Former CBS anchorman, Walter Cronkite died Friday night in his Manhattan home following a long illness.

President Barack Obama in a statement described Cronkite as the man who never let us down.

Cronkite anchored CBS Evening News, in the 1960s and 1970 with a respected authoritative delivery of news events from the John F. Kennedy assassination to the Apollo moon landing and Vietnam War. He was voted in a 1972 trust index as the most trusted man in America.

As a reporter, he did not shy away from controversy and made his opinions known. His respected opinion had the power to actually shape events. In fact, his suggestion to withdraw American troops from Viet Nam actually caused the president at that time, Lyndon Johnson, to take note and re-evaluate his strategies.

His family issued a statement weeks ago that he had been suffering for some years with cerebrovascular disease and was not expected to recuperate, New York Times reported.

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