Tim Russert, who died suddenly Friday of a heart attack, was arguably the most influential television journalist covering American politics.
Moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” for 17 years, Russert was 58 and, not surprisingly, at work — recording voiceovers for Sunday’s broadcast — when he collapsed.
Former “Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw went on the air at 2:39 p.m. Central time to break the news. He tried to keep his voice steady as he added a personal comment: “This News Division will not be same without his strong, clear voice.”
Among the scores of tributes Friday, the one from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy spoke for many: “With a reasoned voice, a sharp mind and a fair hand, Tim took the measure of every Washington official and all those that sought to be one. He was a great journalist and an even better friend.”
On the other side of the aisle, House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said in a statement that it was “hard to quantify the influence that Tim Russert has had over political discourse in this country today.” He added that Russert “was more than his career. He was a man defined by his commitment to family and friends making him the giant that he truly was.”
A onetime aide to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, Russert made the switch from politics to news in 1984. He began on the international beat for NBC, landing a prized interview with Pope John Paul II in 1985. In 1991, he became Washington bureau chief and moderator of “Meet the Press.”
At that time, the show had gone through five moderators in seven years and was trailing both David Brinkley’s “This Week” on ABC and CBS’ “Face the Nation” in the ratings.
Russert turned it around almost immediately by creating a signature style of interrogation virtually guaranteed to make his guests uncomfortable and mesmerize viewers. Belying his avuncular Irish Catholic style off-camera, the Russert who appeared on-camera was a difficult — he liked to say “persistent but civil” — interviewer. He would dredge up quotes that his subject had spoken, sometimes years earlier, put them up on the screen (or play the sound bite) and then grill his captive until he was satisfied with the response before moving on.
His style unsettled independent presidential candidate H. Ross Perot in 1992. Perot stammered, “May I finish?” when Russert kept prodding him about his positions. In 2003, while being questioned on “Meet the Press,” Vice President Dick Cheney made his famous prediction that Americans would be “greeted as liberators” in Iraq. And it was on “Meet the Press” in 2005 that Aaron Broussard, the Louisiana official whose parish was flooded by Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, broke down in tears.
Not just national politicians were required to pass “the Tim Russert test.” Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri and his challenger, future Sen. Claire McCaskill, squared off less than a month before the 2006 midterm elections. Russert pressed Talent on his statement that “progress” was being made in the war in Iraq, while McCaskill had to answer for a quote suggesting that fighting terrorism was a criminal, rather than military, activity.
“It was one of the great pleasures of my political career that I got the chance to be challenged on ‘Meet the Press’ by Tim,” McCaskill said in a statement. “It is not surprising that the fairness and professionalism he brought to every interview is a common theme in all of our remembrances today."
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