Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue : The road to history -- A broken family on the western front -- King of the college Republicans -- Planting roots in Texas -- What is a Rovian campaign? -- Conquering Texas -- A new kind of governor -- Glimmers of the White House -- The grand plan -- Stung by New Hampshire, rescued by South Carolina -- The big Mo' -- The Cheney choice -- Derailed by a DUI -- Thirty-six days in hell -- The real West wing -- Thinking big -- 9/11 -- Ground zero -- Striking back -- What bipartisanship? -- Joe Wilson's attack -- Bush was right on Iraq -- The special prosecutor and me -- Getting ready for Kerry -- Drugs and marriage -- Trapping Kerry, making peace with McCain -- Suspense and victory -- The Democrats unleashed -- Anything for a scalp -- Katrina -- Republicans on the run -- The surge -- Yes, it was fun -- Leaving the White House -- Rove : the myth -- Epilogue.

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.--From publisher description.