36 Facts About Tim Russert

Timothy John Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press.

Tim Russert was a frequent correspondent and guest on NBC's The Today Show and Hardball.

Tim Russert was posthumously revealed as a 30-year source for syndicated columnist Robert Novak.

Tim Russert's parents were Catholics, and he had German and Irish ancestry.

Tim Russert received a Jesuit education from Canisius High School in Buffalo.

Tim Russert received his Bachelor of Arts in 1972 from John Carroll University and a Juris Doctor with honors from the Cleveland State University College of Law in 1976.

Tim Russert agreed, but said he would need to be paid because he was running out of money to pay for law school.

One concert that Tim Russert booked was headlined by a then-unknown singer, Bruce Springsteen, who charged $2,500 for the concert appearance.

Tim Russert told this story to Jay Leno when he was a guest on The Tonight Show on NBC on June 6,2006.

Tim Russert later served as special counsel and as chief of staff to Moynihan, a Democrat from Hell's Kitchen, New York.

Tim Russert was hired by NBC News' Washington bureau in 1984 and became bureau chief by 1989.

Tim Russert became host of the Sunday morning program Meet the Press in 1991, and was the longest-serving host of the program.

Tim Russert did say that Plame's identity as a CIA operative was not leaked to him.

Tim Russert testified again in the trial on February 7,2007.

Tim Russert was posthumously revealed as a thirty-year source of columnist Robert Novak, whose original article revealed Plame's affiliation with the CIA.

In October 2007, liberal commentators accused Tim Russert of harassing Clinton over the issue of supporting drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants.

Tim Russert grew up as a New York Yankees fan, switching his allegiance to the Washington Nationals when they were established in Washington, DC Tim Russert held season tickets to both the Nationals and the Washington Wizards and was elected to the board of directors of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2003.

Tim Russert once prayed publicly on the show with his father when the Bills were going for the Super Bowl for the fourth consecutive time before Super Bowl XXVIII.

Tim Russert was a Buffalo Sabres fan and appeared on an episode of Meet the Press next to the Stanley Cup during a Sabres playoff run.

In 2004 Tim Russert penned a best-selling autobiography, Big Russ and Me, which chronicled his life growing up in the predominantly Irish-American working-class neighborhood of South Buffalo and his education at Canisius High School.

Tim Russert claimed to have received over 60,000 letters from people in response to the book, detailing their own experiences with their fathers.

Tim Russert released Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons in 2005, a collection of some of these letters.

Tim Russert made a cameo appearance in 1995 on the critically acclaimed police drama, Homicide: Life on the Street.

Tim Russert played the cousin of fictional Baltimore homicide detective Megan Russert.

Tim Russert was mentioned by name again on the show in 1996, when it was said that he had introduced his "cousin" to a French diplomat, with whom she then went abroad.

Tim Russert met Maureen Orth at the 1980 Democratic National Convention; they married in 1983 at the Basilica de San Miguel in Madrid, Spain.

Tim Russert delivered the 2007 Washington University in St Louis commencement speech.

On July 31,2008, NBC News announced that Luke Tim Russert would serve as an NBC News correspondent covering the youth perspective on the 2008 United States presidential election.

The Russert family lived in northwest Washington, DC and spent time at a vacation home on Nantucket Island, where Tim served on the board of several non-profit organizations.

Tim Russert was an outspoken supporter of Catholic education on all levels.

Tim Russert was particularly devoted and concerned for the welfare of street kids in the United States and children who died from street violence.

Shortly after 1:30 pm on Friday, June 13,2008, Tim Russert collapsed at the offices of WRC-TV, which houses the Washington, DC bureau of NBC News where he was chief.

Tim Russert was recording voiceovers for the Sunday edition of Meet the Press.

Tim Russert then walked down the hallway to record voiceovers in the soundproof booth and collapsed.

Tim Russert was then transported to Sibley Memorial Hospital, arriving at 2:23 pm, where he was pronounced dead.

Tim Russert had just returned from a family vacation in Rome, Italy, where he had celebrated his son's graduation from Boston College.