Tim Russert, 1950-2008

Damn. That's unexpected. But I guess heart attacks usually are.

I wasn't a big fan of the guy, but he's been doing politics on TV for my whole life. He'll be missed.

Cycloptichorn

I am shocked and saddened.

Russert died on the mob
The New York Times is reporting that MSNBC's Tim Russert has died of a heart attack at the age of 58.

Russert suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed Friday afternoon in NBC's Washington bureau, according to the New York Post

Russert was in the tracking booth, recording a track, when he collapsed. He returned from Italy Thursday night.

NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58
NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58
He was the Washington bureau chief and moderator of ?'Meet the Press'

Virginia Sherwood / © NBC Universal, Inc.

BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and MSNBC
updated 15 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, NBC News' Washington bureau chief and the moderator of "Meet the Press," died Friday after a sudden heart attack at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.

Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday's "Meet the Press" program when he collapsed, the network said. No details were immediately available.

Russert, the recipient of 48 honorary doctorates, took over the helm of "Meet the Press" in December 1991. Now in its 60th year, "Meet the Press" is the longest-running program in the history of television.

In 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Timothy John Russert Jr. was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 7, 1950. He was a graduate of Canisius High School, John Carroll University and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He was a member of the bar in New York and the District of Columbia.

Senate staffer before entering journalism
After graduating from law school, Russert went into politics as a staff operative. In 1976, he worked on the Senate campaign of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., and in 1982, he worked on Mario Cuomo's campaign for governor of New York.

Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of NBC's TODAY show from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II, a first for American television. In 1986 and 1987, Russert led NBC News' weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China.

Of his background as a Democratic political operative, Russert said, "My views are not important."

"Lawrence Spivak, who founded ?'Meet the Press,' told me before he died that the job of the host is to learn as much as you can about your guest's positions and take the other side," he said in a 2007 interview with Time magazine. "And to do that in a persistent and civil way. And that's what I try to do every Sunday."

Cuomo, Russert's onetime boss, wrote of Russert: "Most candidates are not eager to present themselves for Tim's incisive scrutiny, which is fed by his prodigious study and preparation. But they have little choice: appearing on ?'Meet the Press' is today as vital to a serious candidate as being properly registered to vote."

Russert wrote two books ?- "Big Russ and Me" in 2004 and "Wisdom of Our Fathers" in 2006 ?- both of which were New York Times best-sellers.

Emmy for Reagan funeral coverage
In 2005, Russert was awarded an Emmy for his role in the coverage of the funeral of President Ronald Reagan. His "Meet the Press" interviews with George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000 won the Radio and Television Correspondents' highest honor, the Joan S. Barone Award, and the Annenberg Center's Walter Cronkite Award.

Russert's March 2000 interview of Sen. John McCain shared the 2001 Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television Journalism. He was also the recipient of the John Peter Zenger Award, the American Legion Journalism Award, the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Journalism Award, the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism, the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communication and the Catholic Academy for Communication's Gabriel Award. He was a member of the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.

Russert was a trustee of the Freedom Forum's Newseum and a member of the board of directors of the Greater Washington Boys and Girls Club, and America's Promise ?- Alliance for Youth.

In 1995, the National Father's Day Committee named him "Father of the Year," Parents magazine honored him as "Dream Dad" in 1998, and in 2001 the National Fatherhood Initiative also recognized him as Father of the Year.

Irish America magazine named him one of the top 100 Irish Americans in the country, and he was selected as a Fellow of the Commission of European Communities.

Russert is survived by his wife, Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine, and a son, Luke.

Sundays will never be the same.

I am going to miss that guy.

Joe(he knew how to be a reporter)Nation

It seems so unfair that he was called away in the midst of the most momentous political campaign of our lives.

He was a sweet guy, a true gentleman, in a less than gentlemanly profession. He will be missed.

Sad for his family. And since this is not the time to be critical, I will just say that he was a much, much better observer of the political scene than Charlie Gibson.

Journalist Hall of Fame
Tim Russert will sorely be missed. In my Journalistic Hall of Fame there is John Cameron Swayze, Huntley/Brinkley, Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, and now Russert

Tom Brokaw is one top-tier journalist whom I admire a lot...I think that he belongs in the Journalists Hall of Fame, too. Perhaps others may opine?

Gibson is a mere talking head. His coverage of the 2008 Prez "debate" was proof of that.

That is sad. I will miss him.

he almost always looked cheerful and impish .
i really liked his style !
what to watch on sunday morning ?
i'll sure miss him .
hbg

very sad... too young.

It would be nice if the Tim Russert show could still be called 'the Tim Russert show' in perpetuity.

Cycloptichorn

Whoa, that's startling.

Tim Russert?

