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Tim Russert dies of heart attack
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 WASHINGTON — Tim Russert, a political
lifer who made a TV career of his passion with unrelenting questioning
of the powerful and influential, died of a heart attack today in the
midst of a presidential campaign he'd covered with trademark intensity.
Praise poured in from the biggest names in politics, some recalling
their own meltdown moments on his hot seat.
Russert, 58, was a political operative before he was a journalist.
He joined NBC a quarter century ago and ended up as the longest-tenured
host of the Sunday talk show Meet the Press. He was an
election-night fixture, with his whiteboard and scribbled figures, and
was moderator for numerous political debates. He wrote two best-selling
books, including the much-loved Big Russ and Me about his relationship with his father.
He was NBC's Washington bureau chief.
President Bush, informed of Russert's death while at dinner in
Paris, saluted him as "a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always
well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious
off the set as he was prepared on it." NBC interrupted its regular
programming with news of Russert's death and continued for several
hours of coverage without commercial break. The network announced that
Tom Brokaw would anchor a special edition of Meet the Press on Sunday, dedicated to Russert.
Competitors and friends jumped in with superlative praise and sad
recognition of the loss of a key voice during a historic presidential
election year. Known as a family man as well, he had been named Father
of the Year by parenting organizations.
Familiar NBC faces such as Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams took turns mourning his loss.
Williams called him "aggressively unfancy." "Our hearts are broken,"
said Mitchell, who appeared emotional at times as she recalled her
longtime colleague.
Bob Schieffer, Russert's competitor on CBS' Face the Nation, said the two men delighted in scooping each other.
"When you slipped one past ol' Russert," he said, "you felt as
though you had hit a home run off the best pitcher in the league. I
just loved Tim and I will miss him more than I can say." NBC said
Friday evening that Russert died of a heart attack.
Michael A. Newman, Russert's internist, said resuscitation was begun
immediately and continued at Sibley Memorial Hospital, to no avail. An
autopsy was pending, Newman said.
Russert, of Buffalo, N.Y., took the helm of the Sunday news show in
December 1991 and turned it into the nation's most widely watched
program of its type. His signature trait was an unrelenting style of
questioning that made some politicians reluctant to appear, yet
confident that they could claim extra credibility if they survived his
grilling intact.
"I can say from experience that joining Tim on Meet the Press was one of the greatest tests any public official could face," said Rep. John Boehner, House Republican leader.
"Regardless of party affiliation, he demanded that you be straight
with him and with the American people who were watching." Russert was
also a senior vice president at NBC, and this year Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
He had Buffalo's blue-collar roots, a Jesuit education, a law degree
and a Democratic pedigree that came from his turn as an aide to the
late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York.
Lawmakers from both parties lined up to sing his praises after his sudden death.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Russert was "the best in the
business at keeping his interview subjects honest." "There wasn't a
better interviewer in television," Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic
presidential contender, told reporters in Ohio.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Obama's rival for the White
House, hailed Russert as the "pre-eminent journalist of his
generation." Carl P. Leubsdorf, president of the Gridiron Club, an
organization of journalists, said, "It was a measure of the degree to
which Tim Russert was respected in the journalistic world that he was
the first broadcaster elected to membership in the Gridiron Club after
the rules were changed in 2004 to end our century-old restriction to
print journalists." Said longtime colleague Brokaw, the former NBC
anchor: "He'll be missed as he was loved — greatly." The network said
on its Web site that Russert had been recording voiceovers for this
Sunday's Meet The Press when he was stricken.
He had dozens of honorary college degrees, and numerous professional awards.
He won an Emmy for his role in the coverage of President Ronald Reagan's funeral in 2004.
He was married to Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine. The couple had one son, Luke.
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