The most trusted person in America...

It's been a couple of months since I wrote a blog and I don't really know why.  Couldn't have been "writer's block" since I haven't really sit down at my computer and tried to write anything.  I surely didn't run out of things to write about because every day is a new adventure and the group I usually eat lunch with keeps me loaded with subjects.  Guess I just felt like doing other things.

I watched "60 Minutes" tonight and they devoted the entire hour to the legacy and memory of Walter Cronkite.  For those of you over 25 years old, he was the "grandfather" that graced our living rooms every night with the news of the day.  He was considered the "most trusted man in America" by some polling group and we could use a little trust these days.  Mr. Cronkite was 91 years old and was a veteran journalist, even a military reporter in World War II.  He was the "John Wayne" of the news business.

I distinctly remember the two news items that made him the "most famous."  The first, of course was the assassination of President Kennedy (who could ever forget where they were on that day when they first heard the news?).  This was the birth of television news as we know it today with 100% coverage of all events from the time of the announcement of his death until he was buried.  Television wasn't on all night in those days but coverage went from about 6:00 am to midnight every day.  The drumbeat while his body was transported to Arlington on a Caisson was something I'll never forget.

Of course the other item that Cronkite was famous for was his coverage of the space program and especially Neil Armstrong's landing on the moon in 1969.  I didn't get to witness it from Walter Cronkite's perspective that day (although I have seen "replays" of it many times) because I was at the Twilight Drive-In with a date.  We shut off the speaker that was hanging in the window and turned on the radio.  WLS in Chicago even interrupted their programing that evening to carry the event via ABC radio.  I can remember the events distinctly including the live feed declaring "The Eagle has landed," but to this day I can't remember who I had a date with (I sure hope she's not reading this).  

In my opinion, Walter Cronkite "set the standard" for newsmen (and women) to follow and he set it high.  No one has ever attained the level he made television journalism and I seriously doubt anyone else ever will.  The reason was that the network left him alone and he was his own managing editor and newswriter.   He was instrumental in making CBS News what it is and it took Dan Rather, his successor nearly 20 years to crush it.  If Cronkite was the "most trusted" person in America, Rather became one of the "least trusted," and it led to his professional demise.

This got me to thinkin'! (I know, here we go again).  If Walter Cronkite was the most trusted person in America and since he's gone, who's the most trusted person now?  My first choice is Tom Brokaw who retired as anchor for NBC news.  Brokaw achieved his credibility with his best selling book, "The Greatest Generation," a moving tribute of those who fought in World War II.  But because he has now been retired for several years, many young adults don't really know who he is, so would that knock him out of first?  If he's out of the running, then who does that leave?  Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone in politics that would be in the running.  I'm not saying they're all "crooked," but I am saying that none of them are the "most trusted." 

John Wooten, the "many years retired" coach of the UCLA Bruins Basketball teams and ten time NCAA Champion (nobody is even close to this record) would certainly be eligible for this distinction.  Again, the problem is since he's been out of the public limelight so long a lot of people have already forgotten him and everyone is not a basketball fan (and especially in Kentucky where UCLA fans are really hard to find).  He was one honest man, though.  How about Billy Graham?  I think most people trust his honesty but some have trouble with him appointing his son as his replacement...that cuts his credibility considerably (don't ask me why - it just does).

Certainly Paul Harvey would have been considered but he died before Walter Cronkite.

Are you noticing a pattern here?  Each of these people (and several others I can think of) are retired or semi-retired.  All are in their seventies and eighties (or even nineties).  What has happened?  Is there no one honorable enough to attain the title of "most trusted person in America?"  I certainly can't think of any CEO's of major companies I consider bestowing this title upon.  I know of no one in the field of journalism (print or television) that would earn it.  No major sports figures, movie stars (Jimmy Stewart's dead), religious leaders (Sorry...I like Joel Osteen but he still hasn't earned 100% of my trust) or anybody else comes to mind. 

This makes Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation" take on a whole new meaning.  All of the aforementioned people (except Brokaw) that could even be remotely considered for this great honor were of that generation.  Being honest isn't all there is to "trust."  Trust is something that is earned over a long period of time...it is consistency in honesty, not just "honest for the moment."  Earning Trust also requires a certain amount of tactfulness.  General George Patton was probably honest, he just wasn't very charismatic (although "charisma" certainly doesn't earn trust in itself).

So it looks like, at least for the time being, Walter Cronkite will carry the honor posthumesly with him.  Somewhere out there is a younger person who has the "honesty" factor and he just needs "experience" in honesty and he will attain this award. Sorry, it probably won't be me as I once siphoned some gas from a car on Reynolds Street so I could go to Owensboro.  Also, in my later years, I've become about as charismatic as General Patton.