ARLINGTON, Va. — NACDS  announced that Karl Rove, senior advisor and deputy chief of staff for then-President George W. Bush, will speak at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Political Action Committee (NACDS-PAC) Breakfast during the in-person 2022 NACDS Annual Meeting, to be held April 23-26 in Palm Beach, Fla.

While at the White House from 2000-2007, Rove oversaw the Offices of Strategic Initiatives, Political Affairs, Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs and was deputy chief of staff for policy, coordinating the White House policy-making process.

“We are thrilled to welcome back Karl Rove to this year’s NACDS Annual Meeting,” said NACDS president and CEO Steven Anderson.“Attendees appreciate the strategic insights that he brings to the major political issues of the day, and much of that comes from his energetic study of history and his first-hand experience in the political arena. With the 2022 elections fast-approaching, we can look forward to sage analysis delivered in compelling fashion.”

Before Rove became known as “The Architect” of President Bush’s two presidential election campaigns (2000, 2004), he was president of Karl Rove + Company — an Austin, Texas-based public affairs firm that served Republican candidates, non-partisan causes and non-profit groups. His clients included over 75 Republican U.S. Senate, Congressional and gubernatorial candidates in 24 states, as well as the Moderate Party of Sweden.

Rove has been described by author and columnist Michael Barone in U.S. News & World Report as “… unique … no Presidential appointee has ever had such a strong influence on politics and policy, and none is likely to do so again anytime soon.”

The late David Broder, iconic Washington Post reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote that Rove was a master political strategist whose “game has always been long term … and he plays it with an intensity and attention to detail that few can match.”

Fred Barnes, Washington Examiner columnist and Fox News commentator, called him “the greatest political mind of his generation and probably of any generation … He knows history, understands the moods of the public and is a visionary on matters of public policy.”

Rove writes a weekly op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, appears frequently on the Fox News Channel and is the author of The New York Times bestseller, Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight. His latest book is The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters.

Rove has been a fixture on the Texas political scene since the late 1970s, when he helped Bill Clements become the first Republican Governor of Texas in over a century. He now serves on the University of Texas Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee and on the Board of Trustees for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation and the Texas State History Museum Foundation.

The bipartisan NACDS-PAC supports Congressional candidates who understand and help to advance pro-pharmacy and pro-patient policies. The NACDS-PAC Breakfast features leaders of diverse political and ideological bents, and is part of the NACDSChain Members and PAC Breakfast, during which NACDS-related business is conducted. The event is open to NACDS chain members and to NACDS-PA Ccontributors.

As previously released, Lisa Sun, founder and CEO of GRAVITAS, and Dr. Mark Esper, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, will speak during the 2022 NACDS Annual Meeting Luncheon on Monday, April 25, and the Business Program on Tuesday, April 26, respectively.

NACDS invites all chain and associate members to register and attend the in-person 2022 NACDS Annual Meeting, to be held April 23-26.