President Bush, whose presidency seems more beleaguered than ever, his behavior more erratic by the day, can't be too happy today -- he has just lost his longest-serving aide.
Dan Bartlett, whose official title is counselor to the president, announced his resignation Friday, which is also his 36th birthday.
Bartlett has been much more than just a counselor over the years; he has been director of rapid response for Bush's first presidential campaign, a deputy assistant to the president and White House communications director. In all, counting the time he served with Bush in Texas during the 1990s, Bartlett has been with the president for almost 14 years.
And Bartlett himself replaced another trusted Bush confidante and jack-of-all-trades, Karen Hughes, who held the counselor to the president title from 2001 until 2002 and returned to the administration as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in 2005.
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