Remembering Tony Snow

(From: Fox News)

Tony Snow Funeral Held in Washington
Thursday, July 17, 2008

WASHINGTON — President Bush and the first lady were among a throng of dignitaries, media members and other mourners who gathered Thursday for the funeral of former White House press secretary and FOX News anchor Tony Snow, who died Saturday after a long, public bout with cancer.

Speaking at the funeral, Bush said Snow had "amassed a rare record of accomplishment."

"He knew the job of a reporter was vigorous. He understood the profession and always treated it with respect," Bush said, adding that Snow's was a life that was "far too brief."

The services were being held on the campus of Catholic University at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Bush also remarked on Snow's "wry sense of humor and abundant goodness. We will also remember he was lots of fun."

And, speaking directly to Snow's children -- Kendall, Robbie and Krisiti -- he said he regularly called on Snow over weekends seeking advice to learn that he was spending time with them.

"He loved you a lot," Bush said. "I hope you know we loved him a lot, too."

The service, open to the public, was being held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception near Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

An enlarged photo of Snow was displayed, showing him smiling at the press secretary's podium in the White House press room.

"The measure of this man's life can be found in his character, in his optimism, in his joy and humor, in his courage, in his passion for what was good and right, and in his love for God and family and neighbor and country," the Very Rev. David M. O'Connell, president of Catholic University, said in his homily.

"Tony Snow did not need a long life for us to measure. It was, rather, we who needed his life to be longer."

Row after row at the shrine was packed with people, including White House correspondents who knew Snow.

Bush was accompanied by some familiar faces from earlier in his presidency, including former top adviser Karl Rove and one-time chief of staff Andrew Card.

White House press secretary Dana Perino, who succeeded Snow, said Monday that Snow touched everyone's lives at the White House.

"Welcome back from what was a very sad weekend for all of us in the room," she said at the start of her daily off-air briefing with reporters.

"We greatly appreciate your support and the prayers and for Jill and the entire Snow family. She does really appreciate it. There's a lot of love in this room for him and for the family, so we thank you. As the president said yesterday, Tony Snow was a great friend to everybody at the White House," Perino said.

Bush and his wife, Laura, visited on Monday with Snow's family. Snow is survived by his wife, Jill, and their three children. The Bushes went to Snow's home in Alexandria, Va., and hugged family members on the porch before going inside.

Cancer survivor and multiple Tour de France victor Lance Armstrong, who had befriended Snow during his illness, also weighed in Monday.

"Tony died of colon cancer, his second bout with the disease. He was a courageous soul, a true fighter and a very warm, decent guy. Our hearts go out to his family, friends and colleagues who face the world without him now.

"As many of us rode and ran the San Jose Challenge this past weekend, we kept them and Tony in our minds, and remembered all the more clearly why elevating the fight against cancer must be a national priority," he said in a note released by The Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Snow was remembered over the weekend by the president, Vice President Dick Cheney, members of the White House press corps and others who described him as a happy warrior who woke up each day excited about life, enjoyed engaging the media and most of all loved his family.

"Laura and I are really saddened by his death," Bush said Sunday with his wife by his side. Bush described Snow as "a smart and capable man," "an honest guy" with a "wonderful sense of humor."

Bush said he and the first lady went to church Sunday and prayed for Snow's family.

"I just hope they understand that Tony was loved here in the White House," Bush said.

A syndicated columnist, editor, TV anchor, radio show host and musician, Snow worked in nearly every medium in a career that spanned over 30 years. And he was remembered for being great at every job he did.

"I've known or worked with a lot of press secretaries, White House press secretaries, in my 40 years in Washington, and I'd have to say that Tony's the best," Cheney said on "FOX News Sunday," the show first hosted by Snow.

"He had this rare combination of intelligence, of commitment and loyalty to the president that he was working for, but also this great love of going out behind that podium and doing battle with what in effect were his former colleagues.

"And it was this capacity that he had to be unfailingly polite, to maintain good humor under the most trying of circumstances and do it, I thought, better and more effectively than anybody I've ever seen in that post," Cheney said.

