This was a huge news day: during the day, Roe v. Wade was decided, then LBJ's death came at the dinner hour, followed later that night by George Foreman knocking out Joe Frazier in less than two rounds to become heavyweight boxing champion.
Good thing I was a young teen I could give a fuck about these corrupt bastards but really had interest in the Frazier fight... got knocked down 6 times I believe
Who else had enough gravitas to pull something like this off. In 1973, Walter Cronkite take a live call while reading the news. He twice holds up a finger to tell his audience to wait as he gets the story. Wow!
Mike Dowling He was the best ! He did that when Kennedy got shot as well ! I miss the old news rooms ! They showed reporters working hard to make sure the news was correct ! Not like Fox news today !!! Just propaganda!
Seeing Walt makes me wish we had journalists of such integrity today. Instead, we have former beauty queens & fools who can't write, much less investigate or report.
Cronkite did not have as much "integrity" as his reputation suggested. Behind the scenes he was a partisan activist who cloaked Far-Left views under a facade of alleged "objectivity" that ultimately slanted news stories in a more liberal direction to the detriment of the nation (his vaunted "report" on Vietnam was devoid of any semblance to the reality considering that the Tet Offensive had been a spectacular military defeat for the VC and should have been an opportunity to break the enemy's head. Instead, Walter proclaimed that the war could not be won and that become the Conventional Wisdom of America with no accountability whatsoever). He also, as his biography revealed, took a sweetheart deal from Pan Am that would have been deemed unethical if it had been a politician.
I worked for the outlet (KONO-AM, San Antonio) that broke the story when it happened. Our assistant news directors was in his back yard feeding his dogs when he saw the medivac helicopter from Ft. Sam Houston flying north over his house. Thinking it might be a big car wreck or something, he called his contact at Ft. Sam who told him it was LBJ. He called the station and got it on the air. The news anchor on duty at the station fed it to UPI, which sent it out to the world.
I remember my dad commenting on a picture he saw of Johnson just before his death. Dad said he looked old for his age. Johnson was only 64 at his passing and dad thought he looked much older. I still recall his live announcement he made on the news about not seeking another term as president. My folks, who were staunch republicans, yet voted for LBJ in '64, were also quite surprised. The Vietnam war just overshadowed his presidency.
It's amazing that Walter Cronkite is still with us. He is nearing 100 years of age. God bless Cronkite, he was there to cover some of this nation's greatest and worst moments.
That's kind of sad... Johnson always feared dying of a heart attack, especially since his father and his father's father both succumbed to heart attacks...
Transplants were becoming more common in 1973 but at the time, a 64 year old man would have been considered as too old to get one. LBJ's heart was a ticking time bomb as he had his first attack in 1955 & by 1971 he had a second one.
Actually, bypass operations had been done since the early sixties. However it was still somewhat risky in 1973, and was considered major surgery. Johnson actually consulted with prominent cardiologist Michael DeBakey about a year before. However DeBakey determined the ex-President's heart was in too bad a shape to risk the surgery. Like others of his generation, LBJ was a heavy smoker. His Senate aid Bobby Baker says that Johnson "smoked like a crazy man" and was a heavy drinker. He was also a classic "Type A" personality. Excitable, driven, and unable to relax. Throw in the stress of being President, and it is no surprise he could have developed heart problems.
I remember seeing this live when it happened. Understanding how the CBS Evening News operated in 1973, I knew that when the camera showed Walter Cronkite on the phone like this, it had to be something serious.
I remember this. I was in Second grade and the Weekly Reader (which used to break the news events down for the understanding of children) announced the irony of his death coinciding with the Vietnam peace talks.
I was too young to remember Kronkite, but watching this, I feel as if I’m sitting with him at the kitchen table while he conducts a two-way conversation with me and whoever is on the other end of the line. He’s family. Such an intimate way to get the news. No wonder why he was so beloved and trusted. No wonder why the Vietnam War was well and truly lost when he said America couldn’t win it.
Saw this as it happened with my family when I was 7.When knew we were seeing something unusual because Walter was never on the phone during a newscast.For the next 3 days at school we got to watch most of the funeral coverage/got out of our regular school work/ yay!
