Posted on 04/23/2002 8:56:08 AM PDT by TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!
Edited on 04/22/2004 12:33:16 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I commend her for putting her family first. Too many women put their families on the altar of selfish pursuit. This is a wise and loving decision on her part. :o)
WASHINGTON (AP) - White House counselor Karen Hughes, one of President Bush's closest confidants and perhaps the most senior female aide to any modern American president, announced her resignation Tuesday. Bush said he will continue to seek her advice from afar.
"She may be changing addresses, but she's not leaving my inner circle," the president said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press shortly after Hughes' surprise announcement made her the first top White House aide to depart Bush's staff.
Hughes, 45, an aide to Bush since his days as Texas governor, unveiled her plans for a summertime departure at a daily White House briefing.
"Later this summer, I'm going to be changing the way in which I serve the president. My husband and I have made a difficult but we think right decision to move our family home back to Texas," she said.
"Our roots are there," she said. "I guess we're a little homesick."
Bush, in an exclusive interview, said Hughes broke the news to him last Wednesday or Thursday and he accepted the decision.
"I said, 'Karen, I've always valued your advice' and she said 'You'll have my advice.' So I said to myself as long as I have her advice, judgment and friendship, I support the move," the president said.
"This is Karen being Karen. She loves her family. She has always made it clear to me ever since I've known her that her husband and son come first in her life," Bush said.
Hughes and political aide Karl Rove were critical to Bush's rise from a two-term Texas governor to the presidency. Rove, a fellow Texan with a teen-age child of his own, has no plans to leave the White House, Bush said.
"I think there's a different set of circumstances," the president said. Hughes and Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, are two of the most influential female aides in White House history.
Fifteen months into the Bush presidency, this is the period in which senior aides generally start considering departures from high-pressure White House and Cabinet posts.. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card has denied reports that he is considering leaving in the fall. Bush advisers say they expect Hughes will not be the last senior aide to leave this year.
Bush said there was nothing other than Hughes' personal desire to return to Texas that prompted her resignation.
"I don't intend to fill her role" as counselor to the president, he said, noting that fellow Texas Dan Bartlett is the White House communications director. Bartlett, 30, has become increasingly influential as a surrogate to Hughes.
Senior White House advisers and Hughes associates outside the administration said Hughes' husband, a lawyer, was unhappy with Washington and regretted the loss of privacy and lack of time with his wife.
"I saw Karen last week and was kind of struck at the time - although I didn't realize it as a sign then - that she was talking about how much Robert and Jerry missed Texas," said Mark McKinnon, who ran Bush's advertising operation during the campaign.
Hughes said she plans to advise the White House from Texas on big-picture communication strategies, but will likely leave the federal payroll when she leaves Washington this summer.
She made the decision now, Hughes said, because of a May 1 deadline to decide whether her son, Robert, 15, would remain in Washington schools. She has a stepdaughter, Leigh, 28, and a granddaughter, Lauren, 6, in Austin. Her son traveled with Hughes aboard the campaign plane in 2000, and has visited the Camp David presidential retreat outside Washington.
As counselor to Bush, Hughes has been one of the president's most influential advisers in a White House where strategy centers on image and tone.
Hughes is under Bush's orders to be in every White House meeting where major decisions are made. She reviews and often rewrites every statement he is due to make. She travels with him to make sure pictures of his road trips match the message. She manages more than 40 aides who staff the communications, press secretary, speechwriting and media affairs offices.
Once a week at the unlikely hour of 5:30 p.m., she leaves her corner West Wing office and goes home for what she and son Robert call their "midweek moment," named after a program at their old church in Texas.
"I was looking for a way to say, 'You can count on me spending time with you,'" Hughes said in a recent interview.
Bush confirmed that he promised the Hughes family time at home in persuading her to take the job.
"I know Karen really well and one way to gauge her satisfaction with life is whether or not her son or husband are happy," Bush said. "Robert and Jerry (Hughes' husband, a lawyer) are going to be happier in Texas and therefore Karen is going to be a happier person."
In the briefing room, Hughes said: "I'm confident ... that (Bush) will continue to be served in an outstanding way by members of a great communications team."
"This is a family friendly White House. And this is a family-friendly decision," she said.
"My commute is going to be a bit longer, but you're going to continue seeing me," Hughes said.
AP-ES-04-23-02 1133EDT
This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA2DN8XD0D.html
Says it all. :o) Thank you for posting the article in its entirety.
Serving your country is hardly a selfish pursuit.
You KNOW that's not what I'm saying. She could tell her family it's a great honor to serve her country and they can respect that or not.
You seem to disrespect all those involved in public service including the armed forces. What about all of them? Should they just say, oh heck, I'd rather go be with my kids than sitting in this bunker getting shot at.
Who will defend our freedom then?
Of course being a female in Federal service (DoD) and bred in DC, what do I know!
What it gets down to is this, Grim. Kathy Hughes made a decision to return to Texas with her family. For her it's a wise a right decision. She will still be an integral part of the Bush administration but from Texas and in a lesser involved capacity. I admire her for this decision...a decision made with her husband and family.
I do *not* disrespect our military and others who serve our country in various capacities. I find your insinuation unsettling to say the least. Perhaps in turn I could insinuate that you feel Karen Hughes has gone awol...?
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