NO BACKING DOWN
The steely Russert says he has never let his respect for an office dissuade him from asking a tough question.
Indeed, Russert says he intentionally creates conflict on his show to provoke thoughtful answers from his guest.
“I don’t think you have to be rude or obnoxious. You can ask pointed, difficult questions,” he tells The Crimson.
But while Russert may be civil, he says he has no patience for the politically ignorant who complain passively about the state of country.
“The fact, is whether people like it or not, or whether people participate in it or not, what happens in Washington has a profound effect in their lives—whether it be the War in Iraq, Health Care, AIDS, poverty around the world. Those decisions are made in Washington.”
On his own show, Russert makes no apologies for questions that might put his guests in a tough spot.
“I don’t think presidents, senators, or governors can make difficult decisions if they aren’t asked difficult questions,” he says. “These are complicated issue...but only if they think through the complicated issues can they formulate a position.”
NBC Universal Television Group President A. Jeffrey Zucker ’86, for one, says he respects Russert all the more for his commitment to making no distinction between the powerful and the barely known.
“He’s always been a consummate professional who is enmeshed in the political fabric of this country—but who never ever forgets where he came from—and can talk to the president and a factory worker at the same time with the same charm and same skill,” Zucker says.
SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE
Russert can draw from a deep arsenal of experience in composing his Class Day Speech.
Although, in his New York Times best seller, “Big Russ & Me,” he displays an affectionate humor in a collection of personal memoirs about his relationship with his father, Russert has already stated that the wit in his Class Day speech this year “won’t quite be Ali G.”
Still, the 55-year-old journalist-lawyer promises, “I have a sense that there should be some humor, but also something that will be memorable and helpful as people leave college and fly and head off in different directions.”
“The seniors couldn’t have a better speaker than [Russert], from whom I’m sure they’ll glean both practical experience from and fantastic anecdotes,” says Zucker, noting that he himself has sat through a fair share of Class Day speeches.
Referring to past speakers, Russert warns that expectations should be carefully set.
As he says, “I understand the legacy that precedes me...[and] I’m the first to acknowledge that I’m not Ali G. or Mother Teresa.”
—Staff writer Vinita M. Alexander can be reached at valexand@fas.harvard.edu.