Courtesy of Thomas Dunne Books 
 
 The big bombshell from the new biography of “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart seems to be that the Comedy Central funnyman has a big old mean streak. 
 
 But beyond the yelling-at-staff revelations in “Angry Optimist: The Life and Times of Jon Stewart,” which debuted last week, author Lisa Rogak also offers a little behind-the-scenes dish on some of Stewart’s political tangles. 
 
 Since it’s always got to be about us (hey, Washington is like that) here are a few D.C.-centric takeaways: 
 
 — Stewart seemed to blind-side the hosts of CNN’s “Crossfire” when he appeared on the show in 2004 and famously drubbed them for “hurting America.” But the hosts and producers should have seen it coming, Rogak reveals. Co-host Paul Begala was “the first person to have a clue” that Stewart was in attack mode, she writes. When Begala met the comedian in the green room, “he thought Stewart’s demeanor seemed off in some regard.” 
 
 And she claims the producers themselves had warning signs that should have alerted them that their guest wasn’t going to do the funny banter they hoped. “In the weeks leading up to his Crossfire appearance, Stewart had appeared on several shows — including NPR’s Fresh Air—touting these same ideas as a warm-up.” 
 
 —While Stewart might not be the cuddliest of bosses, he does allow employees one adorable perk: they’re encouraged to bring their dogs to work. The pups help guests “feel more at ease before they head out in front of the camera for a segment with Jon. When Senator Barack Obama made his first appearance on the show, he immediately sprawled on the floor to commune with the dogs.” Aww. 
 
 — In 2004, then-presidential candidates John Kerry and Howard Dean tried to duck out of scheduled appearances on the show. When the campaigns agreed to the appearances, Dean was ahead of Kerry. But by the time the shoot date arrived, Kerry had pulled ahead. “When Colbert showed up… Kerry was nowhere in sight. He’s suddenly shot ahead of Dean in the polls by eight points, and instead of the campaign bus crammed full of reporters and staffers, Kerry started to travel by helicopter and forgot about the interview. ‘The Dean people are in full panic mode and don’t want to talk to anybody,’ said Colbert.” 
 
 Read more Reliable Source: ||||| 1 of 26 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Jon Stewart leaves ‘The Daily Show’ View Photos After 16 years on ‘The Daily Show,’ Jon Stewart has departed. Caption After 16 years on ‘The Daily Show,’ Jon Stewart has departed. Nov. 30, 2011 Jon Stewart is seen on stage during a taping of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" in New York. Brad Barket/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 UPDATED: 
 
 Jon Stewart, who pushed political comedy into a new realm with a show that relayed news by parodying the news, will leave “The Daily Show” later this year after 16 years at the helm, Comedy Central announced Tuesday night. 
 
 To a younger generation of viewers who stopped watching network news, his late-night “fake” news show — which particularly delighted in skewering politicians and the media — made him a trusted messenger to millions. 
 
 [Here’s how Jon Stewart told “The Daily Show" audience he’s stepping down] 
 
 Since its launch with Stewart as host — he took over the program in 1999 from Craig Kilborn — “The Daily Show” has routinely racked up awards. It won the outstanding variety series Emmy for 10 years in a row. 
 
 Stewart, 52, who often emphasized that he is a comedian rather than a news anchor, truly made his mark during the 2000 presidential election with his “Indecision 2000” coverage of the George W. Bush and Al Gore recount in Florida. Afterward, everything on the show clicked, and Stewart emerged as the star of the comedy network — especially during the Bush administration, when the stentorian and seemingly exasperated host would take on the policies of Bush, vice president Dick Cheney and defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. 
 
 Stewart broke the news of his departure to his audience during the show’s taping in New York. Almost immediately on social media, the tweets started from people who witnessed the announcement. One of them was David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Obama: 
 
 Just had the honor of being the great Jon Stewart's guest on @TheDailyShow, where he announced he's leaving. Emotional night. #jonstewart — David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) February 11, 2015 
 
 Over the years, Stewart’s team of deadpan “correspondents” also became comedy stars, including Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Steve Carell, Larry Wilmore, Ed Helms, Samantha Bee and Jason Jones. Colbert went on to star on “The Colbert Report” for nearly a decade before departing in December to take over for late-night veteran David Letterman on CBS. 
 
