Here is the second part of my 1985 interview with Walter Cronkite, which took place shortly after he retired from broadcasting. You can see yesterday’s blog, the first part of the interview, by clicking on “part 1” above. Enjoy!
You were known for your equanimity on the air, but I remember a couple of times when the news was just too much for you. Do you remember any of these times?
WC: Yes, the [John F. Kennedy] death. I had to say that the official word from Dallas is, “He’s dead.” Definitely, that was a choking moment. And the emotion of a man landing on the moon was a momentary catch that I hadn’t expected. I think I had a tear in my eye at that moment. That was excitement.
You’ve said you’d like to be that civilian voyager put aboard the space shuttle in 1985 or 1986.
WC: I want to but I haven’t applied. I don’t know who to apply to. They know of my interest and I like to think they’ll think of me.
Of all the people you’ve interviewed, are there any you’ve particularly liked?
WC: I’m a little like Will Rogers.: I never met a man I didn’t like. Most leaders are interesting enough to be likable. They may not be warm personalities, but at least they have personalities that make it possible for them to achieve leadership. Even in dictatorships, people can’t lead unless they can persuade, convince and hold people to them—so you don’t find leaders who turn you off automatically. I never interviewed Stalin. I talked to him a few times, but at a distance. But I interviewed Tito, and I liked him. He had a sense of humor and boisterousness and certainly very interesting Third World ideas. Sadat, I think, is my favorite of them all.
Why?
WC: Courage. He had the courage of his convictions and his ideas. Personal courage, not just intellectual courage. It took quite a lot for him to make the overtures he made, and I just think it’s a shame that he couldn’t prevail over them.
What worries you most about our lives now?
WC: A great deal worries me, but that’s a subject for a book. Maybe that is the book. I think we face four major mega-problems that are really so gross that we have trouble even conceiving of them, let alone tackling them.
I call it The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding down on the population: 1) pollution, 2) population, 3) depletion of natural resources—including fresh air and water—and 4)proliferation of nuclear devices. And any one of these can destroy the world.
The first one may very well. We were beginning to make some headway, but President Reagan is just turning his back on pollution and we’re not doing anything. We’ve given up that battle. We’ve only got this one ship of ours floating out there in space in a closed environment and using up the fresh air and fresh water and not doing anything to return it to the environment. I don’t see how in the world you can deny the situation.
And as for strength through the military, well it’s not what has given America its appeal in the world; it’s not in keeping with the banner and beacon of hope and the Statue of Liberty. People love the United States because of the dream of democracy and freedom. You can’t teach democracy through the sights of a helicopter gun ship.
Are there any issues regarding growing older that you feel more strongly about now than you once did?
WC: I think there’s a noticeable lack of interest on the part of young people in the opinion of the older generation. I’ve talked to several business executives who are appalled by the fact that they’re not ever called back for consultation. The same thing happens in politics. As a practical matter, young people are making a mistake. They are determined to make all the mistakes all over again on their own, without taking advantage of accumulated wisdom.
Anything else young people could learn from older people?
WC: Continued activity, continued participation in whatever business, commerce, politics, civic affairs, provides a source of wisdom for the young, if they want to make use of it.
And older people–anything you can tell them about retirement?
WC: What happens to a lot of older people, if their expertise and area of interest is very narrow, is that they feel they become less the minute they step away from their desk or their identity. I think happiness in older age and retirement is in direct relation to diversity of interest. I think that the serious problem is with the individual who has a single interest—in a shoe store, or whatever—and then retires from it and is completely lost. Fortunately—and this is one of the great things about being a newsman—my interests are universal, so there’s no reason why my expertise has to end. The news is still engulfing me. I’m still out seeing people, meeting people and getting around.
So people without a diversity of interest ideally could find new ones once they retire.
WC: Searching out new interests is not a bad suggestion at all. Take reading, for instance; a lot of people have lost the ability to read. The public library in almost every town is filled with hours and days and months and years of amusement and entertainment.
Do you miss being in the limelight?
WC: No. That was never that interesting to me. It’s hard to sell that idea to anybody, but it’s true. it’s not performing that I’m interested in, but the daily news. I love the excitement of the breaking news story and thinking with a printer at my elbow—that I miss. Other than that, the freedom of time has given me a new kind of life I had hoped for and one that I like very much.
But you still have more freedom to look forward to.
WC: Yes. I haven’t achieved all of it yet, I mean sensed the real freedom. I still have too many people asking me to do things that I have to excuse myself from and I book some of them, and that is always a burden.
Do you do as much physical activity as you did years ago?
WC: Maybe more. I have more time. There were long periods when I didn’t do any physical activity at all—play tennis, sail or anything. In the early days of my career I was too busy to participate in any sporting activity. I really wasn’t—I could have made time for it—but we weren’t as physical-culture conscious in those days, either.
Do you have any final touch of wisdom to impart before I go?
WC: My motto is, “Everything, but everything in moderation”…something I don’t participate in!”
–end–