Katie Couric: Walter Cronkite an 'American Icon'

"He set a standard for all of us," Couric told "The Early Show Saturday Edition." She added that as sad as it is that Cronkite passed away on Friday, "I think this opportunity to celebrate his legacy and his accomplishments is really an important opportunity for all of us, because I think, sometimes, the standards of journalism have been challenged."

Couric said she admired Cronkite for "his honor and integrity and decency," and said that "his spirit lives on in a very palpable way in the hallways of CBS."

"You know, I met him on several occasions. He was kind enough to take me out to dinner the summer before I started at CBS News. He was, as everyone has been saying ... a truly wonderful man, an American icon.

"And if I could do one quarter of the job that he did on the 'CBS Evening News,' I'd be very proud of my work. So that just shows how tremendously influential and important he was and continued to be, even after he left the anchor chair," she said.

Cronkite passed away on Friday at age 92.

Published 7/18/09 by