I was living in Utah I was coming home from school when the news of LBJ's death happened. I was almost a year old when Kennedy was shot. LBJ was 55 when he was Vice President and Kennedy was 46. LBJ died just 2 days after Nixon was sworn in for his 2nd term as President. I grew up watching Walter Cronkite.
cronkite had interviewed johnson just 10 days prior, he was in bad health, he had resumed smoking after leaving washingtion d.c. and had heart attacks in 1970 and '72. he needed bypass surgery but his heart was so weak they couldn't operate. there were other health issues as well, johnson knew he was dying.
I find it interesting to watch these old news broadcasts. The major thing that's fascinating is that they had these ancient phones that were next to them on the desk and that's how they got the breaking news. Then as another person said there's a typewriter that you can hear in the background. Everything was truly live back then. I wish there were televisions that could televise the deaths of President Lincoln, unfortunately it just wasn't available.
That was not really an ancient phone since most homes from as little as 25 years ago had the same type of phone for a landline. The fancy phones 25 years ago was the ones that could hang on the wall.
This is what I mean: he delivered the news without that smile or unreal pose you see of anchors these days. This is how ordinary people got bad news over the phone, and how they stopped others inquiring "what is it?", with that finger. You knew it was "breaking news". News was less scripted then, it was news not photo-ops with perfectly placed hair and polished teeth we see today of talking heads.
Your right ! LBJ did more for the poor and prevented people in the middle class from becoming poor with medicare. I am amazed at conservatives trashing programs such a medicare when they will be open to it when it is their turn to enroll. .People in their 50's and 60's are being let go from their jobs more than any other age bracket.Health insurance at that age is crucial for survival!
David Lafleche Yes. His "Great Society" welfare programs addicted ghetto blacks to government assistance and destroyed their families by linking benefits to those women with no father in the home. To this day, millions are addicted to generational welfare that has made them no more than useless parasites thanks to this man and the filthy democrat party! But they always vote democrat, and that was the real goal.
He may not have been the most easygoing personality, but he was an incredibly brilliant politicians who unquestionably did more to advance civil rights than any post-Civil War president.
This is my favorite Walter Cronkite clip. Working the phone and a live broadcast at the same time making sure he got all the facts. True Journalist. :)
Two things stand out in this fil 1) Cronkite was an actual newsman who fielded calls himself, took notes, and actually ran the program when necessary. He wasn't just a suit. 2) Cronkite was so respected that LBJ's press secretary called him before anyone else to give him the news.
I was a member of the Command Honor Guard at Albrook AFB, Panama Canal Zone. We held a ceremony for President Johnson, a little less than a month after we held the ceremony for President Truman.,
He was indeed a great man. Vietnam was a quagmire, yeah it's true, but LBJ knew how to wield Congress like no other statesperson in American history. He's why JFK's legislative agenda was passed. He's why social change was possible in the 50's and 60's.
This definitely aired in color. It's the recording that was in b&w; this is from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, which continued to use b&w videotape for years because color tape was so much more expensive.
Cronkite's newscast usually aired live at 6:30pm(et), 5:30 Central [in New York and other cities, he appeared at 7pm]. This was from the initial "feed" that was seen throughout most of the country; the 7pm(et) edition was an "updated" version, with President Johnson's death the lead story.
Very well put- you are very eloquent.You know,yesterday was a great day -even over here in England there was much cheering and hope! Amazing.I wish Obama much success.x.
Even so, Vietnam went south, LBJ was in office at the time, blame falls on his shoulders. Like Hoover, who was a good man, but got the blame for the stock market crash for being in office when it happened. Had Kennedy lived, he'd probably be the widely despised one. LBJ was a good president, he just had his tenure get consumed by Vietnam.
lol. Sad sad day indeed, and I somewhat hoped I was wrong. But, when I heard he had been in failing health, and judging by his age, I knew he didn't have much time left. Such an extraordinary career this man had. He was with us for so many of our nations biggest and most history-making events. R.I.P. Mr. Cronkite. You will be missed.
