Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight

Product Description America’s most brilliant political mastermind recounts his controversial journey through Republican politics and into George W. Bush’s White House. Known as “the Architect” of George W. Bush’s presidency, Karl Rove’s access to Bush and view of his presidency is unparalleled. In this memoir, Rove takes the listener into the heart of Bush’s rise to the Texas governorship and behind closed doors in the White House. Rove describes what it takes to win elections—from his first race in a high school gymnasium to those on the national stage—and what you need to do once you’ve won. Rove learned about the cost of his Republican affiliation at a young age, when a JFK supporter down the street pushed him off his bicycle and beat him up for supporting Nixon. Since then, Rove has devoted his life to conservative politics—and he has been accused of everything from campaign chicanery to being a war criminal. Here, he sets the record straight, responds frankly to his critics, and passionately articulates the reasoning behind the choices he made during campaigns and in the White House. With never-before-told details about his own controversial career, the legacy of the Bush presidency, and America during its most trying moments, Rove intimately relates the joys and pains of a life in service of conservative conviction. About the Author Karl Rove served as Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush from 2000–2007 and Deputy Chief of Staff from 2004–2007. He now writes a weekly op-ed for The Wall Street Journal and is a Fox News contributor. Before he became known as “The Architect” of President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, Rove was president of Karl Rove + Company, an Austin-based public affairs firm that was involved in over seventy-five campaigns for Republican candidates for president, governor and senator, as well as handling non-partisan causes and non-profit groups. Karl Rove served as Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush from 2000–2007 and Deputy Chief of Staff from 2004–2007. He now writes a weekly op-ed for The Wall Street Journal and is a Fox News contributor. Before he became known as “The Architect” of President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, Rove was president of Karl Rove + Company, an Austin-based public affairs firm that was involved in over seventy-five campaigns for Republican candidates for president, governor and senator, as well as handling non-partisan causes and non-profit groups. From AudioFile It's always chancy when an author narrates his own book. Here, just as the listener begins to doze off, Rove reaches the George W. Bush years, when the latter was Texas governor and then U.S. president. The listener wakes up and listens as Rove becomes energized with passion, conviction, and indignation. No one except Bush himself was so savaged by a hostile political establishment and press during those tumultuous years. Rove strives to set the record straight while commenting on wider political issues, wider than campaign tactics and strategies. Whether one agrees with him or not, there's a lot to be learned from one of the political masters of the early twenty-first century. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine