The resignation that leaves Bush without a brain
Last updated at 07:34 14 August 2007
The man dubbed 'George Bush's brain' after masterminding two presidential election victories for the Republicans quit yesterday.
Karl Rove was the latest in a line of senior aides to resign from what is increasingly seen as a lame duck administration.
Mr Rove, 56, said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
But many Washington commentators, surprised that Mr Bush's chief of staff had clung on for so long, believe there were additional pressures - from both opposition Democrats and the Republican party - for him to leave.
Mr Rove, a tough political operator, is leaving before a court showdown over his refusal to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the sacking of nine court prosecutors.
Democrats say the prosecutors, who should be independent, were fired for refusing to bow to White House pressure.
Mr Rove was also investigated over the leaking of the identity in 2005 of CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame after her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, wrote a report critical of the Iraq war.
With Mr Bush's popularity at an all-time low in the opinion polls, many Republicans feel it is time to sweep out the old guard.
They regard Mr Rove as the mastermind behind the U.S. failings in Iraq.
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