@@blackattack8212 you mean like being in on killin JFK , RFK and all the others he had Malcom Wallace kill (including Josefa Johnson) on his way to the top ?
I hope you learnt that there was Some good things he did,not Just the Vietnam war. Which He inherited from two Previous presidents. He tried To end with America's honour In tact. Unlike Biden who ran Out of Afghanistan like a rat.
I was 8 years old and watching this as it happened....can't believe I had tuned in at that point....even at that age I was freaked out that Cronkite would take a call while on the air.
In context LBJ was anti-racist for his time though. Barry Goldwater, George Wallace and most conservatives of the time actively opposed the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 & 1968 & the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
This is footage from the Vanderbilt University TV News Archive, which back then had only equipment to record black-and-white videotape. CBS occasionally colorfast the "Evening News" from August, 1965 until January, 1966, then permanently from late January, 1966 onward.
Maybe the typewriter was being used to type-out a bulletin which would be given to a correspondent who would go into an audio booth and interrupt programming on the CBS Radio Network for a "Net Alert" Bulletin to announce the former President's death.
@candytotty it was still rare for people to have color tv's and for the news to be in color for some reason..i remember being 5 or 6 in 73 and watching the news in b&w...we still had a 19 inch black and white tv until 1982 or so..lol
My question is this. Why in 1973 was the news being broadcast in black and white? Color TV had been around at least a decade before this broadcast. Perhaps it was broadcast in color but recorded in black and white. It's interesting an interesting question to propose to say the least.
LBJ did ALOT of things. He did alot more than Kennedy Eisenhower and Nixon combined. The man firstly knew how to play politics, Kennedy did not nor can say Obama, so he's not stupid, and considering how he was one of the youngest Senate majority leaders in history he's pretty brilliant. Secondly he passed ground breaking civil rights legislation, he reformed the racist immigration quota's, he created programs which halved the poverty rate, yet that was not him as all he did was Vietnam.
LBJ - Heavy smoker + stress of the office, war... no question contributed to his early death. Nostalgic for the old days of TV...only 3 major networks. Was a big deal when Special News Bulletin interrupted normal programming.
Glenn Kelly I remember when I was a kid how scary it was when you were watching something and all of a sudden the screen said "SPECIAL BULLETIN" or "SPECIAL REPORT." Especially if it was CBS, they had music with pounding drums and stuff... scared the crap out of you.
@ScooterpupReljac Yes, I do too! It was on Monday January 22, 1973. I recall Cronkite taking the call while on the air. It was a very dramatic moment. This was also the day of Roe v Wade and Frazier v Foreman. 1973 seems like a real long time ago now.
@harrymannjr10001 You're making a good point; the leadership of the Republican Party really doesn't want people who can offer Americans a real choice (and obviously, neither do the Democrats). This is why I was for Herman Cain and, as you pointed out Rick Santorum (and Ron Paul, too). While these men aren't the greatest, they DO represent some very real and basic change and at least they've come out of the Republican party and not the Democrats.
I'm just curious, I'm sorry, I'm from 1987 and I know I'm behind the generations before of transitioning from Black & White TV to Color TV. This was 1973, why was this in black and white? thank you :-)
@SgtHydra I said MOST. A few of those southern dixiecrats grew up and realized they'd been wrong. Robert Byrd, George Wallace, and Howell Heflin were among them.
@Helotes420 This is a black-and-white tape with time code, probably from the Vanderbilt University TV news archive. I actually watched this in color when it aired live. I also seem to recall that after the filmed piece on Vietnam ended, CBS went to commercial, and this clip begins when the commercial break ended, with Cronkite still on the phone. Despite President Johnson's "love-hate" relationship with the networks, he was a friend of Cronkite, so that's why CBS got the scoop on his death.
What LBJ said on November 21st, 1963 : 'after tomorrow those S.O.B.'s (The Kennedy Brothers) will never embarrass me again - that's no threat - that's a promise.'
How classy did Cronkite handle this situation? Our media has to have so many graphics and "breaking news exclusives", that we'll never see this type of bulletin again. And it's a shame; it was simple reporting, done forthrightly. They wouldn't dare have Williams or Wolf or Shepard or Couric on the phone today. Darn shame.
