Karl Rove

Political strategist Karl Rove has devoted much of his life to helping politicians run for office, most notably as chief architect of George W. Bush's winning presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004. Born on Christmas Day, 1950, in Denver, Colorado, Rove developed an interest in politics at an early age. He volunteered for Sen. Wallace Bennett's re-election campaign while in high school. Although he attended the University of Utah until 1971, he decided to drop out to accept the position of executive director of the College Republicans in Washington, D.C. He ran for chairman only two years later in a contentious campaign, utilizing the focused, aggressive and methodical strategies for which he would become known. Republican National Committee Chairman George H.W. Bush evaluated the results of the election and named Rove the winner. Rove went on to become executive assistant to RNC co-chair Richard D. Obenshain. In 1978, he joined two Texas races: George W. Bush's unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives, and Bill Clements' campaign for governor, a victory that put a Republican in the position for the first time in over 100 years. Rove became deputy executive assistant to Gov. Clements. In 1981, he established Karl Rove & Co., a consulting firm that assisted Clements and other politicians running for office. While Rove had advised Bush's son, George W. Bush, in a failed run for Congress in 1978, he continued his advisory role and, in 1994, George W. Bush was elected Governor of Texas. Bush hired Rove again to assist his 1998 re-election campaign, then hired him as chief strategist for a run at the U.S. presidency. Following that victory, Rove became senior advisor to President Bush. Rove was promoted to deputy chief of staff when Bush won re-election in 2004. He resigned from the administration in 2007 amid a number of scandals, including allegations that he leaked the identity of an undercover CIA agent, although he did not face any formal charges. Away from the White House, Rove became a political commentator. He contributed columns to Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal, and served as a political analyst for Fox News. He was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame in 2009. The next year, he co-founded the political action committee American Crossroads with former RNC chair Ed Gillespie to continue his work of advising and raising funds for conservative political candidates. Rove was married three times, first to Valerie Wainwright from 1976 to 1980. He had a son, Andrew Rove, with his second wife, Darby Hickson. He married his third wife, Karen Johnson, in 2012.