Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) 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.

He was a senior vice president at NBC News and Washington bureau chief, and also hosted an eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview program.

The show also shifted to a greater focus on in-depth interviews with high-profile guests, where Russert was known for extensive preparatory research and cross-examining style.

With Russert as host the audience grew to more than four million viewers per week, and it was recognized as one of the most important sources of political news.

In the course of the debate leading up to that election, Russert used February 2004 interviews with the two candidates to home in on the paradoxical fact (and the possible consequences for democracy) of their both apparently having been members of Yale University's Skull and Bones secret society.

In the Plame affair, Scooter Libby, convicted chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that Russert told him of the identity of Central Intelligence Agency officer Valerie Plame (who is married to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson).

In the lead-up to the Iraq War, Meet the Press featured interviews with top government officials including Vice President Dick Cheney.

[23]At the February debate, Russert was criticized for what some perceived as disproportionately tough questioning of Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton.

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

[28][29] The team released a statement on the day of his death, saying that listening to Russert's "Go Bills" exhortation was part of their Sunday morning game preparation.

[31] On July 23, 2008, U.S. Route 20A leading to the Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York was renamed the "Timothy J. Russert Highway".

Russert, then a student at the Cleveland–Marshall College of Law, attended Ten Cent Beer Night, a promotion by the Cleveland Indians which ended in a riot at the stadium.

"[33] In 2004 Russert penned a best-selling autobiography, Big Russ and Me,[6] which chronicled his life growing up in the predominantly Irish-American working-class neighborhood of South Buffalo and his education at Canisius High School.

Russert's father Timothy Joseph Russert, "Big Russ", was a World War II veteran who held down two jobs after the war, emphasized the importance of maintaining strong family values, the reverence of faith, and never taking a short cut to reach a goal.

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

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

He hosts the XM Radio show 60/20 Sports with James Carville, and was an intern with ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

[45] The Russert family lived in northwest Washington, D.C.,[4] and also spent time at a vacation home on Nantucket Island, where Tim served on the board of several non-profit organizations.

Russert, a devout Catholic, said many times he had made a promise to God to never miss Sunday Mass if his son were born healthy.

[47] He told church workers attending the 2005 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering that "if there's an issue that Democrats, Republicans, conservatives and liberals can agree on, it's our kids.

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

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

[55] Russert's longtime friend and physician, Dr. Michael Newman, said that his asymptomatic coronary artery disease had been controlled with medication (LDL-C was <70 mg/dL[56]) and exercise, and that he had performed well on a stress test on April 29 of that year.

An autopsy performed on the day of his death determined that his history of coronary artery disease led to a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and ventricular fibrillation with the immediate cause being an occlusive coronary thrombosis in the left anterior descending artery resulting from a ruptured cholesterol plaque.

The Newseum in Washington, D.C., exhibited a recreation of Russert's office with original elements such as his desks, bookshelves, folders, loose leaf papers and notebooks.

Instead of his usual upbeat antics and monologue, O'Brien announced that he had just received news about the sudden death of his good friend, fellow NBC employee and frequent Late Night guest Tim Russert.

"[64] Washington Post writer Paul Farhi also expressed disapproval, noting that a print journalist would likely not have received similar attention.

[65] Chicago Tribune columnist Julia Keller questioned the volume of coverage as well as the labeling of Russert's death as "a national tragedy.

"[66] Mark Leibovich of The New York Times Magazine wrote in his book, This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral—Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking!—in America's Gilded Capital, about how Russert's funeral in many ways became a spectacle of some of Washington's worst cultural characteristics, largely centering on self-interest and posturing, while feigning remorse for the loss of the deceased.

[71] Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC's Morning Joe dubbed the scene "a new low, even for Washington tackiness".