Courage and Consequence

My Life as a Conservative in the Fight

By: Karl Rove

Narrated by: Karl Rove

Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

From the moment he set foot on it, Karl Rove has rocked America's political stage. He ran the national College Republicans at 22, and turned a Texas dominated by Democrats into a bastion for Republicans. He launched George W. Bush to national renown by unseating a popular Democratic governor, and then orchestrated a GOP White House win at a time when voters had little reason to throw out the incumbent party. For engineering victory after unlikely victory, Rove became known as the Architect.

Because of his success, Rove has been attacked his entire career, accused of everything from campaign chicanery to ideological divisiveness. In this frank memoir, Rove responds to critics, passionately articulates his political philosophy, and defends the choices he made on the campaign trail and in the White House. He addresses controversies head-on - from his role in the contest between Bush and Senator John McCain in South Carolina to the charges that Bush misled the nation on Iraq. In the course of putting the record straight, Rove takes on Democratic leaders who acted cynically or deviously behind closed doors, and even Republicans who lacked backbone at crucial moments.

Courage and Consequence is also the first intimate account from the highest level at the White House of one of the most headline-making presidencies of the modern age. Rove takes listeners behind the scenes of the bitterly contested 2000 presidential contest,of tense moments aboard Air Force One on 9/11, of the decision to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq,of the hard-won 2004 reelection fight, and even of his painful three years fending off an indictment process. He spells out what it takes to win elections and how to govern successfully once a candidate has won.

©2010 Karl Rove (P)2010 Simon & Schuster

unknown facts

Great Book that gives what we do not hear from the media. Shame on them.

Courage and Consequences

Found book content interesting with some new insight. Reading by author was unimpressive and monotone, much the same as "1776" also read by it's author.Might be ego satisfying to author, however, boring to listener.

A very interesting story

A very interesting story of an interesting time in our country’s history. I recommend this book for anyone interested in politics or American government.

Wow! Karl Can Read & Write

The behind the scenes details of what the American people could not, would not be told at the time history unfolded is spelled out in this book. It starts with the simple straight forward biographical information that for the most part related to media attacks in Carl's later public years. Well done and greatly appreciated!

conservitisiam

rove hits a big one for bush telling it like it was in the bush era very good listen.

When Abridgement Is A Negative - But Great Content

I was glad to hear Karl Rove read this book himself. The only thing I didn't like was that the audio was an abridged version of the book. I bought the book as well, I thought much of the content left out of the abridged version was worthy of being left in, but I wasn't in charge.

Rove tells a compelling story from some very interesting perspectives. It's always great to read about major events, 9/11 for instance, and know what was happening to others who were "in charge". It's interesting to think that we knew more of what was going on in NYC, than they did on Air Force One, which had no direct TV feeds. The sections on Katrina and Iraq War are extremely enlightening. The final section is also pretty interesting with regard to Rove's interactions with Obama. The audio book moves along quickly and is well worth the monetary and time investments.

Bush cheerleader

I enjoyed the parts of the book about Rove's personal life. When he went on and on about how Bush was a great President he just lost it for me. I do appreciate Bush though for showing me clearly that a Republican administration and Congress when given the reins will spend even more money than a Democrat controlled government. (Is that really possible...yes) If you want to know what a great President would be read "The Revolution" by Ron Paul. The Revolution outlines what someone who believes in the Constitution and limited government might do. What a crazy idea for a free people, leaders obeying the law, living within your means.

Not a fan of Karl Rove, but I enjoyed this book

Karl Rove gives you a blow by blow and step by step explanation of how he accomplished monumental achievements in politics. Whether you think that was monumentally good or you, like me, think they leaned towards monumentally... less than great, you can appreciate the passion and conviction he has demonstrated for his believes.

Of course the book has a strong bias and paints himself and the Bush presidency in the best possible light. He also cannot help but take time to engage in kind of petty call outs of political acquaintances and opponents. BUT, unlike most others engaging in this type of writing he is actually willing to present a more balanced perspective. He talks about failures and shortcomings in a way that elevates the text beyond simple propaganda.

Not his slow cadence and frequent pauses makes it almost a necessity that you listen to the text at 1.85-2.00
x speed or else it becomes unbearable. All and all a worthwhile listen if you want to hear about these historic events from first hand accounts.

Who Cares

I read it. When finished, my only thought was, Who cares? What, he's like a famous statistician right? He's a hero in his own discredited mind.

Never been so disappointed

The guy obviously has special talents, but he seems to suffer from a low self esteem. He can be a king maker, but never thinks of becoming the king.
I was hoping that the book will focus on ideology and strategy. It starts like that, but very fast descends to the petty level of "The good guys vs. the bad guys".
Many places in the book he offers rebuttal to certain accusations, but his only proof is his word by saying "Not so". Only in one place, he offers a proof.
According to him, there are only three types of mistakes that can be attributed to President George W. Bush. 1- A mistake that never happened. 2- One that happened, but actually is not a mistake. 3- A mistake that happened, but actually it was Karl Rove's mistake not Bush's.