Tim Russert dies of heart attack

June 13, 2008

Stunning news.

Tim Russert, the host of “Meet the Press,” and NBC’s Washington bureau chief, has died, according to a family member. He was 58.

Mr. Russert was a towering figure in American journalism and moderated several debates during the recent presidential primary season.

Tom Brokaw, the former anchor of NBC Nightly News, came on the air at 3:39 p.m. that Mr. Russert had collapsed and died early this afternoon while at work. He had just returned from Italy with his family.

Mr. Russert hailed from Buffalo and worked for two prominent New York Democrats, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Gov. Mario Cuomo, before being hired in 1984 by NBC in its Washington bureau. He became bureau chief four years later.

My best wishes go out to his family, friends, and colleagues.

Update: By way of Greg Sargent, here’s Tom Brokaw’s announcement on Russert’s passing:

When I saw the headline I was ready to unload on you for making such a sick joke.

I’m speechless.

  • I feel like I have been punched in the gut. I may have not always agreed with Russert, but I always RESPECTED him as a total journalist who really did keep his personal politics to himself and allowed us to make the judgements on whoever or whatever he was reporting on. He was equally tough on both the Dems and Repubs. My heart goes out to his family and espically his son Luke who he was so proud of and who will have a very horrible fathers day. Meet the Press will not be the same.

  • You can count me as one who respected his work. This is hardly the time to lose a fairly unbiased member of the media.

    Many condolences to any friends and family out there! This obviously unexpected loss is quite saddening to the rest of us.

  • My heart sank when I read that headline over at the New York Times. As Redrover stated above, Russert always kept his own political opinions to himself, and saw to it that his show was never a forum for frivolous headline-grabbing. It is very sad for this country to lose a truly objective journalist. My condolences to his friends and family.

  • I can’t think of a more thorough or hardworking TV reporter. He always seemed to do his homework and ask the most pointed questions without fear or favor. MTP has been a Sunday morning staple for me for years.

  • My condolences. It’s a reminder of how fragile our hold on life really is, fame and wealth notwithstanding.

  • He had the best cameo ever on a TV show — playing himself as the first cousin of the fictious Det. Megan Russert on “Homicide: Life on the Street”.

  • How sad. I saw Terry Macualiffe on MTP just a few weeks ago joking about how “Big Russ” was “looking down on them both.” Of course, Tim Russert’s father is still very much alive, and Tim gently reminded Terry of that fact. And now, the father has outlived the son. How eerie and very sad.

  • I have to agree with 7, 12, and 13. Maybe my memory has faded, but I remember Russert not even trying to hide his biases against democrats and liberals.

    With that said, I offer condolences to his family and friends. It is a sad time when someone dies.

  • Condolences to his family. But the guy wasn’t a great journalist, he was the quintessential media bobblehead, who did do a lot of good interviews but who all too often allowed the big fish to swim into the net just to be let loose because to ask them the real questions would have meant a reduction in his access and thus his own value. His policy of keeping everything off the record unless told otherwise was the opposite of what I would call good journalism, and it’s no wonder that it only came out in his deposition, and that Matlin called him what he was… the Republicans’ “best venue”.

  • RIP Tim Russert.

    I didn’t care for his performance as a debate moderator, and didn’t think of him as objective, but he was better than most of our lousy MSM personalities.

  • Condolences for his family. He certainly had his flaws, but I fear Russert’s replacement will be far more conservative and Republican-friendly than Russert was.

  • Not a time to spit toads. This just sucks and makes me want to cry. Don’t be like right wingers on this one. On balance, he was one of the good guys I think. Not anywhere near perfect, but none of us are. Condolences to his friends and family.

  • His trademark method of confronting someone with their own words lent his interviews more heft than those offered by his counterparts. Sometimes he would make a fetish out of this and confront someone with something trivial; but I disagree with Racer X @ 16 — he was big enough that he didn’t need to treat someone with kid gloves just to keep access. It’s telling that people see Meet The Press as Russert’s vehicle when MTP has been on the air since the ’40s.

