MIAMI (CBS4) – Fifty years ago today, the way Americans received their news began a dramatic shift.  That was the day Walter Cronkite took over what became the CBS Evening News.

A year later, Cronkite helped convince CBS to expand the news from fifteen minutes to a half hour, and soon, most Americans were getting their news from TV news than any other source.

Cronkite became the most trusted man in America.  We shared with him the sorrow of the Kennedy assassination and the joy of the moon landing.

With almost half of American homes tuning into the broadcast evening news shows every night, Cronkite had enormous influence.

When he said the Vietnam War couldn’t be won, President Johnson responded by saying that losing Walter meant he’d lost the country.

He was “Uncle Walter” to millions of baby boomers.

He remains, today, the epitome of the anchorman and reporter, the gold standard we all aspire to.