Rove is last of Bush's West Wing Texans still standing

RAW STORYPublished: Monday June 4, 2007
White House political adviser Karl Rove is now the last of President Bush's West Wing Texans still standing, according to an article from Saturday's LA Times.
"As George W. Bush underwent a seven-year metamorphosis from gubernatorial candidate to president, and then through the six years, four months and 12 days of his White House tenure so far, Dan Bartlett was always at his side," James Gerstenzang writes for the LA Times. "On Friday, Bartlett announced that he was heading out the door."
The article continues, "His departure leaves only political advisor Karl Rove among the Texans who arrived in Washington with Bush and worked closely with him in the White House West Wing. Bartlett's decision to leave underscores the growing challenge the president will face in the last 1 1/2 years of his administration."
Excerpts from article:
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There has been a steady turnover within the White House in recent months, and Bartlett predicted that others would make similar moves "over the course of the summer."
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Bartlett's departure will leave an especially large hole. The onetime head of his high school's Future Farmers of America chapter, Bartlett was a University of Texas student in 1993 when Rove brought him into the early stages of Bush's initial run for governor.
The young man and the candidate — with an age difference of almost 25 years — formed a bond. As the president recounted in his autobiography, "A Charge to Keep," he called on Bartlett to quickly defuse a potential political problem when, during an East Texas dove-hunting expedition in the midst of the gubernatorial campaign, Bush accidentally shot an endangered species of bird. Bush had Bartlett report the incident to authorities and pay the fine, giving the young campaign worker an early lesson in crisis control.
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FULL LA TIMES ARTICLE CAN BE READ AT THIS LINK