Karen Hughes, the US State Department's top imagemaker and a longtime confidante of US President George W. Bush, is quitting her post, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.
"I announce on behalf of the department and on behalf of the president that Karen Huges is, by the end of the year, sometime in mid-December, going to step down from her role as under secretary and return to Texas," Rice told a press conference.
The 50-year-old under secretary for public diplomacy has lead a public relations efforts to polish the US image particularly in the Middle East since July 2005, barely over two years.
Her departure follows that of top Bush political strategist Karl Rove and senior adviser Dan Bartlett -- the troika widely credited with the former Texas governor's rise to the White House.
Although her departure would be marked by a "great deal of sadness," there was "also a great deal of happiness for what she has achieved," Rice said.
"She has made it possible for every ambassador around the world to feel comfortable going out and talking about America's message, pressing the public diplomacy case," Rice said.
"And she has done so by institutionalizing, for instance, a rapid response unit that everyday lets people know what Washington is thinking and help them so that they can be confident of speaking for the United States," she said.
Hughes thanked Bush and Rice "for giving the great privilege of representing our country abroad and reaching out to the people of the world.
"I feel that I have done what Secretary Rice and President Bush asked me to do by transforming public diplomacy and making it a national security priority central to everything we do in government," Hughes said.
