Top Bush aide Dan Bartlett resigns

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dan Bartlett, a member of President George W. Bush's Texas inner circle and an aide for more than 13 years, announced on Friday he is resigning as White House counselor effective July 4.

The most important White House insider to leave Bush's side since the resignation last November of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Bartlett said he had decided to get a less demanding job so he could concentrate on helping raise his three young children all under the age of 4.

For the tall, prematurely gray Bartlett, who turned 36 on Friday, it has been more than six White House years of long days and weekend work. On vacations, he had to take along a device in order to hold a secure videoconference if needed.

The work is so relentless, he said, that his wife, Allyson, observed the other day that she was "one of the few people in America who wakes up to the tapping of a Blackberry."

Bartlett, who said he had been pondering his departure for months, started working for Bush in October 1993 in the future president's first race for Texas governor. One of his first communications crises was to handle the fallout when Bush accidentally shot an endangered bird on a hunting trip.

He stayed with Bush through another gubernatorial campaign and two presidential elections. As counselor, he was a key strategist on selling Bush's policy messages as well as an advisor to the president.

"His contribution has been immeasurable. I value his judgment and I treasure his friendship," Bush said in a statement.

"I understand his decision to make his young family his first priority. His most important job is to be a loving husband and father of three young sons. We wish him all the best," he said.