Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an iconic American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for The CBS Evening News for 19 years (1962–81). During the heyday of CBS News in the 1970s and 1980s he was often cited in viewer opinion polls as "the most trusted man in America," because of his professional experience and avuncular demeanor. Cronkite died on July 17, 2009, at the age of 92 from cerebrovascular disease, described by his son as complications from dementia.