Walter Cronkite Rush). Cronkite dated singer Joanna Simon from 2005 to 2009 A grandson, Walter Cronkite IV, now works at CBS. Cronkite was an accomplished sailor and enjoyed sailing coastal waters of the United States in his custom-built 48-foot Sunward "WYNTJE". Cronkite was a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, with the honorary rank of commodore. Throughout the 1950s, he was an aspiring sports car racer, even racing in the 1959 12 Hours of Sebring. Cronkite was reported to be a fan of the game "Diplomacy", which was John F. Kennedy and Henry Kissinger's favorite game. In June 2009, Cronkite
Walter Cronkite a "Freedom of the Press" George Polk Award and the Paul White Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. In 1972, in recognition of his career, Princeton University's American Whig-Cliosophic Society awarded Cronkite the James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service. In 1981, the year he retired, former president Jimmy Carter awarded Cronkite the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In that year, he also received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards, and the Paul White Award for lifetime achievement from the Radio Television Digital News