Cancer Changes Tony Snow's Perspective

Sept. 13, 2007 — -- As press secretary Tony Snow entered the White House briefing room for the final time Wednesday, journalists applauded him.

The praise quickly gave way to the familiar barrage of questions from a sometimes hostile press corps for Snow, who announced earlier this summer he would leave his position to devote more time to fight his colon cancer.

It was Snow's 133rd press briefing and he answered more than 60 questions in less than 30 minutes before giving a heartfelt goodbye. Friday will be his final day as press secretary.

President Bush announced the 52-year-old would be his third press secretary in April 2006. Prior to the position, Snow was the host of the "Tony Snow Show" on Fox News Radio and "Weekend Live With Tony Snow" on the Fox News Channel.

Snow said if he could go back and give himself advice, he would say "lighten up and have fun" with the new position.

And during his 16 months in the position, he learned to do just that, sometimes at reporters' expense.

But as Snow continued to learn his way around the press corps, he discovered in March that a cancer diagnosis would interrupt his tenure. In August, he announced he was stepping down as the White House's spokesman.

"I'm leaving because of family finances," Snow said.

Snow makes $168,000 a year as press secretary, which is about 3.5 times the median household income in the country, but he can (and did) make considerably more in the private sector.

Snow said he took out a loan in order to make up for the significant salary cut that came with taking the White House job.

"You know, we had bills to pay, and we had financial commitments," he said. "And we took out a loan … and we covered those commitments for a while. And now I've got to [go] back and provide for my family."

Yet Snow wanted people to know he was doing well while fighting the disease.

"Everybody was saying, 'Come on. Look at you. You don't look as good as you used to,'" he said. "I feel great, but it is one of these things where it's natural to assume that somebody who's leaving is doing it [because] they're sick. … I'm going off into the sunset, [but it's] just the opposite, because this is going to be the exciting time for me."