Bush’s spokesman Fleischer says it’s time to resign and relax
"My heart tells me it's time to go," he told reporters.
Mr Fleischer, 42, a New Yorker who got married six months ago, said he would spend the next 18 months trying to help Bush get re-elected, then would move home to Westchester, New York.
"I informed President Bush last week that, after 21 years of doing nothing but government and politics ... I have decided that my time has come to leave the White House. I will leave later this summer, most likely in July," Fleischer said.
A deputy press secretary, Scott McClellan, was seen as a likely replacement.
Mr Fleischer said he was exhausted after working through the September 11 crisis, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the anthrax attacks, and other issues. "They just take their toll on your ability to serve," he said. He said if he did not leave now, he would need to stay on through Mr Bush's re-election campaign, which was announced last Friday. "There's kind of an off-ramp. You either take it at this time or you're in for four," he said, meaning all four years of Mr Bush's term.
He pointed out that his tenure two-and-a-half years was typical of the top White House spokesman in the past decade, during the explosion of the 24-hour news cycle and the internet. Marlin Fitzwater lasted six years, serving under President Ronald Reagan and President George H W Bush, until he left in January 1993, but subsequent press secretaries served for far shorter periods.
Mr Fleischer, who has enjoyed a close relationship with Bush despite the fact he is not from the president's band of Texas advisers, said he told Bush last Friday of his decision in an emotional meeting at the end of which Bush kissed him on his bald head.
"This is a wonderful job. I love this job, I love President Bush, I believe deeply in President Bush, policies and the man. But there comes a time in public service when you have to know when to go to pursue other endeavours," he said.
A veteran of Capitol Hill, Mr Fleischer signed on with the Bush campaign four years ago after Elizabeth Dole abandoned her race for the Republican presidential nomination. He left the Dole campaign, moved to Austin and joined Mr Bush.
Mr Fleischer said his plans are to help Bush get re-elected, give speeches, write and join the private sector. He also wants to spend more time with his wife.
"I really want to unwind, do something more relaxing like dismantle live nuclear weapons," he joked.
As he walked off the podium, he added: "Can you say Nantucket in August? I'm one of those white wine swillers on the East Coast."
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