Karl Rove Gets Divorced

(Dec. 29) -- After 24 years of marriage, Karl Rove, former president George W. Bush's senior adviser, has been granted a divorce from his second wife, Darby Rove.

A family friend of Rove's told Politico, "After 24 years of marriage, many of which were spent under incredible stress and strain during the White House years, the Roves came to a mutual decision that they would end their marriage. They did spend Christmas together with their son, and they plan to spend time together in the future. They maintain a strong friendship, and they both feel that that friendship is a source of comfort and inspiration for their friends and family."

Rove spokeswoman Dana Perino, who worked alongside him as White House press secretary, echoed the sentiment in comments to several news outlets, saying that the Rove's divorce was amicable.

Rove was first married in 1976 to Valerie Mather Wainwright and divorced in 1980.

Rove, who is often credited with employing a strategy of mobilizing the Christian right on issues such as abortion and gay marriage in order to propel President Bush to electoral victories in 2000 and 2004, now works as a political columnist and consultant. His forthcoming memoir is titled "Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight."

Darby and Karl Rove's only son, Andrew Madison Rove, is an undergraduate at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

In a 2000 interview with Politics Daily Editor-in-Chief Melinda Henneberger, who then worked for The New York Times, Darby Rove described Karl as a committed father who could also be "fierce and quite intimidating."

"He's learned to lay back a little bit when he and Andrew play chess," Darby told Henneberger, "but even in croquet he'd be hitting my ball so far I was crying on vacation."