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By Erick Posted in The White House — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sadly, Tony Snow leaves the White House today for the last time as Press Secretary. He was a great Press Secretary and he will be deeply missed. I wanted to re-post the interview Tony conducted with me last October as we all wish both he and his family well. — Erick

Tony Snow went from being a speech writer in President George H. W. Bush's White House to the world of journalism and Fox News. Then, this year, he returned to the White House to serve as the current President Bush's Press Secretary -- a job he says is a blast.

In the world of politics, Tony Snow is both a humble, genuine person, and a rock star. In fact, so popular is Tony Snow, he headed out this weekend onto the campaign trail to help Republicans -- something no other press secretary has done. "This is not something I anticipated doing," he said. "I'm not going to be out calling out Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi or any other senior Democrat. Instead what I'm going to do is talk factually and positively about what the President is doing." Snow will generally be speaking to volunteers, getting them motivated as we head into the final weeks.

During our conversation, I asked Tony why the New York Times and other media organizations, that helped undermine our national security through leaks, still have access to the White House. His response makes good sense. First, he pointed out that the reporters from the New York Times who cover the White House did not write the damaging stories. Then he said, "We think a couple of those stories on the terrorist surveillance program . . . were not helpful in fighting the war . . . and frankly went against what newspapers have done in times of war, which is to try to defend national security." Snow also said that if the reporters who covered the White House did not have access to the White House, they'd still cover the White House, just without the White House's perspective on things.

And what's it like to work in the White House? Tony Snow says it is a blast. The atmosphere is collegial and the President encourages everyone's input and debate. He also says he has more time now with his family then he did when he worked at Fox. But, he says he feels no guilt for causing "Brian and the Judge" to be inflicted on humanity. He holds both Brian Kilmeade and the judge in high regard.

In the course of our interview, I asked Tony Snow about his family, his battle with cancer, and about working in the White House. Tony Snow also shed some helpful light on the leaking of the National Intelligence Estimate. We're pleased to welcome Tony Snow and, through him, the White House, into the blogosphere.

or listen here:

You can download the interview here.