MB Civic

By Peter Baker | Wednesday, June 14, 2006; 6:14 PM | The Washington Post

Michael J. Gerson, one of President Bush’s most trusted advisers and author of nearly all of his most famous public words during the past seven years, plans to step down in the next couple weeks in a decision that colleagues believe will leave a huge hole in the White House at a critical period.

Gerson said in an interview that he has been talking with Bush for many months about leaving for writing and other opportunities but waited until the White House political situation had stabilized somewhat. “It seemed like a good time,” he said. “Things are back on track a little. Some of the things I care about are on a good trajectory.”

Since first joining the presidential campaign in 1999, Gerson has evolved into one of the most central players in Bush’s inner circle, often considered among the three or four aides closest to the president. He has been called one of the best speechwriters of his age, the conscience of the White House and the embodiment of Bush’s vision of “compassionate conservatism.”

Beyond shaping the language of the Bush presidency, Gerson shaped much of its policy as well. He was one of the architects of the Bush doctrine making the spread of democracy the fundamental goal of U.S. foreign policy. He led a personal crusade within the administration to make unprecedented multibillion-dollar investments in fighting AIDS, malaria and poverty around the globe. He became one of the lone voices pressing for more action to stop the genocide in Darfur.

“He might have had more influence than any White House staffer who wasn’t chief of staff or national security adviser” in modern times, said William Kristol, who was top aide to Vice President Dan Quayle and now edits The Weekly Standard. “Mike was substantively influential, not just a wordsmith, not just a crafter of language for other people’s policies, but influenced policy itself.”

“He is the best and most influential presidential speechwriter since Ted Sorenson,” said Peter H. Wehner, director of White House strategic initiatives, referring to the legendary John F. Kennedy adviser. “Mike is one of the key intellectual architects of the Bush presidency, whether we’re talking about compassionate conservatism at home or the freedom agenda abroad.”

Gerson is the latest in a series of longtime Bush aides to leave, following former White House chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr., press secretary Scott McClellan and Treasury secretary John W. Snow. But newly installed Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten said in an interview that the departure is not part of his broader shake-up of the president’s political operation. No one is being tapped to take Gerson’s assignment as senior adviser.

“He’s one of the few people who is irreplaceable,” Bolten said. “He’s a policy provoker, a grand strategist and a conscience who in many cases has not only articulated but reflected the president’s heart.”