Martin, Calderone and Allen: Remembering Robert D. Novak
[Jonathan Martin, Michael Calderone and Mike Allen are writers for Politico]
Robert Novak, one of Washington's most influential political journalists of the past half-century, died Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 78. ... He began his famed column 'Inside Report' with Rowland Evans in 1963, continuing as a duo until the latter's retirement in 1993. Novak kept the column going until he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in July 2008. Outside the Beltway, Novak was a familiar face to millions who watched him on CNN's political chat shows like 'Crossfire' and 'The Capital Gang.' ... 'He was wrong on everything, but we had such incredible fun,' Al Hunt recalled wryly, a catch in his voice. ... Novak was prolific. He and Evans liked to include at least one new fact in each of their columns - and for a time that meant five days a week. In addition to the column, the duo churned out the 'Evans and Novak Political Report,' an inside dope newsletter that was the forerunner to the many electoral handicapping sheets that now exist. ...
'Serving as a source helped win protection - a Washington fact of life Novak embarrassingly copped to in his book - but as the years went on he became more ideological and less concerned about not offending those who fed him news items. In his early days, Novak was a Rockefeller Republican. But he moved right on both fiscal and national security issues during the Cold War and as the New Right began to take off in the late '70s. He would also grow more staunchly conservative on social issues, and was inspired in part by his wife, Geraldine, to be more outspoken against abortion. ... In 2003, after publishing the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, Novak found himself in the glare of an intense spotlight. ... A federal investigation into the outing ultimately ensnared some of journalism's biggest names, leading eventually to the conviction of former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, whose sentence was later commuted by then-President George W. Bush. ...
'Kate O'Beirne, Washington editor of National Review, visited Novak at home about a week ago and said he was 'infirm but alert enough to enjoy a visit. .... Maybe there's a lesson here: He wasn't that interested in current events. He had been on top of everything, minute to minute. But he was more interested in going and talking about things that happened to him years ago, experiences he had in Illinois, events that had shaped his opinions.' Executive editor Fred Barnes, writing on the Weekly Standard's website, said ... 'It's not too much to call Novak journalism's last honest man in Washington.'
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Robert Novak, one of Washington's most influential political journalists of the past half-century, died Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 78. ... He began his famed column 'Inside Report' with Rowland Evans in 1963, continuing as a duo until the latter's retirement in 1993. Novak kept the column going until he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in July 2008. Outside the Beltway, Novak was a familiar face to millions who watched him on CNN's political chat shows like 'Crossfire' and 'The Capital Gang.' ... 'He was wrong on everything, but we had such incredible fun,' Al Hunt recalled wryly, a catch in his voice. ... Novak was prolific. He and Evans liked to include at least one new fact in each of their columns - and for a time that meant five days a week. In addition to the column, the duo churned out the 'Evans and Novak Political Report,' an inside dope newsletter that was the forerunner to the many electoral handicapping sheets that now exist. ...
'Serving as a source helped win protection - a Washington fact of life Novak embarrassingly copped to in his book - but as the years went on he became more ideological and less concerned about not offending those who fed him news items. In his early days, Novak was a Rockefeller Republican. But he moved right on both fiscal and national security issues during the Cold War and as the New Right began to take off in the late '70s. He would also grow more staunchly conservative on social issues, and was inspired in part by his wife, Geraldine, to be more outspoken against abortion. ... In 2003, after publishing the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, Novak found himself in the glare of an intense spotlight. ... A federal investigation into the outing ultimately ensnared some of journalism's biggest names, leading eventually to the conviction of former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, whose sentence was later commuted by then-President George W. Bush. ...
'Kate O'Beirne, Washington editor of National Review, visited Novak at home about a week ago and said he was 'infirm but alert enough to enjoy a visit. .... Maybe there's a lesson here: He wasn't that interested in current events. He had been on top of everything, minute to minute. But he was more interested in going and talking about things that happened to him years ago, experiences he had in Illinois, events that had shaped his opinions.' Executive editor Fred Barnes, writing on the Weekly Standard's website, said ... 'It's not too much to call Novak journalism's last honest man in Washington.'