Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the Remarkable Political Triumph of George W. Bush

On November 2, 2004, a nation split straight down the middle went to the polls and elected George W. Bush to a second term as President of the United States. How did such a divided electorate produce more Republican votes than history had ever seen and a 51-48 percent victory for Bush - a president who, in his own words, has a history of being "misunderestimated." His chief political adviser, Karl Rove, suffers no such problem. Many attribute the president's successes, including the 2004 election, to Rove, and detect his influence in nearly everything the president does. From their earliest days in Texas, Rove has tapped the potential of George W. Bush. "Political hacks like me wait a lifetime for a guy like this to come along," Rove said of the future president. Now the brilliant tactician, whom Bush calls "Boy Genius," Texas legislators call "King Karl," and some call "Bush's Brain," has another four years in Washington to help the president spend his hard-earned political capital and to consolidate the Republican ascendancy that he helped mastermind. Cannon, who has covered Karl Rove more closely than any other Washington journalist, and the seasoned Texan reporters Dubose and Reid, join forces to unveil the man, his methods, and his plans for the Republican majority. The result is a compelling expose about the inner machinations of American politics today - and a riveting political biography of the Man Who Would Be Kingmaker. Rove has played politics to the highest level - and while, from allegations of bugging his own office back in Texas, to his murky dealings with the Swift Boat veterans in this year's election, his game is sometimes not pretty, he plays his cards extremely well and anyone interested in politics will be fascinated by this fair and revelatory investigation into the heart of our era's most effective political machine.