Boy Genius retires

Karl Rove reimagined politics but not governance | Marvin Olasky

Last week, when Karl Christian Rove, born on Christmas in 1950, announced that he was ending his White House life, pundits eager to punch back had the best of all possible worlds. They could write the summing-up lines characteristic of an obituary, but without the constraints of courtesy to the deceased. The New York Times was typical in referring to Rove's "infamously bare-knuckled political tactics."

Perhaps because I saw him rarely and depended on him for neither a job nor an election victory, my own impression was different.

He seemed to me like a boy on Christmas morning, surprised and delighted to receive a pocket knife that really cuts. Ten days after the 2001 inaugural, Rove showed me his new office in the White House, jubilantly reporting that it had been Hillary Clinton's, and pointed out "her secret mirror" on one of the walls. It was a cool moment for a man who in high school in Utah "was the complete nerd. I had the briefcase. I had the pocket protector. I wore Hush Puppies when they were not cool. I was the thin, scrawny little guy. I was definitely uncool."