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Mark Shields, a former campaign manager who became one of Washington’s most respected political commentators, both a unionized columnist and a brilliant liberal counterpart of several conservative sparring partners on PBS NewsHour, died on June 18 in his Chevy Chase home, Maryland. he was 85.
The cause was kidney disease, said his daughter, Amy Doyle.
Mr. Shields spent more than a decade working on Capitol Hill and running Democratic political campaigns before commenting in 1979, when he joined the editorial board of The Washington Post. He soon became a nationally syndicated columnist and a regular presence on television panel programs, and eventually spent 33 years as a commentator on what is now PBS NewsHour.
The Wall Street Journal said that Mr. Shields was one of the “most ingenious political journalists in America” and “often the most forceful, just, and thoughtful.”
He was, by his own admission, a traditional Massachusetts liberal in the mold of one of his political heroes, Senator Robert F. Kennedy (DN.Y.). He helped organize Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign, which was gaining momentum before Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles in June 1968.
From then on, Mr. Shields tended to view politics with a touch of sad remorse. He often thought that if Kennedy had been elected he would have become the most inspiring and transformative president of a generation. Instead, Mr. Shields allowed himself to be measured by the aspirations and achievements of later generations of political figures, usually exposing his views with a bewildered sense of humor, rubbed with the disappointment of reality.
Despite his liberal tendencies, he was one of the first experts to predict Ronald Reagan’s victory over incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980.
At different points in his career, Mr. Shields was paired with conservative commentators Robert Novak, David Gergen, Paul Gigot, and New York Times columnist David Brooks for nearly 20 years. Mr. Shields interviewed Republican lawmakers and Democrats on the air, and in an increasingly rare show of bipartisan camaraderie, he remained on friendly terms with almost everyone, even after sometimes heated political disagreements.
In 2012, he and Brooks received the first prize for “civility in public life,” presented by Allegheny College. Accepting the honor, Mr. Shields said his impartial approach was encouraged in “NewsHour,” first by hosts Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer and later by Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill.
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He said he wanted to remember that “in every discussion the person on the other side probably loves their country as much as you love our country; that they care as much about the future of their children and grandchildren as you do; that they treasure the truth as much as you; and don’t demonize anyone on the other side. “
This is a developing story. A complete obituary will follow.