Walter Cronkite Cronkite chronicles, over archive footage, the events following World War II that resulted in America's rise as the dominant world power. Prior to his death, "Uncle Walter" hosted a number of TV specials and was featured in interviews about the times and events that occurred during his career as America's "most trusted" man. In July 2006, the 90-minute documentary "Walter Cronkite: Witness to History" aired on PBS. The special was narrated by Katie Couric, who assumed the "CBS Evening News" anchor chair in September 2006. Cronkite provided the voiceover introduction to Couric's "CBS Evening News", which began on September 5,
Walter Cronkite added to the McCain-Feingold-Shays-Meehan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2001 that would have required TV broadcast companies to provide free airtime to candidates. Cronkite criticized the present system of campaign finance which allows elections to "be purchased" by special interests, and he noted that all the European democracies "provide their candidates with extensive free airtime." "In fact," Cronkite pointed out, "of all the major nations worldwide that profess to have democracies, only seven – just seven – do not offer free airtime" This put the United States on a list with Ecuador, Honduras, Malaysia, Taiwan, Tanzania, and Trinidad and Tobago.