Karl Rove
|
|
Karl 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.
After dropping out of the University of Utah, 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 campaigner.
| Contents |
Early life and political experiences
Rove was raised in Colorado and Nevada. His family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when Rove was in high school. At Olympus High School, Rove began his involvement in politics in 1968: In a 2002 Deseret Times interview, Rove explained, "I was the Olympus High chairman for (former United States Senator) Wallace F. Bennett's re-election campaign, where he was opposed by the dynamic, young, aggressive political science professor at the University of Utah, J.D. Williams."[1] (http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,450019080,00.html) Williams then took Rove under his wing, leading to Rove's internship with the Utah Republican Party.
Rove is known for his unconventional political tactics of dirty tricks. In 1970, at the age of nineteen and while a protege of Donald Segretti (later convicted as a Watergate conspirator), Rove sneaked into the campaign office of Illinois Democrat Alan Dixon and stole some letterhead, which he used to print fake campaign rally fliers promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing," and distributed them 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." (The Nation (http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010305&c=2&s=dubose)).
Rove dropped out of the University of Utah in 1971 to become the Executive Director of the College Republican National Committee and held this position until 1972 when he became their National Chairman (1973-1974). As Chairman, Rove had access to many powerful politicians and government officials of the Republican party, and formed ties with George H. W. Bush, then Chairman of the Republican National Committee (1973-1974).
Work for Bush family
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. [2] (http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen1101.html)
Consulting business and work in politics in 1990-2000
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 reporter named Wayne Slater alleged in print that Rove was behind a push poll and whisper campaign before the South Carolina primary, suggesting John McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child; Rove denied any involvement and no-one has produced evidence to substantiate this allegation.[3] (http://www.uncorrelated.com/archives/2005/02/the_myth_makers.html) Bush went on to win South Carolina, the Republican nomination, and the presidency.
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. The President's confidence in Rove is such that during a meeting with South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun on 14 May 2003, President George W. Bush brought only Rove and then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
Other Republican politicians who have sought Rove's advice include Arnold Schwarzenegger, who met with Rove on 10 April 2003, to discuss whether the actor should run for Governor of California in 2006.
Controversies
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 29 August 2003, retired ambassador Joseph C. Wilson alleged that Rove leaked the identity of his wife as a CIA operative. Wilson is a prominent journalist and Bush administration critic. The White House denied the allegation. See Valerie Plame.
On Feb 19 2005, Representative Maurice Hinchey echoed allegations made previously by others suggesting that the controversial Killian documents could have been planted by Rove, believing Dan Rather and CBS News would, during the 2004 campaign, rush to report an anti-Bush story with unverified documents. [4] (http://www.pressconnects.com/today/opinion/stories/op022705s151013.shtml), [5] (http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040922-101433-4296r.htm)
Trivia
- On 8 December 2004, Rove was named by Barbara Walters as the "Most Fascinating Person" of the year.
- George W. Bush has referred to Karl Rove as "the Boy Genius", "Turd Blossom", as well as "The Architect". [6] (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,107219,00.html) The last term is a Masonic term for God, though it is not clear whether a reference to this is intended.
- Karl Rove is known for his strong temper and use of profanity. A frequently cited example is (in response to Pat Robertson's remark that he had warned of the consequences of invading Iraq) "We will fuck him like he's never been fucked before." [7] (http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=2432)
- Karl Rove is a Norwegian-American. According to Bob Woodward's recent book, Rove is obsessed with the "historical duplicity" of the Swedes, who seized Norway back in 1814. According to Woodward, this nationalism manifested itself as hatred for Swedish weapons inspector Hans Blix. [8] (http://slate.msn.com/id/2099277)
- Rove is also fascinated by Mark Hanna, President William McKinley's political adviser.
- Karl Rove's reputation is such that, among both his supporters and critics (though more often among his detractors), the phrase "Rovian" has come to be used as a synonym for "Machiavellian".
- The television show American Dad depicted Rove as a robe-clad, shadowy figure (not unlike The Emperor from the Star Wars films). Whenever his name is said a wolf howls (Just in the same way than Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein when Frau Blücher's name is said). When he entered a church, he began to emit smoke; when he later departed the scene, he transformed into a swarm of bats.
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.
- Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, James C. Moore and Wayne Slater, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, hardcover, 416 pages, ISBN 0471423270.
- made into a film of the same name (http://www.bushsbrain.net)
External links
- "Karl Rove The Architect" (http://www.pbs.org/frontline/shows/architect/) documentary, PBS Frontline, April 12, 2005
- "Drawing up Blueprints for Bush Victory" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3987237.stm) by Rachel Clarke, BBC, November 6, 2004
- "Karl Rove in a Corner" (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200411/green) by Joshua Green, Atlantic Monthly, November 2004
- Karl Rove (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/usa/karl-rove/) - critical biography from Rotten.com
- Newsmeat - campaign contributions made by Karl Rove (http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Karl_Rove.php)
- Disinfopedia - Karl Rove (http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Karl_Rove)
- LookSmart - Karl Rove (http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317836/us552286/us53358/us220517/us263940/us10159508/)
- Yahoo! - Karl Rove (http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Executive_Branch/George_W__Bush_Administration/Rove__Karl___Senior_Advisor_to_the_President/)
- I Love Karl Rove - satirical site (http://www.ilovekarlrove.com/)da:Karl Rove
de:Karl Rove eo:Karl Rove fr:Karl Rove nl:Karl Rove no:Karl Rove