Russert had all the major U.S. players of the Iraq war on his show, in his so-called "hot seat." Starting very early in the build-up to the war.

Sadly, his abdication of journalistic duty was perhaps more glaring, more serious, and more catastrophic than that of any other journalist.

That is the unfortunate legacy. Not all on Russert's shoulders, to be sure, but one that should be remembered by journalists, students, scholars and politicians for hundreds of years to come.