Earlier versions of this story incorrectly said Dan Bartlett's third child was a girl. The baby, born this year, is a boy. This version has been corrected. Also, the article misspelled the last name of Boston University interim dean Tobe Berkovitz.
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Key Aide To Bush Will Resign Next Month
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Bartlett dealt directly with reporters on the thorniest issues confronting the president, including immigration, Iraq and the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Bush advisers credit Bartlett with pushing for the administration to talk more openly about the obvious challenges the nation faces in Iraq, something that the administration had been reluctant to do for years. Colleagues said Bartlett argued that the American people are capable of taking "the good with the bad" and that, ultimately, it would enhance the president's credibility to acknowledge the difficulties in Iraq.
Bush and Bartlett met as the future president was preparing for his first gubernatorial campaign in Texas 14 years ago. At that time, Bartlett was a freshly minted University of Texas graduate working for the Austin political consulting firm headed by Rove.
Bartlett handled damage control during the first Bush presidential campaign, particularly on questions regarding Bush's National Guard service and business dealings. Bartlett collected documents, interviewed people involved in the stories and confronted Bush with direct and often uncomfortable questions about the various controversies before fielding reporters' inquiries.
His rapid-response role helped him forge a close relationship with Bush. "I know a lot of the people who are in his life," Bartlett said of the president. "I know a lot of the people in his background. And by knowing so much about him, I've only grown in respect for him."
Bartlett is set to become the latest in a string of top Bush administration officials to leave the White House, including deputy national security adviser J.D. Crouch II, who helped lead the policy review that led Bush to send more U.S. troops to Iraq, and Sara Taylor, the White House political director.
More than a year ago, Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. left the administration, allowing Bolten, then the budget director, to take over. Bolten has fostered a more open style in a White House often accused of shielding the president from competing points of view.
Bolten, who is leading the search for Bartlett's replacement, has recruited new members of the administration who are widely respected, including Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and White House counsel Fred F. Fielding.
Bartlett, who plans to leave his post around July 4, said he had been thinking seriously about stepping down since the birth of his son this year. With his young family and the demands of his job -- 14-hour days, frequent trips, weekends and vacations chained to his BlackBerry and sometimes even to a mobile videoconferencing device -- Bartlett said he knew it was time to move on.
He has hired lawyer Bob Barnett to help him sift through his job prospects in the private sector, either in Washington or in Texas. He said he is ruling out -- for now, at least -- a political career in Texas or working in the 2008 presidential campaign.
"The experiences I've had working at the highest levels of government will hopefully give me the opportunity to do some interesting things," Bartlett said.
