Karl Rove

An Insider’s Look at the American Presidency

Karl Rove, Deputy White House Chief of Staff and senior advisor to President George W. Bush, discusses the institutional debts that modern presidents owe their predecessors in a public address hosted by the Clinton School. On the topic of the expansion of executive power, Rove discusses the creation of the Department of Defense under President Harry Truman, the founding of the president’s Domestic Policy Council under Richard Nixon, and President Bill Clinton’s vision to create the National Economic Council. During a question and answer period with Clinton School Dean Skip Rutherford, Rove also addresses the Iraq War, the recent conviction of Scooter Libby and the recent controversial firing of seven U.S. Attorneys by the Justice Department.

Bio

Karl Rove served as chief political strategist to President George W. Bush, managing the White House Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the Office of Strategic Initiatives. Rove helped guide Bush to a win in the Texas gubernatorial election in 1994, then served as chief strategist for Bush's presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004. He announced in August of 2007 that he would resign and return to private life.