Former CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite, whose authoritative delivery of the news during turbulent times made him “the most trusted man in America,” died on Friday, CBS said. He was 92.

Cronkite died in New York after an illness. His family issued a statement weeks ago that Cronkite had been suffering for some years with cerebrovascular disease and was not expected to recuperate, CBS said.

Cronkite joined CBS as a television correspondent in 1950. He anchored the “CBS Evening News” from 1962 to 1981.

His stirring reports on everything from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to the Apollo space program and the Vietnam War often had as much impact as the events themselves.

Every night for nearly 20 years, millions of Americans tuned in to hear the day’s major events as reported by Cronkite, whose avuncular manner and deep voice made his show the top-rated news program from 1969 until he retired in 1981.

Cronkite’s demeanor inspired the nickname “Uncle Walter” and when he signed off his newscasts by saying, “And that’s the way it is,” few doubted him.