Former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow Dies (UPDATED)

Tony Snow, the slick, telegenic conservative writer and broadcaster who left Fox News to become White House press secretary and who was generally well-liked by the press, has lost his long — and highly public — battle with colon cancer:

After a long, candid and public battle with colon cancer, former White House press secretary and radio talk-show host Tony Snow died early this morning.

Immediate details were sketchy. But the news bulletin moved shortly after 7 a.m. Eastern time. Snow was 53.

He previously served as chief speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush and as a frequent host on the Fox News Channel on Fox News Sunday, Weekend Live and The O’Reilly Factor.

He also guest-hosted for Rush Limbaugh and had his own radio talk-show.

Last September after 17 months in the White House job Snow retired as President George W. Bush’s third press secretary, saying with his cancer he needed to earn more for his family than the job’s $168,000 salary. He was succeeded by Dana Perino.

Tributes are likely going to pour in about Snow, but not just from Republicans.

Snow was a public figure who truly seemed to have fun at his job and did it well. He was the quintessential broadcasting pro who put a professional TV face on the White House point of view. Not all people who leave the job as press secretary do so with their integrity intact — particularly not those who’ve left administrations suffering Grand Canyon-like credibility gaps. But if Snow didn’t leave with his reputation as pure as snow, he left it unbattered unbruised and unbowed.

He took over the job and immediately got rave reviews from both the press and Republican partisans and begrudging comments from many Democrats. The reason: he took over from the hapless Scott McClellan who often looked like he was undergoing a root canal while answering press questions. Snow seemed to be either having fun or setting the record straight (even when it was spin).

CNN adds this:

Snow, who had been undergoing chemotherapy treatments for a recurrence of the disease, left his White House job September 14, 2007, and joined CNN in April as a conservative commentator.

In parting comments to reporters at his final White House news conference, he said, “I feel great.”

He also called the job “the most fun I’ve ever had.”

Snow said he was leaving the White House position to make more money. His White House salary was $168,000.

“The White House is so deeply saddened by this loss,” said his replacement, White House press secretary Dana Perino. “He was a great friend and colleague and a fantastic press secretary. And his dear family is in our thoughts and prayers.”

Chief of Staff Josh Bolten had told senior White House staffers that unless they could commit to staying until Bush leaves office in January 2009, they should leave by Labor Day 2007, so Snow resigned.

Snow was first diagnosed with colon cancer in February 2005. His colon was removed, and after six months of treatment, doctors said the cancer was in remission.

A recurrence of the illness was diagnosed 11 months after he began the White House media job, and he underwent five weeks of treatment before resuming his daily briefings to the press corps. He was greeted with applause upon his return.

“Not everybody will survive cancer,” Snow told the reporters, “but on the other hand, you have got to realize you’ve got the gift of life, so make the most of it. That is my view, and I’m going to make the most of my time with you.”

Perino announced March 27, 2007, that Snow’s cancer had recurred, and said doctors had removed a growth from his abdomen the day before.

Fox News offers this perspective:

A syndicated columnist, editor, TV anchor, radio show host and musician, Snow worked in nearly every medium in a career that spanned more than 30 years.

“The White House has lost a great friend and a great colleague,” said President Bush’s press secretary Dana Perino. “We all loved watching him at the podium, but most of all we learned how to love our families and treat each other.”

Snow joined FOX in 1996 as the original anchor of “FOX News Sunday” and hosted “Weekend Live” and a radio program, “The Tony Snow Show,” before departing in 2006. A sometime fill-in host for Rush Limbaugh, Snow said he loved the intimacy of his radio audience.

“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.”

As a TV pundit and commentator for FOX News, Snow was often critical of President Bush before he became Bush’s third press secretary in 2006, 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.

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.

“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.”

The AP:

Snow was working for Fox News Channel and Fox News Radio when he replaced Scott McClellan as press secretary in May 2006 during a White House shake-up. Unlike McClellan, who came to define caution and bland delivery from the White House podium, Snow was never shy about playing to the cameras.

With a quick-from-the-lip repartee, broadcaster’s good looks and a relentlessly bright outlook — if not always a command of the facts — he became a popular figure around the country to the delight of his White House bosses.

He served just 17 months as press secretary, a tenure interrupted by his second bout with cancer. In 2005 doctors had removed his colon and he began six months of chemotherapy. In March 2007 a cancerous growth was removed from his abdominal area and he spent five weeks recuperating before returning to the White House.

He resigned as Bush’s chief spokesman 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. In April, he joined CNN as a commentator.

In that year and a half at the White House, Snow brought partisan zeal and the skills of a seasoned performer to the task of explaining and defending the president’s policies. During daily briefings, he challenged reporters, scolded them and questioned their motives as if he were starring in a TV show broadcast live from the West Wing.

Snow’s tenure as White House press secretary only seemed to increase his political rock star status: he was a highly sought after speaker, and once he left the White House he was a big name if he appeared on talk shows.

Snow will likely be missed for several reasons. For one thing, it’s hard to find partisans on either side of the aisle these days who truly seem to have FUN with politics. The death of NBC’s Tim Russert took away a media figure who also seemed to enjoy the give or take of a process that to many seems increasingly unsavory. For another, the Republicans don’t seem to have many “happy warrior” partisans anymore but, rather, angry media faces. If the White House had to put its best face forward, Snow was a smart and as effective as possible choice.

More reaction from political weblogs is HERE.

For more perspective on Snow, read this TMV post:
Cancer Survivor White House Tony Snow’s Special Perspective

UPDATE: Several emails from bloggers and readers express shock that upon the news of the death of Snow — a human being — some people have to continue ideological wars, almost welcoming his death. Such is politics in the 21st century where the politics of compassion, joy and consensus have been denigrated by many who think if you disagree on policies you have to hate.

But NOT ALL feel or react that way.

1. Read The All Spin Zone on Tony Snow.

2. Read The Gun Toting Liberal