September 12, 2007

Tony Snow Holds Final WH Press Briefing

White House press secretary Tony Snow gave his final televised press briefing today.

Snow, 52, has enjoyed a warmer relationship with the press corps than either of his predecessors, Scott McClellan or Ari Fleischer. As a former journalist, he's displayed an understanding of the needs of the press, and the consensus in the White House press corps is that he's just a very likable guy.

"I love these briefings and I'm really going to miss them," Snow told the room as he opened the 12:30 session. Snow, who is battling a second round of cancer, added, "Life will continue, including for me."

Snow's departure is not unusual for an administration official at this juncture in a president's second term. The former "FOX News Sunday" host also hinted earlier that he would have to remedy the steep pay cut that came with his job, presumably because of his three young children.

Today's briefing was dominated by sharp questioning over the new report on the situation in Iraq, and punctuated with the joking and playful jabbing that's become a trademark of Snow's exchanges with reporters.

Snow's first attempt to wrap up the briefing was met with howls of protest. After reporters convinced him to stick around a bit longer, Snow quipped: "This will be an open-ended commitment." When he finally did close up, reporters gave him a standing ovation. The first reporter Snow stepped down to say a personal farewell to was White House veteran Helen Thomas, whose barbed questioning of the Bush administration has inspired some of the livelier exchanges in the briefing room.

We'll have more from the briefing later this afternoon.

Posted at 1:38 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, President Bush, Tony Snow
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