Russert Mourned After Collapsing in NBC's Washington Newsroom

Russert Mourned After Collapsing in NBC's Washington Newsroom

Kristin Jensen and Julianna Goldman
Sat Jun 14, 12:01 AM ET



June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Tim Russert, NBC News's Washington bureau chief, who collapsed and died in his Washington newsroom yesterday, was remembered as a skilled political analyst whose gregarious nature charmed his audience and the politicians who were subjected to his relentless questioning. He was 58.

Russert became famous for his penetrating interviews on the Sunday morning talk show ``Meet the Press,'' a program he hosted longer than anyone else, according to former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. Russert was also a best-selling author whose books included a tribute to his father, ``Big Russ and Me.''

Brokaw announced the death on the air, telling viewers about Russert's childhood growing up in Buffalo, New York, his love for his family and his work ethic. Brokaw said Russert was ``one of the premier political analysts and journalists of his time'' and a beloved colleague.

``This news division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice,'' Brokaw said.

Michael Newman, Russert's doctor, said plaque ruptured an artery, causing a sudden coronary thrombosis, according to NBC.

Russert set the ``gold standard'' for moving from politics to journalism, said Albert Hunt, executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News and a close friend. Before becoming a journalist, Russert worked as an aide to former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from 1977 to 1982 and then worked for former New York Governor Mario Cuomo in Albany for two years.

Investigative Reporting

When Russert worked for Moynihan during the New York Democrat's 1982 re-election campaign, his research showed that Republican opponent Bruce Caputo's claims of Vietnam service were false. Caputo dropped out of the race.

``It was one of the most important moments in my life,'' Russert told the Washington Post in 1989, describing his research at the New York Public Library. ``It was investigative reporting at its best.''

Russert took over as anchor of ``Meet the Press'' on Dec. 8, 1991, and turned the show into the most-watched Sunday morning interview program in the U.S. and the most-quoted news program in the world, according to the network's Web site.

``There was no one who studied, prepared and worked as hard on a story as Tim; his only agenda was to inform and educate his millions of viewers,'' Hunt said. ``There was no one more generous or supportive of friends and colleagues; there was no one more fun to talk politics with, or just to be with.''

`An Institution'

President George W. Bush hailed Russert as ``an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades.''

``Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman,'' Bush said in a statement issued by the White House. ``He was always well- informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it.''

Russert's effect on political journalism is evident almost everywhere. The Washington Post credited him with coming up with the phrases ``red states'' and ``blue states'' as a way of dividing the parts of the country that tended to vote Republican and those that aligned more closely with Democrats.

Russert's use of a white dry-eraser board from on election night 2000 is listed in TV Guide's ``100 Most Memorable TV Moments'' in history. He scribbled ```Florida Florida Florida'' and called the state the bellwether for that election.

This year, he was one of the first newsmen to declare Barack Obama the winner of the Democratic presidential nomination. After the May 6 North Carolina and Indiana primaries, he declared on the air, ``We now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be, and no one is going to dispute it.''

`Grief-Stricken'

Obama, speaking to reporters yesterday in Columbus, Ohio, said he was ``grief-stricken'' by the news.

``There wasn't a better interviewer in television, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics,'' Obama said. ``And he was also one of the finest men I knew, somebody who cared about America, cared about the issues, cared about family.''

Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, called Russert's death a ``shocking loss'' and called him the ``preeminent political journalist'' of his generation.

Former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton said Russert ``helped inform the American people and made our democracy stronger. We join his friends, fans and loved ones in mourning his loss and celebrating his remarkable contribution to our nation.''

When asked yesterday by reporters what it was like to be interviewed by Russert, McCain said with a smile, ``I once told him I haven't had so much fun since my last interrogation at prison camp.''

Born in Buffalo on May 7, 1950, Russert graduated from John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. He earned a law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Cleveland.

Russert's Technique

Russert used that training as an attorney to break down and examine public officials' comments, sometimes to their dismay.

At the Sept. 27 Democratic presidential candidates' debate, Russert quoted a ``guest'' on ``Meet the Press'' who said U.S. authorities should ``beat'' a terrorist who knew the location of a bomb set to go off. After Hillary Clinton disagreed with that view, Russert revealed that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had said it.

``So there is a disagreement?'' Russert asked.

``Well, I'll talk to him later,'' Clinton said with a smile.

On another occasion, Bill Clinton complained that the media had attacked his wife for saying she had been fired at when arriving in Bosnia during a civil war in the 1990s.

Bosnia Arrival

Russert showed video clips of Hillary Clinton repeatedly making the comment on the campaign trail during daytime hours and then showed the actual 1996 arrival in which she shook a Bosnian child's hand without a shot being fired.

``I'm sure I speak for all elected officials when I say he always asked the question we hoped he wouldn't,'' Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

Clips from his show often became part of history. Days before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Vice President Dick Cheney told him on ``Meet the Press'' that he believed U.S. troops would ``be greeted as liberators.''

Russert's colleagues and competitors offered universal praise for him yesterday.

``It is a tough day,'' CBS News correspondent Bob Schieffer, moderator of ``Face the Nation,'' said in an interview with WTOP radio. ``Nothing pleased either of us more than to scoop the other. When you got one past old Russert, you felt like you had hit a home run off the best pitcher in the league.''

`Respected Colleague'

``This is a loss for the entire nation,'' NBC News President Steve Capus said in a statement. ``Everyone at NBC News is in shock and absolutely devastated. He was our respected colleague, mentor and dear friend. Words cannot express our heartbreak.''

Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive of NBC's parent company General Electric Co., called Russert ``a giant in journalism,'' praising his ``enduring honesty and integrity.''

Russert had just returned from a vacation to Italy with his wife, Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth, and his son, Luke.

``He was a great journalist, an even better father, husband and dear friend,'' Hunt said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington at kjensen@bloomberg.net ; Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net



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