Tim Russert: A Different Type of American Royalty

I grew up in a town of 1,500 people and as a kid I didn't know anybody who was a "somebody" outside our Northern California county except Tim Russert. I met Tim in 1987 when I was eleven years old, before he was on TV or well-known. My mom had been friends with Tim's wife, Maureen Orth, for decades, and we saw them in New York City before our family embarked on a car camping tour through New England. That night, Tim gave us an overview of New York city from the roof of their building, then treated my brother Christo (then nine) and me to root beers and asked us questions all night.

It would probably come as no surprise that I have never met anyone else like Tim. But, hearing others tell stories about him yesterday after such a sudden passing brought back so many similar memories. I am trying to process my shock and sadness and to honor the positive impact he had upon me as he did so many (even though I only saw him at most once a year), and, more importantly, the role he played for the country.

My memories during those early years were mostly that he was always interested in us kids. Tim and Maureen would come to San Francisco for Christmas most years and they would host a small gathering for their old friends from the area. All Tim would want to do was talk with the kids, including Christo, his son Luke, and me. Christo and I could never quite believe this, especially as Tim became more and more known (and we old enough to recognize it), but he always treated us with the utmost respect. He was genuinely curious and interested in our opinions and he was also really open with us about what he really thought about a topic or a person (i.e. a particular Senator).

After I had gone back east to attend Bowdoin College, I took the train to Washington for a few days during spring break that first-year in 1995. I was 18 and had had a difficult year, struggling to adjust to the East Coast culture and trying to catch up with my better-prepared colleagues. Although it was still early in his tenure as moderator, Tim invited me to watch a live taping of Meet the Press. About 30 seconds before the program began, he held up his hand to block out the studio lighting to see if I had made it to my chair behind the camera. He then offered a slight wave before one final review of his notes and the show's opening music. Afterwards, he invited me on stage to meet the panel and participate in the group picture. The picture says it all: Tim, Brian Williams, me smiling in a "Cal" Berkeley hat, and Bob Novak.

After the show, as Tim drove me to the train, he asked me how I was doing at school and I told him how hard the adjustment had been. He said he remembered feeling the same way when he went to work for Senator Moynihan and was surrounded by Ivy League graduates. Then, he offered the same advice that Senator Moynihan had shared with him back then: "What they know, you can learn. What you know, they can never learn." I carried that in my back pocket from there. Although I hadn't fully appreciated it, Tim had become a great role model.

The last time I saw Tim was in the fall of 2006 when I was last in Washington and we went to Marcella's for dinner (his favorite Italian restaurant) with Maureen and another family friend. It was a somber time for the nation. An election was approaching and the country was growing increasingly divided about the war implementation. Tim initially showed signs of stress after a long week, but, as always, was extremely interested to hear our outside-Washington views.

Just before the check arrived, we paused for a rare moment of silence, ready for bed after a long week and meal. I then asked Tim how it felt to be in such a responsible position, knowing millions of Americans relied upon him for the truth. He listened intently, eyes glistening, and then he looked down at the table, deep in contemplation. It was as if there was a window into the idealism that was truly at his core. In the weeks that followed during that critical period, his questioning was as strong as at any point in his career, and it is this ethic that America will miss most.

Tim Russert became American royalty to Washingtonians and regular Americans alike, and I will not be surprised if the nation mourns for him in a way that resembles the way people across England did Princess Diana upon her sudden death. Though he was not without his faults and was human like we all are, Tim made an authentic and indelible imprint on America's soul: one person, one question, one small gesture, and one action at a time.

That legacy is the mark of a selfless person and leader.

Peter Sims is the coauthor (with Bill George) of the Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek bestselling book on leadership, "True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership."

 

Follow Peter Sims on Twitter: www.twitter.com/petersims

Comments

[JakeBrewer]

Thanks as always, Peter, for your insight and sharing this wonderful personal story.

Friday was a rough day in DC. Heart goes out to Betsy and all the others who worked with Tim. He will be missed.

[Merg]

American Royalty????? Just when will he lie 'in state' in the capitol rotunda. These media types and all the puditocracy have been holding a Russert o Thon since the sad event of his passing as though a President has died and the entire country must mourn. THAT....I find offensive. He was a journalist­....good or not so good...jus­t a journalist.

[MyThought]

talk about over kill. Sad indeed that a man so young, worked hard, loved his family and all that he died.

But, he was just a journalist doing his job the best he could.

This saint hood is getting out of control.

