In Memoriam: Tim Russert

From Today's Congressional Quarterly

Remembering Tim Russert
By Bruce Drake, CQ Staff

Tim Russert, who died of a heart attack today at 58, will long be remembered for becoming such a force in political journalism that when he declared the Democratic nomination battle over after the May 6 Indiana and North Carolina primaries, well, for many people, that made it official.

But I’ll remember Russert for something else, which is that he was one hell of an impersonator.

I found that out when I started out covering Congress in Washington for the New York Daily News and Russert was starting out as press secretary to the late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

I needed to get Moynihan on the phone one day for a story and a few hours after leaving a message, my phone rang and I heard Moynihan’s characteristic, “Uh . . . uh . . . Bruce . . . This is PAT Moynihan . . . (he always seemed to hit the “Pat” hard) . . . What can I do for you?”

He was right on time because we had a 4 p.m. first edition deadline for the Daily News “Night Owl” edition, which hit the streets in Manhattan at 7 p.m., and it was already 3:30 p.m.

I interviewed Moynihan for 10 minutes then said, “Gotta go, Senator. Deadline.”

“Go get ‘em,” Moynihan said.

O.K. You already know the punchline.

I had just interviewed Tim Russert for 10 minutes, completely fooled by the $%*#.

Now, I do have to say that all his answers were correct. They just didn’t come from Moynihan.

Which Tim was kind enough to call back five minutes before deadline and tell me.

I did exact some revenge. A few weeks later, when I knew Russert was out of town, I put in a call to Moynihan for another story, even though I didn’t really need him for it. He called back in about 10 minutes.

“Uh . . . uh . . . young Bruce, this is PAT Moynihan. What can I do for you?”

Remembering Tim Russert
I asked Moynihan where I could call him back. He seemed to be taken somewhat aback, not only at the idea I’d push off a call from a senator, but probably because he couldn’t figure out why I had to ask him for a number when he was in his office.

I called him back five minutes later and when he came to the phone, I said, “Sorry, Senator. I just needed to make sure it was you and not Russert.”

I think Moynihan thought it was funny. Maybe. Well, maybe not.

But Tim always had a way with his bosses. I don’t know 100 percent for sure that the following story is true, it sounds kind of apocryphal. But, still, it sounds like Tim.

Tim had gone on to work for New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and was with him around the time that Cuomo electrified audiences with his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention in San Francisco, which was probably the high point of Cuomo’s career as far as the national stage.

The story goes this way: Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa was visiting New York, and was riding in a limousine with Cuomo.

As the two chatted, Tutu was said to have told Cuomo, “I met that delightful young man who works for you, who said he wrote your San Francisco speech.”

I never really knew Cuomo. I did know of his ego. I don’t think Cuomo thought it was funny.

So, maybe Tim liked to claim credit for some stuff. But he was never full of himself, and always open and outgoing whether you were a VIP or just someone standing next to him at the bar.

Speaking of standing next to him at the bar, I got a little taste of Tim’s liking to make sure that credit was paid where it was due.

Tim had been one of my references back in 1991 when National Public Radio hired me as senior Washington editor.

After I had moved up to be vice president of news at NPR in 2000, I bumped into Tim at Billy Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown.

He congratulated me on the promotion and said, “You know, I GOT you that job at NPR.”

Remembering Tim Russert
So, I bought the next round over his weak protests.