Karen Hughes exits White House

By Karyn Chenoweth Nov 1, 2007, 13:28 GMT

United States undersecretary of state for diplomacy and public affairs Karen Hughes answers questions from media during a visit to the Manila American Cemetery in Taguig City, Philippines on Friday 26 January 2007. EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA

Karen Hughes, the former Texas television reporter and Republican media consultant picked by President Bush to help America's image around the world, said Wednesday she will leave her job at the end of the year.

Hughes is a longtime friend of the president; she told the Houston Chronicle that she realized efforts to reverse international perceptions of America will take "a matter of decades and not of days."

Hughes, 50, has served as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs since July 2005.

Hughes also cited the travel burden on her personal life as a reason for her departure.

"It got harder and harder to go to the airport on Sunday afternoon and come back to Washington," Hughes said to the Chronicle. "I just want to live in the same city with my husband."

This will be the second time Hughes has left the Bush administration - serving initially as the president's West Wing counselor and communications administrator for the first 18 months of his presidency, helping to craft Bush's response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Hughes is the latest Texan to abandon the Bush administration. Other Lone Star personnel to bail out include Karl Rove, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and communications specialist Dan Bartlett.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the remaining Texans include Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Clay Johnson, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had high praise for Hughes. 

"She has built a strong organization that ... future administrations will be able to rely on," Rice said.

Hughes told the Houston Chronicle that she has not decided what she'd like to do with the rest of her life.

"Whatever it is, I will live in Austin," she declared. "Maybe teach. I do want to improve my Spanish."