Posted on 03/28/2006 9:14:32 AM PST by dead
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amid persistent calls for a White House shakeup and sinking poll numbers, President George W. Bush accepted the resignation of chief of staff Andrew Card and named administration insider Josh Bolten on Tuesday to replace him.
Card is the highest ranking official to depart the White House since the White House came under fire from even Republicans seeking to revitalize Bush's struggling team.
In the Oval Office, Bush said Card had offered and he had accepted his resignation. He will leave the White House on April 14 and return to private life.
"I have relied on Andy's wise counsel, his calm in crisis, his absolute integrity and his tireless commitment to public service," Bush said with Card and Bolten both at his side.
If Card had stayed on until September he would have become the longest-serving chief of staff ever, surpassing the record of Sherman Adams, Dwight Eisenhower's chief of staff for five years and nine months.
Bush, who prides himself on loyalty and demands the same from his staff, has resisted pressure to bring in new aides to re-energize his second term. Apart from Colin Powell stepping down as secretary of state and Condoleezza Rice moving from national security adviser to replace him, turnover at the highest levels has been minimal.
With job-approval poll ratings for Bush at an all-time low and Republicans worried about keeping control of the U.S. Congress in November's elections, some in Bush's party have called for new blood in the White House staff, including possibly bringing in a experienced political heavyweight to spur changes.
Democrats welcomed the move but doubted it would have much effect.
"The good news is the administration has finally realized it needs to change its ways but the problems go far deeper than one staffer," said New York Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record). "Simply rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic ... without a dramatic change in policy will not right this ship."
ROCK 'N' ROLL AND A HARLEY
Bolten, who rides a Harley-Davidson and is part of a White House rock band, became director of the Office of Management and Budget after serving as deputy chief of staff in the White House from 2001 to 2003.
He is the son of a CIA officer and is known in the White House as a quietly effective manager.
"I'm honored Josh has agreed to serve," Bush said.
Bolten thanked the president and praised Card, who has spent many years working in Republican administrations dating back to Ronald Reagan, as "among the finest public servants of this generation."
Card, who was the person who notified Bush of the September 11 attacks, praised the president for his leadership in crisis and said, "I know I was a staffer and now I look forward to being your friend."
An administration official said Card came to Bush about three weeks ago and offered his resignation. After a number of discussions, the president accepted it during the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat.
Card has been chief of staff since the day Bush took over the presidency in January 2001, serving through the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and shepherding Bush's two successful nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court.
However, the White House has come under increased criticism in the past year as it has weathered a number of crises, including its handling of Hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq and the recent flap over a proposed sale of some key U.S. port operations to an Arab-owned company.
The senior administration official said Bolten "knows how this White House operates," and is very well respected. He said a smooth transition was expected.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland)
Enough said.
Andy Card should have left when the Miers nomination exploded all over the White House.
Anyone know anything about Bolten? It's reassuring that he rides a Harley but I'm not so sure about the rock band angle.
Clearly this Reuters reporter has dug really deep for the essential information about him. In the tradition of MSM investigative reporting.
How original!
Can we get a bit more spin on this? It's much closer to an editorial than it is to news.
Well well.
THIS IS NOT AN IMPROVEMENT
His credentials (linked to in post 8) seem good... what's wrong with him?
What's wrong with him?
...a graduate of St. Alban's...
Ugh! Nevermind. I worked on the grounds of the National Cathedral, to which St. Albans is affiliated and where it is located. I liked some of the staff at NatCath, alright, but the St. Albans' staff were of the sort of people I had always thought were outlandish charactures... Rude, snobby elitists with no morals whatsoever.
Then again, Bush went to Harvard, not exactly germaine to decent Christianity, either...
Oh, crap, this guy's bad... He's got a couple decent fellows he's given to (Thompson, Brownback), but all-in-all the people he's funded are a who's who of preverted Republican fifth-columnists and sabeteurs: William Weld, Rudy Boschwitz (not as bad as others on the list), Bob Packwood, Chuck Hagel...
Agreed this guy's NOT good.
Another Ivy-League NWO brat. Expect MOTS from the administration.
He's from the same group that is most antithetical to our interests - the big-spender, "free" trade (aka selling out US interests abroad), Miers-supporting, establishment cabal.
If anything this guy is a step in the wrong direction from Card, which is hard to do while still remaining within the GOP.
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