amazing figure. One of the greatest newsmen of this and all generations. The most trusted man in America for a reason and one of the smartest, most well-read men ever.

This book is crap. The editing became shoddier the longer I read until I quit in disgust. Typos, stories that go nowhere, author's speculation instead of fact, more typos, and the author in love with his own writing to the tune of near 700 pages. Amateur hour stuff. I find it am...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 11, 2013 Jeni Enjaian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biographies, american-history, history

One major downfall of this book was its length. (Yet another book that failed to earn a rating above middling.)
When I first started reading this book I was totally engrossed. I could hardly put it down. I was actually excited to pick it up again the next day. Very few nonfiction works have grabbed my attention like this.
This heady feeling started to fade even on the second day of reading (around pages 150-200) and was completely gone once I had read the first third.
I'm not sure why what once cap...more

like · see review

Feb 25, 2013 Asporkin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I approached this with a lot of curiosity. Not only was I one of the boomers who grew up with Cronkite as the voice of God, telling my family the news every night but, having worked at CBS in the 1980s and 1990s, I crossed paths with many of the later players in the book and in fact observed several of the stories from a corporate distance.

If Uncle Walter was a presence in your life too in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, this is a well-rounded biography of someone we all believed we knew. While Brin...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 37 38 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Mr Cronkite was clearly a 'late bloomer'	1	4	Sep 11, 2012 07:01am

combine
Other Editions (7)

More editions...

Genres

Biography

36 users

Non Fiction

19 users

History

11 users

History > American History

5 users

Biography Memoir

3 users

Writing > Journalism

3 users

Media Tie In > Tv

2 users

Biography > Autobiography

2 users

Autobiography > Memoir

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Douglas Brinkley

Douglas Brinkley is a professor of history at Rice University and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. The Chicago Tribune has dubbed him “America’s new past master.” His most recent books are The Quiet World, The Wilderness Warrior, and The Great Deluge. Six of his books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. He lives in Texas with his wife and three children.

More about Douglas Brinkley...

Books by Douglas Brinkley

The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast

The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America

The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion

Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Cronkite

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Cronkite
avg rating	preview: Cronkite Goodreads rating: 3.81 (327 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13264225-cronkite?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1338317433l/13264225.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13264225-cronkite?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Cronkite by Douglas Brinkley[/url]

Cronkite

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website