Tim Russert
Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and also hosted an eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview program. He was a frequent correspondent and guest on NBC's The Today Show and Hardball. Russert covered several presidential elections, and he presented the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on the NBC Nightly News during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Time magazine included Russert in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008.[1] Russert was posthumously revealed as a 30-year source for syndicated columnist Robert Novak.[2]
Tim Russert
June 13, 2008 (aged 58)
Rock Creek Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Journalist
1983–2008
Early life[edit]
Russert was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Elizabeth "Betty" (née Seeley; January 9, 1929 – August 14, 2005), a homemaker, and Timothy Joseph "Big Russ" Russert (November 29, 1923 – September 24, 2009), a sanitation worker.[3][4][5] Elizabeth and Joseph were married for 30 years, before separating in 1976.[6] Russert was the only son and the second of four children; his sisters are Betty Ann (B.A.), Kathleen (Kathy) and Patricia (Trish).[6] His parents were Catholics, and he had German and Irish ancestry.[7] He received a Jesuit education[8] from Canisius High School in Buffalo.
He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1972 from John Carroll University and a Juris Doctor with honors from the Cleveland State University College of Law in 1976.[4] Russert commented on Meet the Press that he went to Woodstock "in a Buffalo Bills jersey with a case of beer." While in law school, an official from his alma mater, John Carroll University, called Russert to ask if he could book some concerts for the school as he had done while a student. He agreed, but said he would need to be paid because he was running out of money to pay for law school. One concert that Russert booked was headlined by a then-unknown singer, Bruce Springsteen, who charged $2,500 for the concert appearance. Russert told this story to Jay Leno when he was a guest on The Tonight Show on NBC on June 6, 2006. John Carroll University has since named its Department of Communication and Theatre Arts in Russert's honor.[9]
Professional career[edit]
Political[edit]
Prior to becoming host of Meet the Press, Russert ran one of U.S. Senator Daniel Moynihan's five major offices, based in Buffalo, New York. He later served as special counsel and as chief of staff to Moynihan, a Democrat from Hell's Kitchen, New York. In 1983, he became a top aide to New York Governor Mario Cuomo, also a Democrat.
NBC News: Washington bureau chief and host of Meet the Press[edit]
He was hired by NBC News' Washington bureau in 1984 and became bureau chief by 1989. Russert became host of the Sunday morning program Meet the Press in 1991, and was the longest-serving host of the program. Its name was changed to Meet the Press with Tim Russert, and, at his suggestion, expanded to an hour in 1992. The show also shifted to a greater focus on in-depth interviews with high-profile guests, where Russert was known for extensive preparatory research and cross-examining style. One approach he developed was to find old quotes or video clips that were inconsistent with guests' more recent statements, present them on-air to his guests and then ask them to clarify their positions. With Russert as host the audience grew to more than four million viewers per week, and it was recognized as one of the most important sources of political news. Time magazine named Russert one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008, and Russert often moderated political campaign debates.[10]
Enthusiasm for sports[edit]
Russert grew up as a New York Yankees fan, switching his allegiance to the Washington Nationals when they were established in Washington, D.C. Russert held season tickets to both the Nationals and the Washington Wizards[26] and was elected to the board of directors of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2003.
A lifelong fan of the Buffalo Bills football team, Russert often closed Sunday broadcasts during the football season with a statement of encouragement for the franchise.[27][28] The team released a statement on the day of his death, saying that listening to Russert's "Go Bills" exhortation was part of their Sunday morning game preparation.[29] He once prayed publicly on the show with his father when the Bills were going for the Super Bowl for the fourth consecutive time before Super Bowl XXVIII.[30] On July 23, 2008, U.S. Route 20A leading to the Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York was renamed the "Timothy J. Russert Highway".[31]
Russert was also a Buffalo Sabres fan and appeared on an episode of Meet the Press next to the Stanley Cup during a Sabres playoff run. While his son was attending Boston College, he often ended Meet the Press with a mention of the success of various Boston College sports teams.
Russert, then a student at the Cleveland–Marshall College of Law, attended Ten Cent Beer Night, a promotion by the Cleveland Indians which ended in a riot at the stadium. "I went with $2 in my pocket," he recalled. "You do the math."[32]
Author[edit]
In 2004 Russert penned a best-selling autobiography, Big Russ and Me,[6] which chronicled his life growing up in the predominantly Irish-American working-class neighborhood of South Buffalo and his education at Canisius High School. Russert's father Timothy Joseph Russert, "Big Russ", was a World War II veteran who held down two jobs after the war, emphasized the importance of maintaining strong family values, the reverence of faith, and never taking a short cut to reach a goal. Russert claimed to have received over 60,000 letters from people in response to the book, detailing their own experiences with their fathers.[13][33] He released Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons in 2005, a collection of some of these letters. This book also became a best-seller.
Cameo television appearance[edit]
Russert made a cameo appearance in 1995 on the critically acclaimed police drama, Homicide: Life on the Street. He played the cousin of fictional Baltimore homicide detective Megan Russert.[34] He was mentioned by name again on the show in 1996, when it was said that he had introduced his "cousin" to a French diplomat, with whom she then went abroad.[35] Homicide executive producer Tom Fontana attended the same Buffalo high school as Russert.[36]
During his career, Russert received 48 honorary doctorates and won several awards for excellence in journalism:
Minor planet 43763 Russert is named in his honor.[41]
Personal life[edit]
Russert met Maureen Orth at the 1980 Democratic National Convention; they married in 1983 at the Basilica de San Miguel in Madrid, Spain. Orth has been a special correspondent for Vanity Fair since 1993.
Russert delivered the 2007 Washington University in St. Louis commencement speech.[42]
Their son, Luke,[43] graduated from Boston College in 2008. He hosts the XM Radio show 60/20 Sports with James Carville, and was an intern with ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien. On July 31, 2008, NBC News announced that Luke Russert would serve as an NBC News correspondent covering the youth perspective on the 2008 United States presidential election.[44]
The Russert family lived in northwest Washington, D.C.,[4] and also spent time at a vacation home on Nantucket Island, where Tim served on the board of several non-profit organizations.[45] In an interview in the 2010 documentary Mister Rogers & Me, he spoke of his admiration for his friend Fred Rogers, host of the iconic PBS children's program "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" whom he and his family met on Nantucket.
Russert, a devout Catholic, said many times he had made a promise to God to never miss Sunday Mass if his son were born healthy. In his writing and in his news reporting, Russert spoke openly and fondly of his Catholic school education and of the role of the Catholic Church in his life. He was an outspoken supporter of Catholic education on all levels.[46] Russert said that his father, a sanitation worker who never finished high school, "worked two jobs all his life so his four kids could go to Catholic school, and those schools changed my life." He also spoke warmly of the Catholic nuns who taught him. "Sister Mary Lucille founded a school newspaper and appointed me editor and changed my life," he said. Teachers in Catholic schools "taught me to read and write, but also how to tell right from wrong."[46]
Russert also contributed his time to numerous Catholic charities. He was particularly devoted and concerned for the welfare of street kids in the United States and children who died from street violence.[46] He told church workers attending the 2005 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering that "if there's an issue that Democrats, Republicans, conservatives and liberals can agree on, it's our kids."[46]
Russert's favorite beer was Rolling Rock, and, at his funeral, friend and fellow anchor Tom Brokaw brought and raised a Rolling Rock in Russert's memory.[47]
Shortly before his death, he had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.[48]