How's Your Faith by David Gregory

Author:David Gregory
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

CHAPTER 6

Humility

Who Would You Be if You Lost Your Job?

How do you tell your children you’ve lost your job? That’s a question I asked myself many times after things began to get bad with NBC in the spring and summer of 2014.

First some background. Let’s start with inauguration weekend, 2009. Barack Obama was about to be sworn in as America’s first black president, and Washington was bustling with preparations and parties. On Meet the Press that Sunday, I talked to President-elect Obama’s incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, about the big challenges Obama had inherited—economic turmoil and a multifront war on terror. And then I brought in a political round table to discuss whether President Obama would be able to live up to the high expectations.

It was a fun time to be settling into my new role. I’d just come on as moderator six weeks prior, and there was a satisfying symmetry to starting my new role while a new president was being sworn in, especially because I had covered the White House throughout Bush’s eight-year tenure.

After the show, Beth and I went down to an inauguration brunch that MSNBC was throwing near the White House. As we walked to the event, a couple of people leaned out of a car and yelled at me on the street, “Hey, David, love you! Love watching the show! Congratulations!” I waved back, feeling grateful if somewhat self-conscious about the new level of attention I was receiving. For her part, Beth found it hilarious. She couldn’t help but poke a little fun at me. She looked at me and said sarcastically, “Wow, it’s amazing how much better-looking and popular you’ve become since you got the job.”

“And how much of a better journalist!” I added, laughing.

Moderator of Meet the Press was a lofty perch to occupy, at a difficult time to take it on. I was succeeding Tim Russert, a man beloved by America. Because of his stature, there had been a great deal of intrigue about who would follow Tim on the show. Tom Brokaw even made an allusion to that at Tim’s memorial service at the Kennedy Center in June 2008, when fifteen hundred people gathered to say goodbye. In his opening tribute, Tom said that the assembled crowd included family, friends, “and the largest group—those who think they should be his successor on Meet the Press.” That got a big laugh.

I came into the job feeling plenty of pressure to live up to the standard Tim had set for the show. I was euphoric about the opportunity and excited about what I could do with the show. I was also aware that the effusive attention was a benefit that came with the job. That was why Beth and I laughed as we walked to the brunch that inauguration weekend: Yes, I had been given this platform, but it was important to remember that in no way did that mean I was now the smartest journalist in Washington or the most destined to succeed.

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