Bill Monroe, Former "Meet The Press'" Host, Dies

WASHINGTON – Bill Monroe, who hosted the long-running Washington political
television show "Meet the Press" for nearly a decade, died Thursday at a
Washington-area nursing home.

Monroe, 90, was the NBC show's fourth moderator, from 1975 to 1984, and
interviewed prominent political figures ranging from President Jimmy Carter
to U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Tim Russert, the best known host
of "Meet the Press," assumed the host's chair in 1991 after a series of
short stints by others following Monroe's departure.

Monroe's daughter, Lee Monroe, said he her father had taken a fall in
December that put him in a nursing home and had not been well since.

Bill Monroe was born in New Orleans on July 17, 1920. He graduated from
Tulane University, served in World War II and later began his career in
television journalism the New Orleans NBC affiliate, WDSU.

In 1961 he moved to Washington, where he became NBC's bureau chief. He
worked on the "Today Show," winning the Peabody Award in 1972, and succeeded
Lawrence Spivak as host of "Meet the Press" in 1975.

On his first day as the show's permanent moderator he interviewed Gov.
George Wallace of Alabama, the staunch segregationist who was at the time
running for President.

"Have you personally changed your views about segregation?," Monroe asked.

When Wallace didn't respond directly, Monroe cut him off and repeated the
question. Wallace began to stumble through his next response, and Monroe
asked a third time: "Have your views changed?"

Wallace finally claimed that race relations were better in Alabama than
other parts of the country.

Marvin Kalb, who with Roger Mudd co-hosted "Meet the Press" after Monroe
left, called him a "consummate interviewer" and a "gracious host."

"I think fairness was the word that would best describe him as host," Kalb
said.