I had a similar thought, Roxxxanne. I never really watched him before this election cycle, so maybe he was always that enthusiastic, but he seemed to be having so much fun.

When Russert Testified Against 'Scooter' Libby
When Russert Testified Against 'Scooter' Libby
By Greg Mitchell - E & P
Published: June 13, 2008 9:45 PM ET

In the wake of the passing of Tim Russert today, some will no doubt recall that he testified at the "Scooter" Libby trial -- but few, I would guess, can now remember what he said or why he was there. So here is a refresher, in the form of a portion of an AP article we carried at E&P just after that day in February 2007.

But first: On the afternoon Russert went to court, another article at E&P this way: "One of the most highly awaited moments in the 'CIA Leak' trial in Washington, D.C. arrived this afternoon just before 2:30 when NBC's Tim Russert finally took the stand, after discarding crutches (he broke his ankle not long ago)."

Russert contradicted one of Libby's claims. He also disclosed -- in a well-publicized statement -- that he considered his chats with sources all off-the-record unless put on the record, the opposite of the usual journalistic approach.

Here is an excerpt from that AP story.

Tim Russert, an unrelenting interrogator as host of NBC's "Meet the Press," said Friday it was painful having the tables turned on him by lawyers defending former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby against perjury and obstruction charges.

The day after Russert spent five grueling hours on the witness stand in Libby's trial, the NBC newsman took questions in the much friendlier setting of an interview on the set of the "Today" show with his network colleagues. Asked how it felt to be on the other end of rapid-fire questioning, Russert said, "It's a lot of easier to throw grenades than it is to catch them. I've got to tell you.

"Sitting in that witness box is very uncomfortable because on `Meet the Press' or the `Today' show, you have a chance to finish your thought and complete your sentence. That's not the case in a court of law. The defense lawyer will say, `Yes or no, yes or no' and you're trying very hard to listen intently to the question to make sure you answer as precisely as possible," he added. "Otherwise it can be played back the next day. ... It's not pleasant, I have to say."

Russert said, though, he kept a mind a lesson learned in the 7th grade, that "if you tell the truth, you'll live to remember one story, and that's what I did."

In the "Today" interview, Russert reiterated what he had said on the stand: he did not discuss the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson with Libby in a conversation they had in July 2003 and he said he did not at that time know about Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife, who was outed subsequently as a CIA operative.

"I did not know she worked at the CIA. I did not know any of that until the following Monday when I saw all in (newspaper columnist) Robert Novak's column. ... We simply did not know it. I wish we had."

Russert did say he was "stunned" when he heard that Libby said he had learned Plame's identity from him, saying, "I said that just can't be. It's impossible." Russert held to that line during cross-examination.

Tim Russert's Final MSNBC Report
Tim Russert's Final MSNBC Report
By E&P Staff
Published: June 13, 2008 3:55 PM ET

Less than two hours before word of his death, by a heart attack, this afternoon, MSNBC on its web site posted a Q & A with the "Meet the Press" host concerning yesterday's launching of an Obama site aimed at fighting rumor and gossip.

An excerpt follows. It is up at www.msnbc.com

Msnbc: Tim, www.fightthesmears.com is a web site launched by the Barack Obama campaign to combat potentially damaging rumor about the candidate and his wife, Michelle. Is this necessary? How big of a problem is this really?

Tim Russert: It's amazing how much the Internet has changed our lives. People get emails that make accusations without foundation and they are circulated around the country within seconds and suddenly become topics of conversations around water coolers or in lunchrooms.

I remember being in Indianapolis covering the Indiana primary and a man came up to me and said he wasn't going to vote for Senator Obama because he was very concerned about the comments made by Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor. I said, "That's interesting. As a reporter, I'm curious what comments particularly bothered you?" He said, "Well, I can't think of any that come to mind, but I also read on the Internet that he's a Muslim." And I said, "Now wait a minute. You can't have both. You can't be offended by his Christian minister and then say he's a Muslim. You've got to pick one."

But that just underscores what we're dealing with in this modern era.

Now I'm told there's a counter organization with a very similar name that is going to be positioned and posted to spread the rumors, so that people that go to the Internet to get clarification will go to the wrong web site and get confused.

It's a virus. You have bloggers on both sides, liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats all trying to utilize this vehicle without any kind of fact checking and without any kind of editorial control.

this is really tragic but let's consider this. Tim Russert died on the job, doing what he loved..... instead of battling cancer or something else, puking up his teeth from chemo or wired up in a hospital bed.

He also, by all accounts... lived a life of purpose and kindness that few have equaled. Maybe at 58, he had already crammed his alloted time in..... I'd rather see "Used Up" on my tombstone than "Died after a long battle with colon cancer". This guy lived.... and might I add productively and positively, more in 58 years than many of us accomplish in 78.... so happy trails dude.