@candytotty Color TV was still very much a luxury in 1973. Kind of like air-conditioning, even here in the south, was still a treat during that time. I remember we didn't get a color TV untl 1977 and our second TV was black-and-white.
I love these old newsmen. Their way of reporting the news is classic and classy to say the least.
You're welcome....!!
Mr. Silas I agree, old school. I noticed the Marine Corps emblem. I was in the Marine Corps 5 Oct 73 to 4 Oct 77, Semper Fi Leatherneck
Mr. Silas this is the way news should be done.
All these opinated pretty boys as well as girls, can take a lesson from this man.
Very true
This was a huge news day: during the day, Roe v. Wade was decided, then LBJ's death came at the dinner hour, followed later that night by George Foreman knocking out Joe Frazier in less than two rounds to become heavyweight boxing champion.
Good thing I was a young teen I could give a fuck about these corrupt bastards but really had interest in the Frazier fight... got knocked down 6 times I believe
Robert Martinez you sound hurt
John Guertin Foreman dribbled him like a basketball!
Ben Anderson not to mention it was only two days after Nixon was inaugurated for his 2nd term.
All that on one day. Wow!
I like hearing the typwriters in the background. you dont hear that anymore in a news room
There's no match for Walter Cronkite, either.
musicclosettvshow Because its all on computers stupid.
+Anna Comloski no need for the name calling love
+Anna Comloski
Unnecessary name calling!!!
+Domine Wimbury
I got what you meant!
Who else had enough gravitas to pull something like this off. In 1973, Walter Cronkite take a live call while reading the news. He twice holds up a finger to tell his audience to wait as he gets the story. Wow!
So true. Who would be "the most trusted man in America" now? Good luck with that one.
KrazeeClark Tom Hanks? :)
I think Cronkite was managing editor at the time so he could do that, plus LBJ had a long friendship with Cronkite & CBS News
Mike Dowling He was the best ! He did that when Kennedy got shot as well ! I miss the old news rooms ! They showed reporters working hard to make sure the news was correct ! Not like Fox news today !!! Just propaganda!
Yeah. This was back when you could trust the news, the anchors had integrity, and the networks weren't trying to do anything for ratings.
Seeing Walt makes me wish we had journalists of such integrity today. Instead, we have former beauty queens & fools who can't write, much less investigate or report.
Cronkite did not have as much "integrity" as his reputation suggested. Behind the scenes he was a partisan activist who cloaked Far-Left views under a facade of alleged "objectivity" that ultimately slanted news stories in a more liberal direction to the detriment of the nation (his vaunted "report" on Vietnam was devoid of any semblance to the reality considering that the Tet Offensive had been a spectacular military defeat for the VC and should have been an opportunity to break the enemy's head. Instead, Walter proclaimed that the war could not be won and that become the Conventional Wisdom of America with no accountability whatsoever). He also, as his biography revealed, took a sweetheart deal from Pan Am that would have been deemed unethical if it had been a politician.
I like Jake tapper, he's old school
@@epaddon get over yourself. Jesus h Christ, complain much? I bet you're also a trumpet
And a president that don't know what day it is sitting in his soiled diaper
I worked for the outlet (KONO-AM, San Antonio) that broke the story when it happened. Our assistant news directors was in his back yard feeding his dogs when he saw the medivac helicopter from Ft. Sam Houston flying north over his house. Thinking it might be a big car wreck or something, he called his contact at Ft. Sam who told him it was LBJ. He called the station and got it on the air. The news anchor on duty at the station fed it to UPI, which sent it out to the world.
I heard that LBJ had a previous heart attack in 1972. Was that true?
@@malcolmpalmer569 If it was, I don't remember it.
I remember my dad commenting on a picture he saw of Johnson just before his death. Dad said he looked old for his age. Johnson was only 64 at his passing and dad thought he looked much older. I still recall his live announcement he made on the news about not seeking another term as president. My folks, who were staunch republicans, yet voted for LBJ in '64, were also quite surprised. The Vietnam war just overshadowed his presidency.
I would have voted the same too.
