Tony Snow

American journalist and Press Secretary to President George W. Bush from May 8, 2006. He began his career as a journalist and was the original host of Fox Sunday News show (1996-2003) and editor of the conservative Washington Times editorial page (1987-1991). Earning $1.7 million when he was tapped in April 2006 to be Bush's press secretary, he quickly showed his newscaster training. He can be off-the-cuff with reporters under a strict "on-message" regime and get away with it. He went on the campaign trail for the Republican Party in 2006, headlining 17 fund raisers for Republican Party candidates in mid-term elections. This was his second stint in the White House, having worked as a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. He began his journalism career in Greensboro, NC in 1979, working as an editorial writer, taking on assignments for better known newspapers such as The Detroit News and The Washington Times. A frequent visitor to news talk and opinion shows such as The McLaughlin Group, Face The Nation and Good Morning America, he showed himself to be at ease and articulate in front of the camera as well as in the news room. In 2003 he originated the Tony Snow Show on Fox News. The son of a teacher and a nurse, he was only 17 when his mother died of colon cancer in 1973. After college graduation in 1977 he taught physics and geography in Kenya, was a substitute teacher in Cincinnati, and was an advocate for the disabled before he landed his first job in the newspaper business in 1979. He married Jill Ellen Walker in 1987 and they have three children. In February 2005, he revealed that he, like his mother, had been diagnosed with colon cancer. After two months of treatment and recuperation he returned to work. In late March 2007 he was diagnosed with a small growth in his lower abdomen but was confident it wasn't cancerous. Blood tests had shown no sign of the disease. He underwent surgery on March 26, 2007 to remove the growth and doctors found that cancer had indeed returned and had spread to his liver. This March, he underwent surgery to remove a growth in his abdominal area, near the site of the original colon cancer. Doctors determined it was a recurrence of his cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and after five weeks returned to his White House position. On August 31, 2007, Snow announced his resignation from his White House post, effective September 14, 2007. Snow said he needed to make more than the $180,000 per year salary in order to support his family. He died on July 12, 2008 (at 2 AM local time according to Fox News spokesperson) at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC. Link to Wikipedia biography