SelectPlusFormer Bush Spokesman Tony Snow Dies at 53Former Bush Spokesman Tony Snow Dies at 53The Associated PressFox News is reporting that conservative commentator and former White House press secretary Tony Snow has died of cancer. He was 53. (July 12)He was President Bush's third press secretary, brought in to revitalize a second-term administration increasingly unpopular and off message. Tony Snow brought to the job the credentials of a journalist, and the polish of a TV star.BUSH SOT: "Tony already knows most of you and he's agreed to take the job anyway. And i'm really glad he did." And the former conservative pundit took it despite being fresh off a bout with colon cancer.(From 5/16/06 tape, choking up) SNOW SOT: ..having gone through this last year and I said this to Chris Wallace was the best thing that ever happen to me. (File footage Snow walking, etc.) A natural wordsmith, Snow defended Bush policies with gusto -- and clearly relished the cut and thrust of his daily meetings with reporters. SNOW SOT: "The Palestinians have not been bankrupted Helen. As you know Hamas is a terrorist organisation, we do not give money to terrorist organisations. (stills) Snow was an editorial writer when he first came to the White House -- to write speeches for Bush's father.(file footage Fox News Sunday) But most Americans got to know HIM through TV -- as the genial but acerbic host of Fox News Sunday.(Back to file At the White House podium, Snow was an unflinching Bush booster.(Nat sound band playing) But away from it, he was a devout family man, who cut loose playing flute with a rock band.(Back to briefing room announcement) And his TIME at the podium was fleeting. Ten months after starting, his cancer was back... SNOW: SOT (12:43) "We have found a small growth in my lower abdomen ... Aides were in tears, reporters stunned... SNOW: SOT (12:43) And I'll miss you each and every day. Especially when I'm sore and filled up with drugs."(Snow and Perino) Snow eventually handed the job to his deputy, Dana Perino, but not before telling a banquet of White House correspondents Washington's NOT the snake pit it's cracked up to be. SNOW SOT: it's a SMALL TOWN WHERE WE'RE QUITE OFTEN BOUND TOGETHER BY EXTRODINARY EXPERIENCES AND THE UNIQUE OF HONOR OF SITTING AT A SEAT OF GOVERNMENT OF A NATION THAT NOT ONLY REMAKES HISTORY BUT DEFINES WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A GOOD COUNTRY. Looking out at the great and the good that evening, he offered this advice: if you see someone in need, do some good, and "pass it on." MS, AP, the White House
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