The last democrat to have
Any respect for. Poor guy was
Brought down by yellow
Leftwing dogs of the democratic
Party.
If you parents voted him back, they were dumb red necks and deserved to die
He drunk and smoked i think
It's amazing that Walter Cronkite is still with us. He is nearing 100 years of age. God bless Cronkite, he was there to cover some of this nation's greatest and worst moments.
Hi there! It's myself 13 years later replying your comment. I was 6 when you commented, and am surprised by how time has flied until this moment.
Wow, this comment is 14 years old as of July 16, 2023. Which means it was posted in 2009, ironically the same year that Walter Cronkite died
Is he still alive?
Dan Ratner too
That's kind of sad... Johnson always feared dying of a heart attack, especially since his father and his father's father both succumbed to heart attacks...
He should have feared burning in hell.
@@TheToonMonkey Johnson had a reunion in Hell with Kennedy, Nixon and Bush.
@@davidlafleche1142 not Kennnedy or Nixon. Or at least not Kennedy
@@justisolated5621 What makes you think Kennedy and/or Nixon are in Heaven?
@@davidlafleche1142 what did Kennedy do bad that "you" say he "deserves" to be in hell?
He needed 3 things that were not available ( or perfected yet) in 1973: A coronary Bypass, Statin Medication and a Nicotine patch.
He needed Medical cannabis that is a vasodilator. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor.
Transplants were becoming more common in 1973 but at the time, a 64 year old man would have been considered as too old to get one. LBJ's heart was a ticking time bomb as he had his first attack in 1955 & by 1971 he had a second one.
The Colonel at Brook Army Hospital was the doctor who tended to LBJ when he arrived.
You forget diet and exercise..
Actually, bypass operations had been done since the early sixties. However it was still somewhat risky in 1973, and was considered major surgery. Johnson actually consulted with prominent cardiologist Michael DeBakey about a year before. However DeBakey determined the ex-President's heart was in too bad a shape to risk the surgery.
Like others of his generation, LBJ was a heavy smoker. His Senate aid Bobby Baker says that Johnson "smoked like a crazy man" and was a heavy drinker. He was also a classic "Type A" personality. Excitable, driven, and unable to relax. Throw in the stress of being President, and it is no surprise he could have developed heart problems.
Walter Cronkite had done a interview with LBJ. two weeks before his passing.
I remember seeing this live when it happened. Understanding how the CBS Evening News operated in 1973, I knew that when the camera showed Walter Cronkite on the phone like this, it had to be something serious.
I remember this. I was in Second grade and the Weekly Reader (which used to break the news events down for the understanding of children) announced the irony of his death coinciding with the Vietnam peace talks.
Thank you for posting this Mike
Great anchor, he was in class by himself. The Gold Standard of reporting.
So blessed to have grown up watching him. 🙂
I was too young to remember Kronkite, but watching this, I feel as if I’m sitting with him at the kitchen table while he conducts a two-way conversation with me and whoever is on the other end of the line. He’s family. Such an intimate way to get the news. No wonder why he was so beloved and trusted. No wonder why the Vietnam War was well and truly lost when he said America couldn’t win it.
Same here. I was only 4 when Cronkite retired from CBS Evening News, so my growing up was with Peter Jennings.
@@rwboa22 Mine too! ABC News was on every night in my house. That theme song at the top of the program still gives me chills.
Saw this as it happened with my family when I was 7.When knew we were seeing something unusual because Walter was never on the phone during a newscast.For the next 3 days at school we got to watch most of the funeral coverage/got out of our regular school work/ yay!
Bobby Kennedy was awesome!!
I was living in Utah I was coming home from school when the news of LBJ's death happened. I was almost a year old when Kennedy was shot. LBJ was 55 when he was Vice President and Kennedy was 46. LBJ died just 2 days after Nixon was sworn in for his 2nd term as President. I grew up watching Walter Cronkite.
cronkite had interviewed johnson just 10 days prior, he was in bad health, he had resumed smoking after leaving washingtion d.c. and had heart attacks in 1970 and '72. he needed bypass surgery but his heart was so weak they couldn't operate. there were other health issues as well, johnson knew he was dying.
