Ah, the old “doing this to spend more time with my family” excuse. Funny how so many in government use that when they are in truth leaving a sinking ship, about to be indicted and so on. Who knows? Maybe he really wants to trade being one of the most powerful people in the world for family life. Or at least it was powerful before it all started crumbling. What good is a puppeteer if no one wants to listen to his puppet anymore. And who really thinks Rove will go quietly and disappear into that good night? Interesting times ahead.

Karl Rove to Resign At the End of August

Karl Rove, President Bush’s longtime political adviser, is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff effective Aug. 31, and returning to Texas, he said in an interview with Paul Gigot, editor of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page.

Mr. Rove, who has held a senior post in the White House since President Bush took office in January 2001, told Mr. Gigot he first floated the idea of leaving a year ago. But he delayed his departure as, first, Democrats took Congress, and then as the White House tackled debates on immigration and Iraq, he said. He said he decided to leave after White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be obliged to remain through the end of the president’s term in January 2009.

“I just think it’s time,” Mr. Rove said in the interview. “There’s always something that can keep you here, and as much as I’d like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family.” Mr. Rove and his wife have a home in Ingram, Texas, and a son who attends college in nearby San Antonio.

From another article:

Rove will soon be gone — but it will be a long time before he is forgotten. One can not overstate how much Democrats loathe Rove, and desperately want him dragged into numerous congressional investigations of the Bush White House.

House and Senate Democrats are trying to force his testimony in the firing of U.S. attorneys. There is much more to come, Democrats tell the Politico.

Rove said he fully expects accusations that he is leaving under pressure. “I know they’ll say that,” he told the Journal. “But I’m not going to leave or stay based on whether it pleases the mob.”