Tim Russert, longtime moderator of NBC's "Meet The Press" collapsed and died yesterday at NBC's Washington Bureau office. He was wrapping up taping for his Sunday show.
President Bush, along with the two main presidential candidates, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama praised Russert:
"Tim was a tough and hard-working newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it," Bush said.
Speaking to reporters in Columbus, Ohio, Obama said, "There wasn't a better interviewer in television, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics."
McCain said: "Tim Russert was at the top of his profession. He was a man of honesty and integrity. He was hard, but he was always fair."
CNN and MSNBC suspended regular programming, and NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams devoted most of its broadcast to tributes from journalists and friends of Russert. Tributes have also been written by writers at many of the nation's leading newspapers and magazines, including U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Forbes, The Village Voice, and both of Seattle's dailies.
Russert is survived by his wife, Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth, and their son, Luke, who had just graduated from Boston College. The family had just returned from a trip to Rome. Russert was 58. News reports indicate that he died of a coronary embolism, but an autopsy is pending.
Condolences to Russert's family, friends and colleagues.