President Joe Biden remembered Howard Fineman, HuffPost’s former global editor and a writer for Newsweek during the height of its success, as “one of the great journalists of our time” in a statement released Thursday.

Fineman died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer.

Fineman was a prolific journalist who covered politics in Washington for decades as a print reporter, television commentator and, while at HuffPost, an editor at the forefront of digital journalism. Biden’s statement acknowledged the overlap in his and Fineman’s careers, and highlighted not only the journalist’s “ability to tell a great story,” but his work as a “true friend and mentor to countless colleagues.”

Sam Stein — Politico’s deputy managing editor for politics who, as a former HuffPost senior politics editor, was one of those colleagues — remembered Fineman as “righteous about the right things and dogged in the right ways.”

Biden wrote and called Fineman before his death, and former President George W. Bush had also called.

Read Biden’s full statement on Fineman below:

Great journalists hold a mirror up to the Nation to reveal the good, the bad, and the truth of who we are as Americans. For four decades, Howard Fineman was one of the great journalists of our time.

His career covered much of mine, and throughout the debates over big issues and historic campaigns, I respected his reporting and insights whether I agreed or disagreed with him.

Where I believe all politics is personal, Howard believed all journalism is personal. No matter the issue or who he was interviewing, he always thought about the people he grew up with in his cherished Pittsburgh, or where he first started as a reporter in Louisville.

He understood the fundamental role of journalism in our democracy is to illuminate, educate, and shed light. With his focus on the facts and ability to tell a great story, it’s no surprise why Howard was a trusted and respected voice for millions of Americans, and true friend and mentor to countless colleagues.

Above all, in the decades we knew each other, it was clear that his love of family was the greatest story he ever told. Jill and I send our love to Amy and their children Nick and Meredith. We know what it’s like when cancer takes away the life of a beloved family member. But no matter where you are, he will always be with you.