"He was a great broadcaster and a gentleman whose experience, honesty, professionalism and style defined the role of anchor and commentator," CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves said in a statement.
Mr. Cronkite's avuncular and authoritative baritone guided viewers through some of the most traumatic and spellbinding news events of the 20th century: the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the civil rights struggles in the South; the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; the first walk by a man on the moon in 1969; the Vietnam War; and the Watergate scandal. In an oft-quoted accolade, an independent poll in 1972 named him "the most trusted man in America."
After retiring from CBS, Mr. Cronkite became an active elder statesman, putting his prestige behind journalism education and efforts to improve television coverage of politics.
He also put his money behind a variety of charitable projects, especially those dealing with the environment and international development.
Mr. Cronkite's achievements at CBS were preceded by a distinguished career as a combat correspondent for the United Press wire service during World War II. He went on bombing missions over Germany, went ashore during the Allied invasion of Normandy, dropped into the Netherlands with the 101st Airborne, and covered the Battle of the Bulge.
In all, Mr. Cronkite's working life as a journalist spanned more than six decades.
