 He ultimately resigned as State Department correspondent for CBS in March 1962 during a shakeup that also saw the replacement of Douglas Edwards with Walter Cronkite as the anchor of "CBS Evening News".Downs publicly stated that the departure was amicable, but hinted at his dissatisfaction with recent developments at the organization.One of his final major assignments for CBS was aboard the to cover the John Glenn orbital spaceflight mission on February 20, 1962.