A good journalist perhaps - God NO

[chuckieboy]

It would not bother me, if all of the punditocracy had painted Russert as a "dedicated journalist, proud american, devote Catholic, or a loving father and husband. Someones death does not suspend truthfulness, and honest discourse. Russert was complicit in the lies that took us to war and resulted in a terrible amount of death, pain, and agony. He was a real "bulldog", however only involving Dems. When he interviewed Cheney, and dick said he had no financial interest in Haliburton, but it was revealed shortly thereafter, dick owned 400,000 stock options probably worth $20,000,000. In subsequent interviews Russert never said a thing. His interviews with Guilianni were powder puff. So, to paint him as objective and nonpartisan, can not go without comment.

[Tilling]

Having had my first heart attack last month, I can only sympathize with Tim's passing and how painful it was for him. I truly am sorry he went so young and with the pain that I remember well.

Still, all I ever knew about Tim Russert was from the Huffington Post and I am dismayed at the revisionism about his legacy. Tim was a biased reporter, a voicepiece for the Bush folks, and he was as nonpartisan as my right foot. And I learned it all from this site! How soon we sanctify the ones who leave us, but let's not tell untruths. His bull-headed and crooked questions made us all cringe and sneer. How dare we cry crocodile tears now--Tim Russert was part of the Mainstream Mediat that gave Bush an All Clear on the Iraq War and who asked soft questions to the administration. Just recently he was pilloried over the questions over the debates with Obama and Clinton. Where is the Truth?

[munkeyfuk]

Isn't there a recurring HuffPo column called "Russert Watch" that documented his bias and lack of tenacity at holding the BushCo crooks feet to the fire?
I'm sure I have seen that somewhere before...

[edva]

The legacy of a selfless person - that's about as noble as it gets.

[pmorlan]

I've tried really hard not to knock Russert because a lot of people liked him and it's just plain rude to go after someone when their friends and family are feeling pain at the loss of the person. But I'm afraid that I have to draw the line at allowing the comment that he was American Royalty to Washington go without comment.

We don't need media personalities treated like royalty. What we need are journalists that are like bulldogs when it comes to looking for the truth. We need rabble rousing commoners to serve as our media watchdogs not people who want to have their ring kissed. I have no doubt that there are those in Washington who did look upon Tim as royalty because they feel that they too are part of that royalty. And that is why I had such a problem with Tim as a journalist. Because he was part of the Washington royalty scene he didn't always do his job holding them accountable. Now I'm sorry if I offended anyone by my comments but if Tim Russert was as great a journalist as his friends claim then he won't mind a bit to have different opinions included in the comments section.

[swkidder]

"What they know, you can learn. What you know, they can never learn." Every now and then I find a nugget of Truth that I want to pass along to everyone I love. This is one of those.
We have a blind arrogance in this country with regard to what kinds of intelligence are most valuable, and what kinds of people hold special authority. In our frantic pursuit of Ivy League academic knowledge and celebrity glamour we forget to place equal value on common sense, compassion and kindness. What good is the knowledge in a PhD without empathy and compassion? What I actually remember most clearly about working with Arianna Huffington was not her obvious brilliance and gift with language, but her exquisite manners that sprang from a genuine concern for others. She's the whole package.
There are different kinds of intelligence and many kinds of knowledge. The teacher we need the most may speak from a wisdom we didn't even know existed, and offer exactly the advice we needed to hear at the time. Humility can bring surprising rewards.
That ugly assumption that some kinds of expertise are "better" than others, require more intelligence and skill than others, and that some jobs are more important than others .... crops up in epithets like the "Baby Mama" jab at Michelle Obama. How ironic when raising a magnificent child is probably the most important job at which anyone ever succeeds or fails.
A lovely piece, and one I will remember.

[telebob59]

I just completed digesting the tributes to Russert on HuffPo, concluding with this one. Yes, Russert was human and was culpable to a point in placating the Bushies. But his integrity, curiosity and determination all weigh so heavily in favor of a vast journalistic legacy. His batting average was much higher than most current-day practicioners in the Fourth Estate.
Being a NY State resident for quite some time now, I was surprised I was not more aware of Tim's Albany connections, even more pleasantly so when I was reminded of his affailiations with Pat Moynihan; that quote is a precious one.
I won't give credednce to the negativity expressed by some commentators here over Russert's faults or the way he's being lionized by some on the occasion of his all-too-sudden passing other than to say it's out there, and why are so many of you missing the point entirely?
Has the time passed for truly extraoridnary people in politics (like Moynihan) or in electronic journalism like Russert? Perhaps. But I, for one, hope not.

