WASHINGTON – Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after a sudden heart attack at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.
Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program when he collapsed, the network said. He and his family had recently returned from Italy, where they celebrated the graduation of Russert’s son, Luke, from Boston College.
No further details were immediately available.
Russert was best known as host of “Meet the Press,” which he took over in December 1991. Now in its 60th year, “Meet the Press” is the longest-running program in the history of television.
But he was also a vice president of NBC News and head of its overall Washington operations, a nearly round-the-clock presence on NBC and MSNBC on election nights.
He was “one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his time,” Tom Brokaw, the former longtime anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” said in announcing Russert’s death. “This news division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice.”
Russert was a truly great newsman, and his insight over this election cycle was, and would have been, invaluable. And by all accounts he was just a … good person. Sigh.
While Russert was one of the few talking heads that I did not mind and sort of even liked, he still acted like a white guy in solidarity with other white guys,
In an interview, ” Russert pressed Obama about whether he accepts Farrakhan’s support.”
So before we all go off and beatify this guy, he really was just another white guy who at the end of the day followed the demonize Farrakhan any chance you get.
Phil
OMG!
This breaks my heart. I was one of those people who watched “Meet the Press” every Sunday morning. American politics can be really complex, but Tim always broke it down for me. His interviews were ON POINT. Seriously. He could be counted on to ask tough questions without being inflammatory or histrionic. What makes it all worse is how sudden and unexpected his death is. Seemed to really come out of nowhere.