Tim Russert: An Appreciation

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images for Meet the Press

See Also: Tim Russert: The Risk of Heart Disease

Let’s focus on two great gifts of the late Tim Russert.

Russert died suddenly last week—in the prime of his career as a television journalist and in the midst of one of the great political campaigns he so thoroughly enjoyed. Of course, he died far too soon and his family and his work colleagues have suffered a grievous, almost incomprehensible loss.

For older Americans, Russert bestowed two important gifts.

First was his professional skill. He made politics and the people who practice it better. He had a faith in government, honed during his tenure as a top aide to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. He felt passionately that public service was a special calling and that in its top officials, the nation often deserved better than it was getting.

He felt just as passionately about the journalist’s role, both as public advocate and as explainer. During his 17-year stewardship of NBC’s Meet the Press, he resurrected Sunday news shows as a place where office holders and candidates could engage in thoughtful, extended conversation, even as network television viewership was falling and network news seemed consumed by celebrity, by the latest weather calamity or by some frivolous sideshow attraction. With his steady humor, energy and diligence, Russert also reminded viewers that journalism, done well, has a special role in our society.  

Russert’s second great gift was the importance he placed on his relationship with his elders, especially his father. “Whatever we achieve, and whoever we are, we stand on their shoulders,” he wrote in his best-selling tribute, Big Russ and Me.

He was determined to restore the essential nature of the respect due the generations of our parents and grandparents. His celebrated affection for his father, Big Russ, was born of gratitude for the life his father lived as a World War II veteran and as a dedicated father and husband, who held down two jobs throughout Russert’s Buffalo childhood.  

For the boomer generation, this was a rich gift. While many decry the parallel challenge of multiple generations, Russert relished it. He celebrated the adventures of his son’s life. He honored the accomplishments and optimism of his father. And he enjoyed his own in-between role as pupil and teacher. In one passage addressed to his son, Russert wrote: “The example he set and the lessons he taught–work, respect, discipline—are as important for you as they have been for me.”

In a society that celebrates youth and ambition, Russert himself set an example and taught a lesson by recognizing and celebrating the gifts of experience and age and the wisdom they generate. That is a gift to celebrate.