Cronkite's first CBS Evening News broadcast

[AdamSmith]

No real reason for putting this in Politics forum, but here it is anyway.

[RA1]

I think this should be in the political forum. Most national and worldwide news is political. Also, Uncle Walter was very much a political protagonist, some of such only known later after his demise. It is very difficult for newsies to actually be neutral and WC was no exception.

The cigarette ads reminded me that I smoked a lot n my early years and opened many, many new packages of 20. I enjoyed most of that time and those experiences but regret now that they happened. That is life as I understand it. Joy and regret.

Thanks for posting this vid.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest Hoover42]

Loved W.C. Anyone remember his show, The Twenty-First Century?

[AdamSmith]

Yes!!! I loved that show. I was about seven years old then, and just ate it up.

Just found this episode guide: http://www.tvguide.com/detail/tv-show.aspx?tvobjectid=388919&more=ucepisodelist&episodeid=1053601

[wayout]

I remember it also and really was a big fan of WC. Thanks for the link for the episode list AS. Here is one on Youtube

[RA1]

To further elaborate: WC (like some of us) was from a different era. There were only 3 national networks for news, sitcoms and other TV programming. Virtually all of the local stations were tied in with one network or another. It seems to me that WC "overcame" the genre of radio broadcasters who were suddenly thrust into TV news. He wasn't a pretty boy but handsome enough to be "Uncle Walter" to most of us. I was younger and naïve then but I like to think that WC did a "better" job of concealing his political opinions that many do now. He was very much a proponent of the US space program and ardent admirer of JFK. He could calm and soothe the nation when some things went very wrong. He also made predictions that had very strong political undertones. He is generally credited with announcing that the Viet Nam war was over and the US had lost. This before it was obvious to everyone. There were no known to me "scandals" about WC which is somewhat different by today's standards. He seemed to enjoy his family and sailing. RIP.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest Hoover42]

Wow, haven't heard that theme music for years.

<geekmode>

For some reason, I could never watch The Twenty First Century at home. Fortunately, I knew an old man who used to love having me over (wonder why? ) so I used to go over to his place whenever I wanted to watch the show. The guy was a retired electrical engineer and his house was full of electrical gadgets: oscilloscopes, signal generators, shortwave radios, you name it. He also had this crazy collection of tape decks, including a big reel-to-reel tape deck. He actually built a connection to his TV for me and we ended up recording the audio for many of The Twenty First Century episodes.

Wish I still had those recordings.

</geekmode>