Seth Udinski, FISM News

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Rush Limbaugh, the brash and beloved radio personality who pioneered conservative political talk radio for three decades at the turn of the 21st century, died Wednesday after a year-long struggle with lung cancer.  He was 70 years old.

Beginning in 1988, Limbaugh hosted “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” becoming one of the most recognized voices in conservative media.   Limbaugh’s wife Kathryn praised her husband as “an extraordinary man, a gentle giant, brilliant, quick-witted, genuinely kind, extremely generous, passionate, courageous and the hardest-working person I know.” Limbaugh was a champion of American exceptionalism during a time when the vast majority in U.S. media would be delighted to watch America fall.  He continued to host his show through the end of 2020, months after he was diagnosed with cancer in February of 2020.

For the first time since leaving office, President Donald Trump spoke on live television, praising the life and legacy of Rush Limbaugh during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday:

"His fight was very, very courageous and he was very, very sick…He was fighting until the very end. He was a fighter."

Former President Donald Trump spoke with Rush Limbaugh "three or four days" before the radio host's death. pic.twitter.com/ewesGb1R9I

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 17, 2021

President Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the 2020 State of the Union Address, one day after Limbaugh’s diagnosis became public.  And in 2003, he received a personal letter of thanks from President Ronald Reagan.  President Reagan said to Limbaugh,

Thanks for all you’re doing to promote Republican and conservative principles….I know the liberals call you ‘the most dangerous man in America,’ but don’t worry about it, they used to say the same thing about me. Keep up the good work.  America needs to hear the way things ought to be.

Limbaugh is survived by his wife, Kathryn.