A CBS executive says retired CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America," has died at his home in New York. He was 92.

CBS vice president Linda Mason says Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. after a long illness with his family by his side.

He was the face of CBS News from 1962 to 1981, when stories ranged from the Kennedy assassination to Watergate and the Iranian hostage crisis.

Former President George H. W. Bush hailed the former newsman as “a towering, respected figure”  in television journalism.”

“Many Americans heard it from Walter first that President Kennedy had died, or that man had walked on the moon. He is already missed," Bush said in a statement.