I think it was President Kennedy who said that no one should be judged until he or she has sat in the chair. Wise words
I lived in Johnson City, Texas when Ladybird died and I watched her funeral drive by....
Gee that lady lived a long time
After LBJ.
Seems like lady bird was a very nice person . RIP you were a great first lady .
I find it interesting to watch these old news broadcasts. The major thing that's fascinating is that they had these ancient phones that were next to them on the desk and that's how they got the breaking news. Then as another person said there's a typewriter that you can hear in the background. Everything was truly live back then. I wish there were televisions that could televise the deaths of President Lincoln, unfortunately it just wasn't available.
That was not really an ancient phone since most homes from as little as 25 years ago had the same type of phone for a landline. The fancy phones 25 years ago was the ones that could hang on the wall.
Those were Lincoln’s last words. “I don’t mind so much being shot, but no TV cameras? Egregious and preposterous.”
When Mr. Cronkite put up his finger, telling you to wait a minute, you did just that. When News WAS News.
This is what I mean: he delivered the news without that smile or unreal pose you see of anchors these days. This is how ordinary people got bad news over the phone, and how they stopped others inquiring "what is it?", with that finger. You knew it was "breaking news".
News was less scripted then, it was news not photo-ops with perfectly placed hair and polished teeth we see today of talking heads.
Ok we get it, calm down
Okay, this is a COOL video, and you are a COOL person for putting it up. Thank you! Look at this, man, a real piece of history.
You are correct.
Your right ! LBJ did more for the poor and prevented people in the middle class from becoming poor with medicare. I am amazed at conservatives trashing programs such a medicare when they will be open to it when it is their turn to enroll. .People in their 50's and 60's are being let go from their jobs more than any other age bracket.Health insurance at that age is crucial for survival!
LBJ caused poverty, and solved nothing.
David Lafleche Yes. His "Great Society" welfare programs addicted ghetto blacks to government assistance and destroyed their families by linking benefits to those women with no father in the home. To this day, millions are addicted to generational welfare that has made them no more than useless parasites thanks to this man and the filthy democrat party! But they always vote democrat, and that was the real goal.
LBJ was a monster who had several ppl killed.
I was in a doctor's office yesterday and I was amazed to hear someone using a typewriter.
I was watching this broadcast as it happened. I was stunned.
I remember the astonishing irony of him dying the VERY DAY of the Vietnam peace agreement.
His foreign policy was horrendous but his domestic policy is golden...
"A dozen eggs, milk, bread; ok, dear".
We need news people like Walter Cronkite back.
He may not have been the most easygoing personality, but he was an incredibly brilliant politicians who unquestionably did more to advance civil rights than any post-Civil War president.
Like Trump he was crude but
He got things done.
@@martinjenkins6467 Except for the part about Trump getting things done.
This is my favorite Walter Cronkite clip. Working the phone and a live broadcast at the same time making sure he got all the facts. True Journalist. :)
Amazing how news use to be! get a hot call in the middle of a broadcast and deliver the news live and uncut! awesome
Two things stand out in this fil 1) Cronkite was an actual newsman who fielded calls himself, took notes, and actually ran the program when necessary. He wasn't just a suit. 2) Cronkite was so respected that LBJ's press secretary called him before anyone else to give him the news.
IIRC he called the wire services first so the news cleared the wire services while he was on the phone with Cronkite.
I was a member of the Command Honor Guard at Albrook AFB, Panama Canal Zone. We held a ceremony for President Johnson, a little less than a month after we held the ceremony for President Truman.,
R.I.P Lyndon Baines Johnson Our 36 President we love you miss you Lyndon Baines Johnson And Lady.Baines Johnson Rip both of you
He was indeed a great man. Vietnam was a quagmire, yeah it's true, but LBJ knew how to wield Congress like no other statesperson in American history.
He's why JFK's legislative agenda was passed. He's why social change was possible in the 50's and 60's.
What's the frequency Walter?
Is that Murray Slaughter on the typewriter?
Walter went to the old school that the old school went to. Pure class.
From LBJ to Ford there was a very noticeable increase in life expectancy for the ex-presidents.
One of the most unusual newscasts I've seen.