[adl]

I agree with you, telebob59. Russert wasn't perfect, and perhaps he was guilty of not being hard enough or questioning enough in the lead-up to the war as were many other journalists. But, when you take him and his career as a whole, I think he was better than most and I am much more saddened by his death than I ever would have thought imaginable. I would make sure that I didn't miss Meet the Press every Sunday morning and at 10:30 on Sunday from now on, I'm sure I'll feel a hole.

[tiredandworried]

I sometimes didn't agree with Tim Russert's direction of questioning in his trying to keep our political figures accountable, but he always was the consummate and deeply committed professional. Some years ago when a close personal friend and coworker died after a debilitating illness, I thought to myself:

No one is indispensable, but some are irreplaceable.

Russert certainly merits that category, I feel. During the just-completed, and in my opinion harmful and ridiculously extended primary season I was often impressed by his insightful, off-the-cuff comments on MSNBC. Recently, when a new-found friend died suddenly and without warning, I listened to a legion of family, friends, students, and colleagues tell how his warm personality and extensive knowledge had affected their lives. I suddenly thought:

It's not so much the detail we lose as the wisdom.

Farewell, Tim Russert, and heartfelt condolences to your family.

[JonW]

Russert was a good and honorable man. but he like the rest of the Fourth Estate was way too soft on the Bushers leading up the unjuistified Iraq invasion. More investigation and hard questioning was needed then but the press like mch of the US believed our government was telling the truth!

[TonyOnly]

As an ordinary viewer, the loss of Tim Russert has left a major hole in my Sunday morning. But I'm sure his passing has left a far bigger hole in the lives of those who knew and loved him. Many will need to remember, as bad as it feels, as much as it hurts, for the loved ones who remain, life has to go on. And for all those who Tim enlightened every Sunday morning, we have the satisfaction of knowing we were watching the epitome of professionalism. Tim Russert was simply the best.

[SpaghettiWorshipper]

Thanks for sharing your memories. It's astonishing how personally attended to so many people felt by him. Half of me envies your opportunity to know him and the other half feels like I did know the guy. It's a weird feeling for a stranger!

[RobinSeattle]

Uh, didn't we break away from England to escape royalty?

Listen, Russert might have been a hale and hearty fellow personally. But he wasn't the kind of mythic
purveyor of truth, justice and the American way you lot in the media are trying to portray him as. He was just another corporate talking head hosebag making a living turning discussions of vital issues into intellectual oatmeal. Moreover, the media was cowed by Bush for most of his administration and Russert was one of the lead grazers on the neocon trough of ideological conformity.

Of course, this is the same media that largely glossed over the depredations of Strom Thurmond when he died, you lot sending him off with tears in your eyes as some kind of grand old man of American politics when he was actually probably closer to an Augusto Pinochet or similar political monster in terms of his predilections.

The fact is that Russert failed this country when we needed guys like him to stand up and say, "wait a minute! That just ain't right!" This is also the same guy who went ballistic when Arianna called him a "conventional wisdom monkey." Edward R. Murrow Russert wasn't. Not by a long shot.

[cheforacle]

While I agree with your assessment that he was no Murrow, he certainly does not deserve to be called "another corporate talking head hosebag". Besides being rude (and therefore making yourself look like a hosebag, particularly under these circumstances) he did ask many pointed questions both before and since the start of the war. Russert's problem was not that he didn't ask some good "cross-examination" questions presenting politicians' previous words against what they were currently saying but usually failling to follow up; therefore allowing his guests to have an escape valve. He also did not seem to sometimes understand nuance or the fact that things were not as black-and-white as his questions seemed to indicate.

That being said he did perform a useful public service. His questioning of Dick Cheney before the war didn't stop the war. The people that had to do that were Colin Powell, Tony Blair, other Democrats (those who had the clout and power to stand up to the President). But his questioning does stand as an important public record of how ignorant or misleading (or both) the Administration was about what they were taking the country into. The development of that record is important and can be used to avoid other Vietnam/Iraq debacles in the future.

[chuckieboy]

Very will said.

[fpal]

Robin, you got it right!

This media egotism and pomposity is over the top.

[mergina]

I felt bad hearing the news of his passing on, even though there were days when he really pissed me off. Comes with the territory i guess. Enjoy your next adventure Tim Russert. May it be a good one.

[Intelligentia]

I am not touched by too many deaths, but Tim Russert's was different. He was one of the ones you can trust in the media to tell the truth. An irreplaceable loss! May his soul rest in peace!