Here is just an example of Novak's insight and influence from Ken Tomilson at Human Events:Take the Evans-Novak column that ran under the title “the Sonnenfeldt Doctrine” in the early spring of 1976. When I finished reading it, I remember thinking, this is quintessential Bob Novak ... State Department Counselor Helmut Sonnenfeldt had told a London gathering of American ambassadors that Soviet domination of Eastern Europe was actually necessary for world peace. In fact, Poland was a good example of the benefits of Soviet control because that had enabled the Poles to overcome their “romantic” political instincts which had led to so many “disasters in their past.”
This column had almost everything. Those words were contained in an official State Department cable slipped to Novak by a highly placed source. Henry Kissinger’s right-hand man was confirming that détente was code for Communist victory over freedom. Within days, candidate Ronald Reagan who was challenging President Ford in Republican primaries, declared the Sonnenfeldt Doctrine meant “slaves should accept their fate.”
Here's what other people are saying:
" Bob Novak was the finest reporter-columnist of his generation. Often, I have said that, were I an editor of a newspaper and could carry but one column, it would be Novak's. He was a reporter's reporter whose column invariably carried information no one else had gotten. He was passionate about his craft, about his convictions and, following his conversion to Catholicism, about his Church. While I have known Bob for more than 40 years, ever since our days together on "The McLaughlin Group" and CNN's "Crossfire" -- both of which began in 1982 -- and later, "Capitol Gang," we have been good friends. And a more reliable friend in time of need one could not find. About Novak there was nothing artificial or synthetic. His death leaves a hole in our lives and our hearts. My wife Shelley and I will miss our dinners at Bethany and Fenwick Island with Bob and Geraldine. May he rest in peace."
"Bob’s sheer journalistic integrity was a thing to behold. When I served as Speaker Newt Gingrich’s press secretary, we never got a single break from Bob — nor a single inaccurate word of reporting or analysis. How much Washington reporting today could use Bob Novak’s impeccable integrity and diligent reporting. What a loss to the public debate."
"Bob Novak was an honest reporter who consistently exposed the truth about politics, policy, and political personnel. He will be sorely missed."
"I was an intern for Mr. Novak with the National Journalism Center after college. He terrified me, but I got to see the master in action. After working with him, I could understand how he got anyone to talk, which made him a reporter like no other.
As his guest at the Gridiron Dinner a few years ago, I was telling him how I avoided getting to know politicians, so that I could attack them if circumstances required. He got a twinkle in his eye and said, "Oh that makes it more fun!"
Rest in Peace, Bob Novak."
"Most people know the late Sun-Times columnist Robert D. Novak, who died this morning [Tuesday] from complications of a brain tumor, as a journalist. And indeed he was among the best this country has produced. Simply stated, Bob was a relentless reporter. His political columns were marked by his determination to dig out new information, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and Washington secrets to tell us something we didn’t know. He combined that with sharp analysis, insightful commentary and passion about the issues facing the nation to emerge as a brawling contestant in the great national debates of his era.
Firmly planted in the print world with his widely read syndicated thrice-a-week column, Bob also was an innovator in the electronic media. With the CNN programs “Capital Gang” and “Crossfire,” Bob pioneered the brash, no-holds-barred public affairs programming so familiar to viewers of cable news television today.
But more than that, his contributions to the great debates of the day demonstrated that Bob was someone who thought deeply about his country, its system of government and the challenges both faced."
