The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power (2006) is an interesting (though uneven) review of Karl Rove and his ride to the White House by two veteran Texas political reporters.
A non-believer who built a machine to drive religious voters into the arms of the Republican party, Rove “defeats his enemies before they are conscience of even being in a fight.”
The most interesting part was how Rove won Ohio for Bush in 2004. The authors spend a lot of time discussing the Valerie Plame leak, which Rove was suspected of being behind, but was not prosecuted for.
It’s not a surprise to find that Rove puts political success before everything else, include principles and ethics. That seems to be the price of admission to the halls of power in Washington DC these days.
Read a review from the NY Times.