  • I’m with Edo and Shalimar on this. I’m in my twenties, so I wasn’t around during the era of Edward R. Murrow. Russert was leagues better than the GOP drones who rule the broadcast media these days. He may not have been an unabashed mouthpiece for our side like Olbermann (who is sorely needed these days, amidst the sea of aforementioned GOP drones,) but he did attempt to give equal time to both sides. Remember the panel from right before Election Day 2006:

    http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/11/05/elizabeth-dole-the-democrats-are-content-with-losing/

    Russert was more objective than the vast majority of what’s out there!

  • Geez, there are some very disturbing opinions about his show and his career. MTP was hardly objective nor was the king of “gothcha” journalism. MTP was always lopsided with guests of a conservative opinion 3 to 1 at a minimum to liberals. His show and he personally was what Cheney spokesman testified was used by the administration to “control the message”. This is not what Russert is, it’s just one of the things he did. He had become a “media darling” and promoted this administration and it’s neocon agenda. It’s not a put down it’s just what it was. I could love Tim without loving his message.

    Disliking the show and the reporter’s methods does not prevent me from being saddened from this sudden tragedy. We were the same age and it’s scary because there is no preparation. It is such a young age to go. I lost my father when he was 42. Even though it happens to all of us eventually it hurts terribly to lose a loved one. I pray for his families’ serenity and that they are comforted in accepting what they can not change.

    But as is true for all of us…”the moving hand having writ moves along in time …and all thy piety and all thy wit cannot call it back again…to change a single line. Goodbye Tim.

  • His genuine excitement and understanding of the siginificane of Obama’s nomination, and his eagerness to declare it I think showed his true nature. Rest in peace.

  • This is sad news…he seemed to be ready to move from the “gotcha” politics of the MSM. Without a doubt he loved the mechanics of politics, and enjoyed a rousing debate. My prayers are with the family. RIP Tim.

  • I’m saddened by this news, though I didn’t always agree with TR’s treatment of HRC, he was well respected and was a good man. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, God rest his soul.

  • How sad.

    Like all of us, he had his good moments and bad moments at work. Like him or not, we’ll miss seeing him and I’m sorry that he’ll miss the rest of this exciting race.

    Rest in peace, Timmy.

  • DebbyeOh’s right — Russert was hoping to have a campaign on the issues. Maybe we can convince his colleagues that the best way to honor him is to do just that.

  • This was as much of a blow to me as anyone. I just recoiled a bit at the revisionism. There is plenty to remember him fondly for, particularly before MTP. I feel the same about Broder. At one time, he was one of the great trailblazers of journalism. Then end of his career will not undo that.

    Russert was always likeable, hard to hate, which is why he could play “gotcha”, as lopsided as it was. Like William Buckley, he was a staple and an icon of a Washington and journalism that is now out of favor. In that way, metaphorically, this is the passing of an era. This is not going to be the same Washington, and when we look back, this will be the moment people point to as the “event”.

    In the same way, Hillary losing was the moment that showed we have moved beyond the Clinton era. As one who adored the Clinton Presidency, her loss does not negate that time, only that the time has passed. Clinton is the figurehead of the 90s. It’s not the 90s any more.

    So, I can recognize Russert’s contribution and signifigance. But his signifigance is in being the icon of the Sunday Morning Talk show of the past twenty years. For better or worse.

  • “no man is an island…”[j.d]
    that bird was in mid-song
    can’t some of you put aside
    the negative bs for a bit
    we all face death one day
    savor what you have
    all too soon
    it ends
    est

  • I just finished a research project that included a case study of the total mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. One of the most valuable documents I found was a transcript of Meet the Press, the Tuesday after the storm hit.

    I have to say, Russert pressed Michael Chertoff damn hard for explanations about where the buses, the water, the food, the fucking rescue operations were and didn’t let his half-assed explanations fly by. He also had the President of Orleans Parish on to talk about the FEMA madness (probably no one believed him at the time).

    Having just spent so long poring over that, I am honestly stunned that Tim Russert is gone. Probably before this project it would have had less of an impact.

  • He made me mad sometimes. Okay, he made me mad a lot of times, but my heart is still broken.

    I feel for his audience. I feel for his colleagues. And of course, I especially feel for his father, wife and son.

    Love or hate how he did his job, his good character and decency was always on display for all to see. For this political junkie, Sunday mornings will never be the same. I miss him already.

  • I share the same sad feelings as everyone else. Much too young a man to be struck down so suddenly and mercilessly.

