So much has been written, said and televised regarding the late Timothy J. Russert that I can constructively add only this small bit to everyone's memories and biographies of this great guy.
Soon after Pat Moynihan (narrowly) won his first Senate rate in 1976, Tim, then abut 26 years old, joined his staff, initially as head of the Senator's tiny Buffalo office. I signed on around the same time for the D.C.-based legislative team, along with one of the strongest casts of colleagues it's ever been my privilege to work with. (Some of this is recounted on pages 66-7 of Troublemaker.) At the start, Tim was just this kid from Buffalo who turned up in Washington now and again. But it didn't take long before his remarkable political savvy, his matchless knowledge of New York State,??his phenomenal nose for news and unparalleled??capacity for "working the media" became clear to one and all, not least to Moynihan himself. In short order, Tim was in D.C. as the Senator's new press secretary and then, by the time I left (1981), had graduated to the top post of administrative assistant in what was, by then, a veritable staff empire. He was as adept at managing a bunch of headstrong colleagues and navigating the tricky political shoals of the U.S. Senate (and then preparing Pat for a triumphant re-election campaign in 1982) as he later proved to be??for Governor Cuomo and then NBC. Though Tim left his former Senate staff colleagues in the dust in terms of Washington-style celebrity, status, and personal wealth, he never lost the common touch, never forgot his Buffalo roots, never abandoned his remarkable capacity for friendship, human decency, and a fantastic sense of humor. Whether it was watching Tim come to a party for me dressed as--yes--me with a big grin on his broad Irish face, or seeing him solemnly lead the Moynihan pallbearers in a grand old Catholic church just a few years back, he was one of the most remarkable, likable, companionable, and accomplished individuals it's ever been my opportunity to know and work with. I didn't see him all that often in recent years but his untimely death leaves a big void in my life as well as the lives of so many others.