Is this a home recording or was it made off a monitor?
This definitely aired in color. It's the recording that was in b&w; this is from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, which continued to use b&w videotape for years because color tape was so much more expensive.
Love this videos classic! 1973?!
i'd love to see the world from your point of view again.
unfortunately, I cannot see the world that way ... because I actually opened my eyes.
50 years ago this week. Very sad, very shocking. RIP.
Cronkite's newscast usually aired live at 6:30pm(et), 5:30 Central [in New York and other cities, he appeared at 7pm]. This was from the initial "feed" that was seen throughout most of the country; the 7pm(et) edition was an "updated" version, with President Johnson's death the lead story.
When the news was THE NEWS, and not cheesy drama infotainment.
Typewriters
Very well put- you are very eloquent.You know,yesterday was a great day -even over here in England there was much cheering and hope! Amazing.I wish Obama much success.x.
Even so, Vietnam went south, LBJ was in office at the time, blame falls on his shoulders. Like Hoover, who was a good man, but got the blame for the stock market crash for being in office when it happened. Had Kennedy lived, he'd probably be the widely despised one. LBJ was a good president, he just had his tenure get consumed by Vietnam.
lol.
Sad sad day indeed, and I somewhat hoped I was wrong. But, when I heard he had been in failing health, and judging by his age, I knew he didn't have much time left.
Such an extraordinary career this man had. He was with us for so many of our nations biggest and most history-making events.
R.I.P. Mr. Cronkite. You will be missed.
He was a fucking monster .
@@bluntnfrank5753 Cronkite?
Oh, what a shame!
Found out about him in school and have been learning about him all week. Rest in peace President johnson
You mean hell as he was a monster .
@@bluntnfrank5753 was not a great man but gave us so much the 21st century takes for granted
@@blackattack8212 you mean like being in on killin JFK , RFK and all the others he had Malcom Wallace kill (including Josefa Johnson) on his way to the top ?
I hope you learnt that there was
Some good things he did,not
Just the Vietnam war. Which
He inherited from two
Previous presidents. He tried
To end with America's honour
In tact. Unlike Biden who ran
Out of Afghanistan like a rat.
I remember this, I thought we’d have off from school and my teacher assured me that we’d still be in school. I thought it be treated the same as JFK.
That's because he wasn't the current President.
That would only be for
Sitting presidents.
@arther1046 Could you present your proof with sources etc?
Danrol, you were right. Walter Cronkite, the most respected man in America 1916-2009.
We've had some big names pass so far this year. I have a strange feeling that Mr. Cronkite will be on that list before the year is out. :(
You were correct. I'm assuming this was written in 2009.
still was the greatest times to live
I was 8 years old and watching this as it happened....can't believe I had tuned in at that point....even at that age I was freaked out that Cronkite would take a call while on the air.
In context LBJ was anti-racist for his time though. Barry Goldwater, George Wallace and most conservatives of the time actively opposed the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 & 1968 & the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
some people are just plain nuts.....
Press Secretary Johnstone talking about President Johnson.. in Johnson City.
This is footage from the Vanderbilt University TV News Archive, which back then had only equipment to record black-and-white videotape.
CBS occasionally colorfast the "Evening News" from August, 1965 until January, 1966, then permanently from late January, 1966 onward.
Chevy Chass did an impression of Cronkite being on the phone on SNL
This is the way news should be.
Maybe the typewriter was being used to type-out a bulletin which would be given to a correspondent who would go into an audio booth and interrupt programming on the CBS Radio Network for a "Net Alert" Bulletin to announce the former President's death.
@candytotty it was still rare for people to have color tv's and for the news to be in color for some reason..i remember being 5 or 6 in 73 and watching the news in b&w...we still had a 19 inch black and white tv until 1982 or so..lol
My question is this. Why in 1973 was the news being broadcast in black and white? Color TV had been around at least a decade before this broadcast. Perhaps it was broadcast in color but recorded in black and white. It's interesting an interesting question to propose to say the least.
Even his war outlived him. Sad.
