Walter Cronkite Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the "CBS Evening News" for 19 years (1962–1981). During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll. He reported many events from 1937 to 1981, including bombings in World War II; the Nuremberg trials; combat in the Vietnam War; the Dawson's Field hijackings; Watergate; the Iran Hostage Crisis; and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy,
The Most Famous Man in America abolitionists fighting in Kansas and Nebraska. He toured Europe during the Civil War speaking in support of the Union. After the war, Beecher supported social reform causes such as women's suffrage and temperance. In the book's closing chapters, Applegate details Beecher's relationship with Elizabeth Tilton, wife of his friend and associate Theodore Tilton, and its consequences. Elizabeth Tilton both confessed to and retracted her confession of an affair with Beecher; her husband later filed adultery charges against Beecher, resulting in one of the most widely reported American trials of the century. In assessing Beecher's legacy, Applegate states that His reputation