Rove and President Bush embrace after Rove announced his resignation.
Emotional Rove announces 'next chapter'
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NEW: Rove's post-White House to-do list: dove hunting, trip to the beachRove says he's not being forced to leave his powerful White House post
Rove, Bush to speak Monday at 11:35 a.m. ET
Top White House adviser Karl Rove's last day will be August 31
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An emotional Karl Rove characterized his tenure in the White House as a "witness to history" as he announced his resignation as President Bush's senior political adviser at the end of this month.
"It seems the right time to start thinking about the next chapter in our family's life," Rove said, his voice breaking. "It's not been an easy decision."
Speaking to reporters outside the White House with Bush at his side, Rove said discussions about his departure began last summer. "It always seemed there was a better time to leave, somewhere out there in the future. But now is the time."
He told Bush he would be "your fierce and committed advocate on the outside."
Bush said Rove "is movin' on down the road," and added, "I'll be on the road behind you here in a little bit."
The two men have known each other for decades. Rove said they have been friends for 34 years.
Rove said earlier Monday that his resignation as was not forced and that he plans to spend his post-White House career writing a book and teaching.
Perhaps Bush's most powerful White House aide, Rove submitted his resignation to Bush on Friday, he told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux in an e-mail.
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When asked for his reaction to those who say he's being "run out of town," Rove responded, "That sounds like the rooster claiming to have called up the sun."
Rove has been the target of congressional scrutiny as he and other White House staffers have been subpoenaed by Congress to testify in the case of several fired U.S. attorneys. Rove served as Bush's political adviser last year as the president failed to overhaul U.S. immigration law and Democrats won control of Congress. Watch why "Democrats had a big target on Rove's back" »
Other White House officials who left after the election include White House counselor Dan Bartlett, budget director Rob Portman, chief White House attorney Harriet Miers, political director Sara Taylor and deputy national security adviser J.D. Crouch. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left his job immediately following the election, as the Iraq war's influence on voters became clear.
Both Rove and the president are expected to speak on the White House South Lawn at 11:35 a.m. ET before boarding Marine One. Then Bush and Rove will head to the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Rove intends to return to Washington over the weekend, according to a White House official.
Rove said the first thing he plans to do after leaving the White House is "go dove hunting in West Texas with family and friends, then drive my wife and the dogs to the beach."
A senior administration official described Rove's agony over the decision, and how "he and his family struggled" over it and why "this is a good as time as any."
"You're never going to replace him," said another senior administration official, adding that Rove served a "unique role."
"It's up to [White House Chief of Staff] Josh [Bolten] whether he'll be replaced," the official said.
Rove plans to write a book about his days with Bush and eventually teach politics on the university level.
"Obviously it's a big loss to us, said deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino. "He is a great colleague, good friend and a brilliant mind."
Rove, who has held a top position in the White House since Bush took office in January 2001, is to stand down on August 31.
Both Rove and Scott Jennings, who is a special assistant to the president and deputy political director, were subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is investigating the fired attorneys case.
Rove did not testify as ordered by the subpoena earlier this month, which angered panel Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont. White House Counsel Fred Fielding informed the committee that Rove, "as an immediate adviser to the president," can't be ordered to testify and was told by the White House not to attend.
Rove did testify before a federal grand jury about the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity after Plame's husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, became a critic of the war in Iraq.
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was later convicted of lying and obstructing justice. Bush commuted Libby's sentence.
Libby's attorneys contended that Libby was the victim of a White House conspiracy to protect Rove but never presented any evidence to support that claim.
Journalist Robert Novak, who identified Plame in a 2003 column, testified that Rove was one of two officials who leaked Plame's identity to him, but Rove was never charged with a crime.
Bush nicknamed Rove "the architect" for creating the plan that won the White House in 2000 and 2004.
Rove told The Wall Street Journal that he'd first suggested the idea of leaving about a year ago. However a series of problems for the Bush administration, starting when the Democrats took control of Congress and then as immigration and the Iraq war topped the agenda, made the enormously powerful Rove stay on.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/13/rove.resign/index.html