Doctor: Blood Clot in Artery Triggered Russert's Heart Attack
NBC said Russert's physician, Dr. Michael Newman, determined that cholesterol plaque ruptured in an artery, causing blood flow to the heart to be blocked by a clot. The network said an autopsy shortly after his death showed he had an enlarged heart and significant coronary artery disease.
"I think I can invoke personal privilege to say this news division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice. He will be missed as he was loved, greatly," Brokaw said.
Amen.
It was as host of "Meet the Press" since 1991 that Russert became a leading voice in American politics by mixing his cheerful on-air persona with the tough questioning of political guests including Bush and leading personalities of the 2008 presidential campaign.
That Russert questioned his guests like a lawyer cross-examining a witness was no accident: he was an attorney by training, and was an aide to the late former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-New York).
Russert Became Part of the Scooter Libby Story
Russert became a news subject himself in 2007, when he provided key testimony at the CIA leak trial of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Libby was charged with lying and obstructing a federal investigation into the leaking CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity after her husband criticized the Bush administration.
Libby said he had learned of Plame's secret identity from Russert. But Russert testified he did not discuss Plame with Libby and offered the jury an account sharply at odds with Libby's recorded testimony. Libby was ultimately convicted, but Bush commuted his sentence, sparing him from prison.
Russert was also a best-selling author. Big Russ and Me described his childhood in Buffalo, New York, and his relationship with his father, Tim Russert, Sr., who worked as a garbage collector. He also wrote The Wisdom of Our Fathers, inspired by letters he received from children talking about their relationship with their fathers.
That Russert died at the beginning of the Fathers Day weekend was at once poignant and fitting, given his love for both his father and for his son, Luke.
God bless you, Tim. You will be sorely missed.
Volume III, Number 39 Copyright 2008, Skeeter Sanders. all rights reserved.
I'm a native of New York City who's called the Green Mountain state of Vermont home since the summer of 1994. A former freelance journalist, I'm a fiercely independent freethinker who's highly skeptical of authority figures -- especially when they're on the wrong side of the issues I care about. But I'm not afraid to also call into question those with whom I would usually be "on the same page" if and when they, too, are on the wrong side of the issues I care about.
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