‘The Architect’ Rove to speak at Niles event

Staff report

NILES

Karl Rove, who was senior adviser and deputy chief of staff for President George W. Bush, will be the keynote speaker at the annual McKinley Club banquet Feb 22.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Niles McKinley Memorial Auditorium, 40 N. Main St., Niles.

Rove’s visit is part of a tour for his book “Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight,” which made the New York Times’ best-seller list.

The book provides a behind-the-scenes view of how Bush got to the White House and of the major events of his presidency.

“It’s a frank account of what I witnessed and my often-controversial role, and it spells out what goes into winning a modern political campaign,” Rove said.

Rove is now a Fox News contributor and a Newsweek columnist and writes a weekly op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal.

Before his White House appointments, Rove was a Republican political consultant and strategist. He is credited with the successful 1994 and 1998 Texas gubernatorial victories of George W. Bush, as well as Bush’s successful 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns. In his 2004 victory speech, Bush referred to Rove as “the Architect.”

Rove also has been credited for the successful campaigns of John Ashcroft (1994 U.S. Senate election), Bill Clements (1986 Texas gubernatorial election), Sen. John Cornyn (2002 U.S. Senate election), Gov. Rick Perry (1990 Texas Agriculture Commission election) and Phil Gramm (1982 U.S. House and 1984 U.S. Senate elections).

Tickets are $35 per person and are being sold only by advance reservation. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Call Kathi Creed, club president, at 330-539-5398 for reservations.