Walter Cronkite’s job as CBS’s nightly newscaster made him the most trusted man in America for 19 years. I had the good fortune to hire him a couple of times as a host or narrator for my projects on the history of television. One time during a break I summoned the courage to ask him a question I always wanted to know. “After the fall of Nixon, you were the most trusted man in America. Why didn’t you run for president? You probably would have won.” His reply surprised me, “People had no idea what my politics were. They didn’t know if I was a republican or a democrat - a hawk or a dove. I didn’t’ think it was fair for someone to get elected just because they are on television.” I replied, “You’ve got a point, but instead we ended up with Ronald Reagan, because they knew him from TV.”
