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Karl RoveKarl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950 in Denver, Colorado) is an American political consultant, and (as of 2005) U.S. President George W. Bush's senior advisor and chief political strategist. On February 8, 2005, Rove was appointed deputy chief of staff in charge of policy. Karl Rove began his political career with the College Republicans, which he chaired from 1973 to 1974. For the next few years, he worked in various Republican Party circles and assisted George H. W. Bush's 1980 vice-presidential campaign. In 1981, Rove founded direct mail consulting firm, Karl Rove & Co., based out of Austin, Texas. This firm's first clients included Republican Governor Bill Clements and Democratic Congressman Phil Gramm, who later became a Republican. In 1993, Rove began advising George W. Bush's gubernatorial campaign. He continued, however, to operate his consulting business until 1999, when he sold the firm to focus his efforts on Bush's bid for the presidency. After Bush became the 43rd president, Karl Rove became a Senior Advisor to the President. Rove is generally considered one of the most influential advisors in the Bush administration, and he has earned a reputation as an aggressive, sometimes unethical, campaigner. History Rove is known for his unconventional political tactics. In 1970 when he was a protege of Donald Segretti (a convicted Watergate conspirator), Rove snuck into the campaign office of Illinois Democrat Alan Dixon and stole some letterhead. He printed fliers on the letterhead promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing" and distributed the fliers at rock concerts and homeless shelters. Admitting to the incident much later, Rove said, "I was nineteen and I got involved in a political prank." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/rove072399.htm, http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010305&c=2&s=dubose, http://www.prospect.org/print/V14/2/reich-r.html After dropping out of the University of Utah in 1971, Rove started his political career as the executive director of the College Republican National Committee. He held this position until 1972 when he became the National Chairman of the College Republicans (1973-1974). As chairman, Rove had access to many powerful politicians and government officials during the Watergate scandal, including then CIA director George H. W. Bush. For the next few years, he worked in various Republican circles and assisted George H. W. Bush's 1980 vice-presidential campaign. Rove's greatest claim to fame at the time was that he had introduced Bush to Lee Atwater. A signature tactic of Rove was to attack an opponent on the opponent's strongest issue. In 1986, just before a crucial debate in the election for governor of Texas, Karl Rove announced that his office had been bugged by the Democrats. There was no proof, and it was later alleged he had bugged his own phone for the media coverage that the incident generated, but there was no proof of that, either, and no charges were ever filed. http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen1101.html In 1993, according to the New York Times, John Ashcroft's campaign paid Karl Rove & Co. over $300,000 to aid his (eventually successful) Senate race. In 1999, the George W. Bush campaign effort paid Karl Rove & Co. $2.5 million for July through December. According to Rove, "About 30 percent of that is postage." In early 2000, during the Republican primary, Senator John McCain led George W. Bush in the race for the Republican presidential nomination and won several state primaries. A push poll was allegedly launched against McCain: telemarketers were allegedly hired to place calls throughout South Carolina asking potential voters, “Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?” (McCain has an adopted daughter from Bangladesh). A reporter, Wayne Slater, suggested in print that Rove might be behind the whisper campaign. Rove denied any involvement. McCain's support subsequently dwindled, and Bush won the nomination. (There were other factors in that primary contest as well, including a long exchange of negative television advertisements between the two candidates.) After the presidential elections in November 2000, Karl Rove organized an emergency migration of Republican politicians and supporters to Florida to assist the Bush campaign during the recount. George W. Bush was inaugurated in January 2001. Rove accepted a position in the Bush administration as Senior Advisor to the President. In March 2001, Rove met with executives from Intel, successfully advocating a merger between a Dutch company and an Intel company supplier. Rove owned $100,000 in Intel stock at the time. In June 2001, Rove met with two pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. At the time, Rove held almost $250,000 in drug industry stocks. On 30 June 2001, Rove divested his stocks in 23 companies, which included more than $100,000 in each Enron, Boeing, General Electric, and Pfizer. On 30 June 2001, the White House admitted that Rove was involved in administration energy policy meetings, while at the same time holding stock in energy companies including Enron. On 10 April 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger met with Rove to discuss whether the actor should run for Governor of California in 2006. On 14 May 2003, during a meeting with South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun, President George W. Bush brought only Rove and Condoleezza Rice. On 29 August 2003, retired ambassador Joseph C. Wilson named Rove as the White House official who leaked to the press the identity of a CIA operative as the wife of a prominent journalist and Bush administration critic. The White House denied the allegation. See Valerie Plame. Rove's reputation for trickery is such that, in the wake of the controversy over the Killian documents during the 2004 campaign, it was suggested (by Representative Maurice Hinchey, among others) that Rove might have planted fake anti-Bush documents with CBS News, to deflect attention from Bush's avoidance of military service during the Vietnam War. http://www.pressconnects.com/today/opinion/stories/op022705s151013.shtml Rove has denied that he had any involvement. http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040922-101433-4296r.htm On 8 December 2004, Rove was named by Barbara Walters as the "Most Fascinating Person" of the year. Trivia - Karl Rove is known for his strong temper and use of profanity. A frequently cited example is "We will fuck him like he's never been fucked before."
- In President Bush's 2004 election acceptance speech, Bush referred to Karl Rove as "The Architect".
- Karl Rove's reputation is such that, among both his supporters and critics (though more often among his detractors), the phrase "Karl Rovian" has come to be used as a synonym for "Machiavellian".
Further reading - Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the Remarkable Political Triumph of George W. Bush, Lou Dubose, Jan Reid and Carl Cannon, 2003, Paperback, 256 pages, ISBN 1586481924.
- , James C. Moore and Wayne Slater, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, hardcover, 416 pages, ISBN 0471423270.
External links Rove, Karl Rove, Karl Rove, Karl Rove, Karl
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