Legendary broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite dies at 92

America's legendary broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman Walter Cronkite, has died in New York at the age of 92.

In a statement, US President Barack Obama said he was the "most trusted voice" of America for decades as news broadcaster for CBS news.

"His rich baritone reached millions of living rooms every night, and in an industry of icons, Walter set the standard by which all others have been judged," Obama said. Cronkite pioneered and then mastered the role of television news anchorman with such plain-spoken grace that he was called the most trusted man in America, The New York Times reported.

From 1962 to 1981, when Cronkite anchored the CBS news, he was witness to several historical moments including the landing on moon to the assassination of the US President, John F Kennedy.

CBS vice president Linda Mason said Cronkite died at 7:42 pm on Friday with his family by his side at his home in New York after a long illness. He had been suffering from cerebrovascular disease, his family said recently.

"I am saddened to learn of the passing of Walter Cronkite - one of the most influential newsmen of our time. I will never forget our memorable visit together to Hanoi on the 10th anniversary of the fall of Saigon," said Senator John McCain in a statement.

"He was the voice of truth, the voice of reliability," Todd Gitlin, a Columbia University journalism professor and sociologist was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.

"He belongs to a time when there were three networks, three oil companies, three brands of bread." He was the personification of stability and permanence, even when, in Gitlin's words, his message was "that things are falling apart," Gitlin said.