On April 16, 1962, Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of the CBS Evening News (initially Walter Cronkite with the News). The program expanded from 15 to 30 minutes on September 2, 1963.

One of Cronkite's trademarks was ending the CBS Evening News with the phrase "...And that's the way it is," followed by the date. Keeping to standards of objective journalism, he omitted this phrase on nights when he ended the newscast with opinion or commentary.

Cronkite retired from the broadcast March 6, 1981, nine months before his 65th birthday, under a CBS policy at the time requiring mandatory retirement at 65. CBS correspondent Dan Rather replaced Cronkite the following Monday.

Thumbnail of Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite on replacing Douglas Edwards on the CBS Evening News 

03:56
Thumbnail of Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite on coming up with his signature signoff "and that's the way it is"

02:06
Thumbnail of James Wall

James Wall on stage-managing CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

08:20
Thumbnail of Connie Chung

Connie Chung on getting on-air on CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and working with Cronkite

03:37
Thumbnail of Dan Rather

Dan Rather on Walter Cronkite's retirement

13:12

Tom Bettag

Tom Bettag on Walter Cronkite, anchor of CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

04:27

Ed Bradley

Ed Bradley on his first television piece for CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

04:29

Connie Chung

Connie Chung on getting on-air on CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and working with Cronkite

03:37

Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite on the very first days of the CBS Evening News at 6pm, and how he went on with no script

07:44

Walter Cronkite on replacing Douglas Edwards on the CBS Evening News 

03:56

Walter Cronkite on coming up with his signature signoff "and that's the way it is"

02:06

Walter Cronkite on the pressures on the press by the White House over the Watergate story

04:06

Walter Cronkite on replacing the anchor of the CBS Evening News, Douglas Edwards

06:58

Walter Cronkite on the expansion of the news from 15 to 30 minutes (in 1963) and how that changed the nature of the genre

03:03

Walter Cronkite on his decision to step down as anchor of the CBS Evening News; and on Dan Rather replacing him

04:34

Phil Donahue

Phil Donahue on getting his first national exposure on CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and a phone call from Walter Cronkite

03:30

Murray Fromson

Murray Fromson on covering Barry Goldwater's 1964 whistlestop tour, and an on-air error that occurred during Roger Mudd's reporting on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

06:33

Murray Fromson on Walter Cronkite's visit to Vietnam

01:56

Murray Fromson on what he told Walter Cronkite on his visit to Vietnam, which led to Cronkite's statement on his show that the war was not winnable

03:15

Buck Henry

Buck Henry on appearing on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, explaining his prank-organization S.I.N.A (the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals) which was treated as a real-news piece and caused a rift between him and Cronkite ever since

20:29

Steve Kroft

Steve Kroft on going to work for CBS News and covering El Salvador

04:23

Roger Mudd

Roger Mudd on Walter Cronkite getting hired at CBS and his competition at NBC; on trying to get pieces onto Cronkite's show

04:41

Roger Mudd on filling in for Walter Cronkite as anchor of CBS Evening News

03:08

Dan Rather

Dan Rather on becoming the CBS Evening News anchor and succeeding Walter Cronkite

13:12

Bob Schieffer

Bob Schieffer on anchoring the CBS Evening News on Saturday nights, and on being up for the job to replace Walter Cronkite as anchor

04:28

Sanford Socolow

Sanford Socolow on his role as producer of CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

16:42

Sanford Socolow on what Walter Cronkite brought to CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

01:13

Sanford Socolow on Walter Cronkite's famous sign-off on CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite  - "And that's the way it is" 

02:16

Sanford Socolow on how Walter Cronkite became "the most trusted man in America" and the story behind Cronkite's on-air condemnation of the Vietnam War (which Cronkite delivered on a special primetime report, not on the CBS Evening News)

05:13

Sanford Socolow on not becoming Executive Producer of CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite when producer Ernie Lizer stepped down (a decision approved by Walter Cronkite and likely decided by Fred Friendly); on becoming a Vice President at CBS News

12:39

Sanford Socolow on the daily routines at CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

03:35

Sanford Socolow on memorable interviews Cronkite conducted on CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite  - with JFK

01:07

Sanford Socolow on the competition between CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and The Huntley-Brinkley Report

05:45

Sanford Socolow on finally becoming executive producer of CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite; on how the culture of the show had changed during his absence

03:21

Sanford Socolow on technological changes that had occurred during his absence from CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

01:02

Sanford Socolow on CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite coverage of the Iran Hostage Crisis

03:19

Sanford Socolow on producing CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

07:19

Jac Venza

Jac Venza on re-designing the news set for CBS news

02:23

James Wall

James Wall on stage-managing CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

08:20

James Wall on being on-hand for Walter Cronkite's final broadcast of CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

02:04

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