LBJ did ALOT of things. He did alot more than Kennedy Eisenhower and Nixon combined. The man firstly knew how to play politics, Kennedy did not nor can say Obama, so he's not stupid, and considering how he was one of the youngest Senate majority leaders in history he's pretty brilliant. Secondly he passed ground breaking civil rights legislation, he reformed the racist immigration quota's, he created programs which halved the poverty rate, yet that was not him as all he did was Vietnam.
LBJ - Heavy smoker + stress of the office, war... no question contributed to his early death. Nostalgic for the old days of TV...only 3 major networks. Was a big deal when Special News Bulletin interrupted normal programming.
Glenn Kelly Almost everyone at that time was a heavy smoker, they didn't die young.
Glenn Kelly I remember when I was a kid how scary it was when you were watching something and all of a sudden the screen said "SPECIAL BULLETIN" or "SPECIAL REPORT." Especially if it was CBS, they had music with pounding drums and stuff... scared the crap out of you.
+Glenn Kelly
The guilt of JFK was the biggest guilt he carried !!!
you think ? !
Glenn Kelly Yep !!!
I agree with you about Bobby Kennedy.
I remember watching this live.
@ScooterpupReljac Yes, I do too! It was on Monday January 22, 1973. I recall Cronkite taking the call while on the air. It was a very dramatic moment. This was also the day of Roe v Wade and Frazier v Foreman. 1973 seems like a real long time ago now.
I remember hearing that President Johnson died of a heart attack that Minday afternoon January 22nd 1973
Ah, the day Hell was blessed with a new visitor.
@harrymannjr10001 You're making a good point; the leadership of the Republican Party really doesn't want people who can offer Americans a real choice (and obviously, neither do the Democrats).
This is why I was for Herman Cain and, as you pointed out Rick Santorum (and Ron Paul, too).
While these men aren't the greatest, they DO represent some very real and basic change and at least they've come out of the Republican party and not the Democrats.
I'm just curious, I'm sorry, I'm from 1987 and I know I'm behind the generations before of transitioning from Black & White TV to Color TV. This was 1973, why was this in black and white? thank you :-)
I get depressed when comparing Walter Cronkite to the likes of Sean Hannity...
why?
@SgtHydra I said MOST. A few of those southern dixiecrats grew up and realized they'd been wrong. Robert Byrd, George Wallace, and Howell Heflin were among them.
You said that neither him or GWB should have never been born.
One of the best=just the facts=very stoic-no emotion. Broadcast news has gone down hill.
Strikes me as quite odd that Cronkite sat there on a live broadcast listening on the telephone about a former president's death.
Oh my god- never write while pissed! Walter Mondale- I can't stop laughing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Helotes420 This is a black-and-white tape with time code, probably from the Vanderbilt University TV news archive.
I actually watched this in color when it aired live.
I also seem to recall that after the filmed piece on Vietnam ended, CBS went to commercial, and this clip begins when the commercial break ended, with Cronkite still on the phone.
Despite President Johnson's "love-hate" relationship with the networks, he was a friend of Cronkite, so that's why CBS got the scoop on his death.
amen!
Lyndon Johnson died just 2 days after Richard Nixon's second inauguration
Cronkite's hair was a little longer that day than on 11.22.1963...
What a great journalist Walter Cronkite. He reported so many important events. MLK assassination, JFK assassination, everything.
What LBJ said on November 21st, 1963 : 'after tomorrow those S.O.B.'s (The Kennedy Brothers) will never embarrass me again - that's no threat - that's a promise.'
What's your other fairy tales.
No one made Kennedy drive
Around with the roof down.
Just fucking stupid.
How classy did Cronkite handle this situation? Our media has to have so many graphics and "breaking news exclusives", that we'll never see this type of bulletin again.
And it's a shame; it was simple reporting, done forthrightly. They wouldn't dare have Williams or Wolf or Shepard or Couric on the phone today. Darn shame.
@candytotty Color TV was still very much a luxury in 1973. Kind of like air-conditioning, even here in the south, was still a treat during that time. I remember we didn't get a color TV untl 1977 and our second TV was black-and-white.
Walter Cronkite one of the best newsman ever. Only reporter who had the guts to speak.out against the Vietnam war.