  • Argghhh! I can’t hold back. Who was Russert? He was a guy who talked about politics on tv. He was a so-called journalist who was so incompetent at his job that he was a major enabler of the last 7 years of Bushism and the wing-nuts. He screwed up the debates so badly they were ridiculous.

    As Ed Abbey said, “Better men than him die everyday.” If he and his cronies spent even one tenth of the tv time they’re going to waste on jerking each other off about how great Russert was, talking about victims of the war they might actually earn their keep. Why not a massive display of concern for one of the thousands of the victims of the war that Russert enabled? Why not a massive display of concern for one of the victims of Katrina who died a horrific death?

    Oh well.

  • Miwome,

    You need to look up Russert’s questioning of the guy who told the heartbreaking story about the mom who kept calling, asking when they were coming to save her and died. He tried to nail the guy on some inconsistency, and the disappointment in Russert’s voice when they guy didn’t crack, but broke down crying. He wanted another go at the guy, and he showed Russert up again. That to me encapsulated the Sunday shows.

  • Wow. That’s a brick to the face. 58 is too young for anyone to go. My condolences to his friends and family.

  • I was hooting and hollering when I heard the news. Wouldn’t it be great if all these right wing talking heads dropped dead. Russert legitimized an unprevoked war and systematic torture while smiling all the time on camera. A well spoken fiend is still a fiend. May he rot in hell.

  • My condolences to his friends and family.

    But I’m with Meme on this one. He was not a good Debate moderator, but he ALWAYS had to do one (which meant the waste of at least one debate). His repetitive “are you running for president, could you be drafted, could you be forced, don’t you secretly want in your black little heart to be President” questioning of any politican with even the slightest national reputation was just cloying. It was like Tim Russert would plot their distruction if they didn’t announce on his show or something.

    I’m sorry he’s dead, but the hypocrisy it’s spawned just makes me gag. I’d watch about half of his show because of the times here, which is all I generally could take.

  • He was the best at what he did
    Peace to his family
    RIP
    recently read his book “wisdom of our fathers” ===> must read!

  • I decided after reading the comments above, that we, all of us, the ones that post here, and at Balloon Juice, and Washington Monthly, etc, are mostly political junkees.

    Tim Russert was a political junkee, too.

    Whether you agreed with him or not, liked his program or not, Russert was one of US.

    He was turned on by politics, by the ways and means of politics, and by political history.

    He was one of us.

    And I mourn the fact that he died without knowing what was going to happen in November.

  • Dave @ #40. I love that book. I bought it just before my first child was born and it was very moving. I haven’t always liked Russert on air, but I do feel he tried harder that most to be fair. I feel for his family on Father’s Day.

  • Remarkable that a person who worked for Daniel Patrick Monihan and Gov. Cuomo could be accused of being a puppet for the right wing. However, this only reinforces that we, who are political junkies, tend to place everyone in “their place” based on whether we agree or diagree with the statements made or questions asked by that individual. Tim Russert, whether through his training as a lawyer, or if it was just his innate decency, had the ability to question parties from both sides and dig for the answers we most wanted without being oppressive. He alternatively made me happy and furious, yet I looked forward to his incisive and thought provoking take on politics.

    We have lost a wonderful man and a consumate professional the likes of which we may not see again.

  • No man is an island, entire of itself…
    any man’s death diminishes me,
    because I am involved in mankind;
    and therefore
    never send to know
    for whom the bell tolls;
    it tolls for thee.”

    j.donne

  • The ‘King of Gotcha Interviews’ is dead.

    The fawning over his passing on this web site and especially on the Corporate News Media is ridiculous.

    He was a Corporate Tool who should be best remembered as hosting Cheney’s favorite place to put propaganda into the public sphere!

    May Maureen Dowd and dozens of other ‘liberal media’ follow him…

  • My sympathy, for what is worth, goes out to who genuinely feel the loss of Mr. Russert. Something else goes out to those who feel the need, for whatever reason, to posture.

  • To memekiller etc. Tim Russert was a liberal. Apparently he was so good at not showing his bias you thought he was a Republican. Or more likely you have just not seen many liberals with good character.

  • Thanks for such an informative post which is full of knowledge about how we can our heart healthier and which food food stop the fear of heart attack.
    Thanks for time to write this post.

    • Comments are closed.