Robin Toner reported on many top political issues

Published 4:00 am Sunday, December 14, 2008

Robin Toner, who was the first woman to be the national political correspondent of The New York Times and who had a significant hand in the coverage of five presidential elections, innumerable congressional and gubernatorial campaigns, and the great legislative debates of the day, died early Friday at her home in Washington. She was 54.

The cause was complications of colon cancer, her family said.

In a career of nearly 25 years at The Times, and in an age of increasing specialization among reporters, Toner wrote authoritatively on almost every domestic issue, whether it was taxes, welfare, Social Security, immigration or health care policy.