I was backstage at Letterman sometime in 2002. Cronkite would come on the show occasionally as a guest, and the night I happened to be working the door, he was there.
You could tell he was a nice man by the way he treated the staff. Smiling and shaking hands after his segment, he was about to exit the backstage doors and go back on the street. He paused for a second next to his wife and decided to address the room.
“I’m getting out of this prohibitionist stronghold and getting myself a drink!” he said triumphantly.
I still think that’s the coolest thing you can say as you leave a room.