Tony Snow

The sharp-tongued broadcaster who spoke for George Bush

Tony Snow

1955–2008

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As a broadcaster and newspaper columnist, Tony Snow called President George W. Bush an “impotent” leader and “something of an embarrassment” for conservatives. Later, though, for 16 months as White House press secretary, Snow would deftly articulate Bush’s agenda, especially during the darkest days of the Iraq war, with humor and gusto.

Snow had previously been editorial page editor of the conservative Washington Times, a USA Today columnist, and host of Fox News Sunday, said The Washington Post. Brought in as “part of a staff shake-up in Spring 2006, he quickly became a star among dispirited Republicans thirsty for an aggressive champion.” The tough, persistent grilling at the hands of the White House press corps rarely fazed him. “He loved nothing more than jousting with reporters, and expressed disappointment when they did not challenge him enough.” As “the first working journalist in 30 years” to occupy the position, Snow had a special rapport with his inquisitors. “He could tell reporters to ‘zip it’ one minute and defuse tension the next by admitting that he knew so little about a topic that he was ‘not going to fake it.’”

Diagnosed with colon cancer in 2005, “Snow left the White House last September, saying he had run out of money,” said the Los Angeles Times. “He hit the lecture circuit and had signed on as an election-year commentator for CNN.” While his many friends and admirers were deeply saddened by Snow’s illness, he insisted that cancer was “the best thing that ever happened to me” because it brought him closer to his wife, Jill, and their three children. “Why sit around and bemoan your fate?” Snow recently asked. “Go ahead and get in there and, while you’re at it, enjoy every moment that you’re alive.”