TIM RUSSERT:TIM RUSSERT, who has died aged 58 of a heart attack, was arguably the most influential political journalist in America. He hosted the Sunday morning political interview show Meet the Press, which became a rite of passage for American politicians. He was Washington bureau chief for the NBC network and fronted its presidential election coverage.
His ascendancy marked two trends in US television's coverage of politics: the rise of the insider and celebrity journalists.
After working as a lawyer for a New York senator and the state governor Mario Cuomo, Russert was hired by NBC's Washington bureau in 1984, and, in 1991, became host of Meet the Press. His immediate success was due to a combination of affability and sharp questioning, and through it became a celebrity himself. This melding of celebrity journalists and Washington insiders has set - many would say lessened - both the tone and quality of what Americans know about national politics.
Washington insiders live in a hothouse world of privilege. They marry among themselves; Russert, for example, met his wife, Vanity Fair journalist Maureen Orth, at the 1976 Democratic party convention. They even holiday together; Russert's $7 million (€4.5 million) summer house on Nantucket Island was close to those of his corporate bosses.
However, Russert, who was born in Buffalo, New York, always defined himself by his working-class Irish roots.He even attributed using his trademark whiteboard, on which he famously wrote "Florida Florida Florida" to explain the key to the 2000 presidential election, to searching for explanations his truck driver father would understand.
When he took over Meet the Press, its producer advised him to "learn as much as you can about your guests' positions, and then take the other side". It was a sort of cross-examination. He got Hillary Clinton to disagree with a quote from her husband about "beating a terrorist who knew the location of a bomb" before revealing its source. This "are you lying now or were you lying then?" approach made for good drama, but did not always recognise that political situations can change.
In 2005, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's chief of staff, claimed that Russert had told him that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent. Russert denied this, and in 2007, prosecutors attributed Libby's conviction for perjury to Russert's testimony. Cheney's press secretary admitted that they often booked the vice-president on Meet the Press because it was their "best format to control the message".
Russert suffered a heart attack while taping voice-over material. He received praise from President Bush, the Clintons, Barack Obama and John McCain, who said of an appearance on Meet the Press that he "hadn't had so much fun since my last interrogation at prison camp".
Russert is survived by his wife, son, father and three sisters.
Timothy John Russert: born May 7th, 1950; died June 13th, 2008