WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- David Broder, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist known as the dean of the Washington press corps, has died, his family said Wednesday.
The Washington Post said its scribe was 81 when he died of complications related to diabetes.
U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement saying he and his wife Michelle "were deeply saddened" to hear about the death of a "true giant of journalism."
"David filed his first story from our nation's capital before starting as a junior political writer on the 1960 presidential election," Obama said. "In the decades that followed, he built a well-deserved reputation as the most respected and incisive political commentator of his generation -- winning a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Watergate and earning the affectionate title of dean of the Washington press corps."
The president went on to say, "Through all his success, David remained an eminently kind and gracious person, and someone we will dearly miss.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this difficult time," Obama said.
House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland also lauded Broder as an "esteemed journalist."
"For decades, David brought our country a wealth of fair and evenhanded reporting, analysis, and commentary -- work that was valued for its insights on both sides of the aisle," Hoyer said in a statement. "His tireless work to keep the public informed, and his contributions to American journalism, will be sorely missed."
