NBC Meet the Press

Meet the Press is an American television show focused on politics, foreign policy, and economic issues. A moderator interviews high-level government, business, academic, and other thought leaders about the most pressing issues of the day. The one-hour program airs on Sunday mornings on the NBC network, and is the longest running television show in history. It first aired during the very early years of television, on November 6, 1947, after starting out as a radio program in 1945. Every US president since John F. Kennedy has appeared on the prestigious news show, though Ronald Reagan was a guest before he won the presidency. Every vice president since Alben Barkley has gone on the show, as has every Secretary of State since John Foster Dulles and every Secretary of Defense since Robert McNamara. Notable foreign heads of state who have visited the show over the years include Golda Meir, Fidel Castro, Anwar el-Sadat, Tony Blair, Indira Gandhi, and Pervez Musharraf. The show has had a number of moderators over the years, starting with Martha Rountree in 1947 and ending with the current moderator, former NBC News correspondent David Gregory. The longest serving moderator was the very popular Tim Russert, who led the show from 1991 until 2008, when he unexpectedly passed away from a coronary thrombosis while recording voiceovers for the show. Russert, known for his tenacious interview style, is widely credited with improving Meet the Press and making it essentially a proving ground for politicians. Meet the Press garners consistently high viewer ratings, not only for the quality of its moderators and guests, but because the one-hour format allows for something rarely seen on television: extended, in-depth interviews with national and global leaders. The show also features roundtable discussions among well-known journalists and political pundits. Most recently that list has included former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, and author Jon Meacham, among others.