Now the man Bush nicknamed the Architect is done.
The official announcement of Rove’s resignation came Monday morning. In a White House press conference with Bush, Rove said he was leaving to spend more time with his family. “It’s not been an easy decision,” Rove said, his voice quivering at times. “But now is the time.”
Word of Rove’s resignation broke early Monday morning when the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page published an interview with Rove conducted over the weekend. “There’s always something that can keep you here, and as much as I’d like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family,” Rove told the paper.
There is no suggestion that Rove was pushed out. Current and former colleagues say Rove had been considering leaving the White House for more than a year, dating back to the months before he ultimately escaped indictment for leaking former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity to reporters.
But there’s little doubt Rove is leaving under a cloud. He is the subject of a number of investigations by the Democrat-led Congress, including a probe into the firings of U.S. attorneys and political activity by officials at various government agencies. Just a bit more than two weeks ago, Bush cited executive privilege to keep Rove from testifying before Congress about the possibly improper use of Republican National Committee e-mail accounts by White House officials.
In his interview with the Wall Street Journal, Rove insists his decision to leave was unrelated to those investigations. Chief of staff Josh Bolten recently told top White House aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be expected to remain in their posts until Bush leaves office in January 2009. It was widely believed by many both in and outside the White House that Rove would remain by Bush’s side until the end. But it didn’t happen. Rove quietly began consulting with Bush about a good time to go several months ago. His impending departure was kept so private that some administration officials first heard the news early this morning via their Blackberrys, when the Journal story began circulating among staff.
Privately, Rove was considered a man to be feared, by both Democrats and Republicans. Members of Congress, always anonymously, whispered about Rove’s threats and intimidation when it came to backing Bush’s policies. Rep. Tom Tancredo, one of the few Republicans to publicly complain about Rove, told reporters about a 2002 run-in with Bush’s strategist over immigration reform. Tancredo, who opposes Bush’s plan, told NEWSWEEK Rove warned him “never to darken the doorstep of the White House again” after he went on TV to bash immigration reform.
Whatever Rove was up to, Bush approved. In 2005, the president rewarded Rove by promoting him to be his deputy chief of staff overseeing policy, but the results were mixed. After Bush’s first term was overtaken by the war on terrorism, Rove hoped to help his boss enact historic domestic policies, like revamping Social Security and pushing through immigration reform. As he had in the first term, Rove tried to push through the measures pressuring Republicans to back Bush out of loyalty. In the end, both initiatives failed and seem unlikely to be revived in the final year of the Bush presidency.
Even in politics, where he was once praised as the most important strategist of his generation, Rove’s luck seemed to run out. Last fall, Republicans lost control of Congress. Rove has blamed the loss on scandals involving GOP members of Congress, telling the Journal that his biggest mistake was not working soon enough to replace Republicans tainted by scandal. Yet Republicans have pointed fingers at Bush and Rove, citing in part the strategist’s role in the CIA leak case and his own ties to tainted lobbyist Jack Abramoff for turning voters off the GOP.
Rove’s resignation means that Bush has lost the last of his Texas team that came with him to Washington. Joe Allbaugh and Karen Hughes both left the White House long ago (Hughes is now at the State Department). In June, counselor Dan Bartlett resigned. Like the others, Rove was considered almost family by Bush, having been friends for more than 30 years. Aside from guiding Bush on politics, Rove was one of Bush’s closest friends in the White House. Among other things, they competed in contests to see who could read more books. In meetings, Bush called him by his nickname, “Turd Blossom.”
When word broke that Rove had been a source for reporters who wrote about Valerie Plame’s identity, the president marched out of the White House with his strategist by his side, an important show of loyalty amid news reports that Rove was on the outs.
On Monday, Bush stood by Rove’s side again, as they went before cameras on the South Lawn of the White House to announce Rove’s resignation. Standing before the cameras with the backdrop of Marine One and the Washington Monument behind them, Bush looked grim, while Rove was visibly emotional.
Calling Rove a “dear friend,” Bush thanked him for his service. “I’ll be on the road behind you here in a little bit,” Bush said. Rove, who choked up several times when talking to reporters, vowed to be a “fierce and committed advocate on the outside” and praised the president as a “reformer” and “a man of farsighted courage” in the war on terrorism.
In his exit interview with the Journal, Rove says he’s done with politics, though notably says he’d offer advice to any of the 2008 GOP presidential candidates, if he were asked. He says he’ll write a book about his time in the White House, prompted in part by Bush’s urging.
Like his boss, Rove professes to be unconcerned about his legacy or how history will judge him. “I’ll put my feet up in September and think about that,” he told the Journal when asked about his mistakes.
Yet Rove departs the White House sounding almost like Dick Cheney, downplaying a reputation that prompted critics to nickname him “Bush’s Brain.” “I’m a myth. There’s the Mark of Rove,” Rove said. “I read about some of the things I’m supposed to have done, and I have to try not to laugh.”
