WALTER CRONKITE - AT 10:49 P.M . ET:  Walter Cronkite has died.  Without question, he had a profound effect on the formative years of television journalism, and set a high standard for the term "anchor."  He was the first reporter who, in my memory at least, provided serious, on-the-scene coverage of national political conventions.  He narrated "Air Power" and other CBS documentaries.  His calm, factually based reporting of the assassination of President Kennedy, was memorable, and a reminder of what true journalists do under intense pressure.  His coverage of the space program was a balance of solid news presentation and just enough personal, boyish excitement to give his work the human touch.

In every life there is a ledger.  We must sadly include the one disturbing moment in Cronkite's career, and, tragically, a critically important one - his famous 1968 report from Vietnam in which he declared that America was stuck in a quagmire, and that only a negotiated settlement would get us out.  In fact, it was the enemy that was stuck in a quagmire, as its own written history of the war freely admitted, and it was looking for a way out.  In fairness to Walter Cronkite, his report was modestly presented, and lacking in the arrogant dogmatism that characterizes much of more recent journalism, but it turned out to be misleading nonetheless.  It must be included in the legacy of a generally distinguished career.

July 17, 2009