Bush' Press Secretary Scott McClellan Gives Up - Washington Post

These actions don't just happen without reason. Scott became the whipping boy for President Bush and it's certain the resultant stress took its toll. His meetings with the press became battles, and it seemed clear he was not able to separate business from personal response. He will no go down as the best press secretary, but certainly the most combative.

McClellan Out as White House Press Secretary
Karl Rove Gives Up Policy Oversight to Focus on 2006 Elections

By Fred Barbash and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 19, 2006; 10:21 AM

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced his resignation this morning and President's Bush's longtime adviser Karl Rove is scaling back his responsibilities.

It was the third major change at the White House in the past few weeks and perhaps the most visible to the public, as McClellan is the most televised face of the administration through his often-combative daily briefings.

McClellan's resignation was not unexpected.

Rove, who was named a deputy chief of staff for policy after Bush's second election, will leave that post to spend more time on politics as the mid-term elections approach. He is expected to be replaced by Joel Kaplan, who now serves as deputy White House budget director.

Appearing with Bush on the White House South Lawn just before the president left for a trip to Alabama, McClellan told Bush: "I have given it my all sir and I have given you my all sir, and I will continue to do so as we transition to a new press secretary."

Bush thanked McClellan for "a job well done."

"I thought he handled his assignment with class, integrity," Bush said. "It's going to be hard to replace Scott, but nevertheless he made the decision and I accepted it. One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days."

Earlier today, Bush, concerned about a dangerous "vacuum" in Iraq, once again prodded Iraq's political leadership to put a "government in place" soon.

"We fully recognize that the Iraqis must step up and form a unity government, so that those who went to the polls to vote recognize that a government will be in place to respond to their needs. . . .

"We also recognize that vacuums in the political process create opportunity for malfeasance and harm," he said.

Bush commented after meeting with four governors who recently returned from a trip to Iraq. The governors included Jeb Bush, Republican of Florida and the president's brother; Tom Vilsack, Democrat of Iowa; Mitch Daniels, Republican of Indiana and former director of the White House budget office; and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia.

Four months of haggling among Iraqi politicians have now passed since the country went to the polls to choose elected representatives, who were, in turn, supposed to choose a government.

The 275-member assembly had been scheduled to meet Monday but agreed to a delay so that Shiites could resolve the continuing dispute over who will be prime minister.

Staff writer Bill Brubaker contributed to this story .