Snow died at 2 a.m. Saturday at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

"It's a tremendous loss for us who knew him, but it's also a loss for the country," Roger Ailes, chairman of FOX News, said Saturday morning about Snow, calling him a "renaissance man."

Snow, besides being the original anchor of "FOX News Sunday" in 1996, hosting each week from historic homes in Washington, D.C., because the burgeoning network had no studio, also hosted FOX News' "Weekend Live" and a radio program, "The Tony Snow Show," before departing for the White House in 2006.

As a TV pundit and commentator for FOX News, Snow often was critical of Bush before he became the president's third press secretary, following Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan. He was an instant study in the job, mastering the position — and the White House press corps — with apparent ease.

"One of the reasons I took this job is not only to work with the president but, believe it or not, to work with all of you," Snow told reporters when he stepped into the post in 2006. "These are times that are going to be very challenging."

During a tenure marked by friendly jousting with journalists, Snow often danced around the press corps, occasionally correcting their grammar and speech even as he responded to their questions.

"He would unfailingly challenge the premise of many of the questions. I'd never seen this before in a press secretary," said conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. "He challenged the premise and told them that they were wrong in the narrative or the storyline that they were tacking, and this caused the president's supporters, those who had seen it, to stand up and cheer."

"Tony did his job with more flair than almost any press secretary before him," said William McGurn, Bush's former chief speechwriter. "He loved the give-and-take. But that was possible only because Tony was a man of substance who had real beliefs and principles that he was more than able to defend."

As he announced Snow as his press secretary in May 2006, Bush praised him as "a man of courage [and] a man of integrity." Snow presided over some of the toughest fights of Bush's presidency, defending the administration during the Iraq war and the CIA leak investigation.

"I felt comfortable enough to interrupt him when he was 'BS'ing, and he kind of knew it, and he'd shut up and move on," Snow said.

His tenure at the White House lasted 17 months and was interrupted by his second bout with cancer.

Snow had his colon removed and underwent six months of chemotherapy after he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2005. In 2007 he announced his cancer had recurred and spread to his liver, and he had a malignant growth removed from his abdominal area.

He resigned from the White House six months later, in September 2007, citing not his health but a need to earn more than the $168,000 a year he was paid in the government post. He was replaced by his deputy, Perino.

After taking time off to recuperate, Snow joined CNN as a political commentator early this year.

"The White House has lost a great friend and a great colleague," Perino said in a statement released to the media. "We all loved watching him at the podium, but most of all we learned how to love our families and treat each other."

Critics suggested Snow was turning the traditionally informational daily briefing into a personality-driven media event short on facts and long on confrontation. He was the first press secretary, by his own accounting, to travel the country raising money for Republican candidates.

As a commentator, he had not always been on the president's side. He once called Bush "something of an embarrassment" in conservative circles and criticized what he called Bush's "lackluster" domestic policy.

A sometime fill-in host for Rush Limbaugh, Snow said he loved the intimacy of his radio audience.

"I don't think you ever arrive," he said. "I think anybody who thinks they've arrived or made it, anywhere in the media — they're nuts."

Robert Anthony Snow was born June 1, 1955, in Berea, Ky., the son of a teacher and nurse. He graduated from Davidson College in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, and he taught briefly in Kenya before embarking on his journalism career.

Because of his love for writing, Snow took a job as an editorial writer for the Greensboro Record in North Carolina and went on to run the editorial pages at the Newport News (Virginia) Daily Press, Detroit News and Washington Times. He became a nationally syndicated columnist, and in 1991 he became director of speechwriting for President George H.W. Bush.

"He served people, and we can learn from that. He was kind, and we can learn from that. He was just a good person," the senior Bush told FOX News.

Snow played six instruments — saxophone, trombone, flute, piccolo, accordion and guitar — and was in a D.C. cover band called Beats Workin'. He also was a film buff.

"He was a great musician," Ailes said. "And he loved movies."

More than anything, said Snow's colleagues, he was a joy to work with.

FOX News Chief Washington correspondent Jim Angle called Snow a "gentleman."

"He was a lot of fun," his former FOX News producer Griff Jenkins said. "This is a loss of a family member."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.