 [Jon Stewart’s hardest truth – The time has come to wrap up the joke] 
 
 “The Daily Show’s” steady rise coincided with the popularity of Internet video, as clips from Stewart’s broadcast frequently circulated on the Web the following day. They often featured him mocking the 24-hour cable news cycle, and he became known for taking aim at Fox News Channel and CNN. As such, Stewart became a serious pundit in his own right — albeit one who amply punctuated his commentary with expletives. 
 
 “Jon has been at the heart of Comedy Central, championing and nurturing the best talent in the industry, in front of and behind the camera,” the network said in a statement Tuesday. “Through his unique voice and vision, ‘The Daily Show’ has become a cultural touchstone for millions of fans and an unparalleled platform for political comedy that will endure for years to come.” 
 
 A darling of liberals, Stewart made headlines for his ongoing self-proclaimed “feud” with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly, which culminated in a live debate called “The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium” in 2012. 
 
 Stewart’s impact could also be measured off-screen. His 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington brought hundreds of thousands to the Mall to see Stewart and his fellow Comedy Central star Colbert take the stage and encourage people to participate in politics and civil discourse despite the seemingly hopeless partisan gridlock in Washington. 
 
 [Act Four: Pop culture needs Jon Stewart now more than ever] 
 
 As for “The Daily Show,” some suspected that Stewart’s departure appeared imminent last summer when he took three months off to direct a feature film, “Rosewater,” about journalist Maziar Bahari’s imprisonment in Iran. 
 
 In an interview with The Washington Post in November, Stewart wouldn’t discuss future career plans other than joking that they included “a nap.” He also dismissed the suggestion that he would run for political office, and laughingly shot down the idea that people — even those who see him as a trusted figure — would vote for him. 
 
 “You don’t know that,” he said, “except in the way that people would vote for a second-string quarterback to take over for the first-string quarterback if they are feeling frustration at their team’s goals.” 
 
 The specific timing of Stewart’s departure was not announced. The network statement said only that the host would leave “later this year.” His contract expires in the fall. 
 
 Losing a marquee host is a tough loss for Comedy Central, though the statement made sure to note that the program — which regularly attracts about a million viewers a night — “will endure for years to come.” 
 
 It is the latest in a long line of changes in the Comedy Central late-night lineup. Besides Colbert’s departure, John Oliver — who at one point appeared to be Stewart’s likely successor — also left last year to host the breakout hit “Last Week Tonight” on HBO. Larry Wilmore, also a potential hosting option as a “Daily Show” standout, recently started his own “Nightly Show” on the network, replacing Colbert. 
 
 [Why Jon Stewart and Brian Williams should just switch jobs] 
 
 Here’s Comedy Central’s full statement: 
 
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– Jon Stewart took over as host of the Daily Show in January 1999, but when did the program truly start becoming the Daily Show that legions of fans would come to love? Try December of that year, when Steve Carell boarded John McCain's campaign bus "and changed the entire trajectory" of the show, writes Chris Smith at Vanity Fair. The article is a fascinating oral history of the show's beginning that includes interviews with Stewart, Carell, Stephen Colbert, and pretty much everyone involved. The first year was rough for Stewart as he fought with the holdover writing staff from previous host Craig Kilborn and sought to put his stamp on the show. Things came together in that Carell interview, in which he peppers McCain with softball questions, then springs a policy zinger. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Carell says, "I was just kidding! I don’t even know what that means!" And the tense moment subsides. (See the clip.) Carell: "It was making fun of a gotcha moment. And I think that a lot of what we do on The Daily Show is making fun of journalistic tropes, and I think that was one of them." Head writer Ben Karlin: "I remember seeing it in the editing room. I remember Jon called me down, and seeing it and thinking, Yeah, this is what we should be doing. This is the goal. It was one of Carell’s most incredible moments. He asks McCain a question in a way that no journalists were talking to the candidates. And it was like, Oh s---, we are able, in this weird, unintentional way, to add a level of insight to the process that doesn’t exist. That was really, really exciting." Click for the full piece, in which Stewart talks about how that 2000 campaign provided his "aha moment" of how to present the show—by "deconstructing the process."