Hughes left the Bush administration in July 2002 to return to Texas , but remained in daily contact with the Bush reelection campaign by telephone and e-mail , and spoke personally with Bush several times a week . In August 2004 , Hughes returned to full-time service with the Bush campaign , setting up office on Air Force One , from where she planned the 2004 Republican National Convention and the late stages of the 2004 election . She has been praised by '' The Dallas Morning News '' as " the most powerful woman ever to serve in the White House " , and by ABC News as Bush 's " most essential advisor . " In March 2004 , Hughes published '' Ten Minutes from Normal '' , which includes an account of her decision to leave the White House . While promoting her book , she appeared on CNN on April 25 , 2004 - the same day as the March for Women 's Lives - and said " I think after September 11th the American people are valuing life more and realizing that we need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life . And President Bush has worked to say , let 's be reasonable , let 's work to value life , let 's try to reduce the number of abortions , let 's increase adoptions . And I think those are the kind of policies that the American people can support , particularly at a time when we 're facing an enemy , and really the fundamental difference between us and the terror network we fight is that we value every life . It 's the founding conviction of our country , that we 're endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights , the right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness . " On March 14 , 2005 , Bush announced his intention to nominate Hughes for the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy with the rank of ambassador &mdash; a job focused on changing foreigners ' perceptions about America . The Senate confirmed her nomination in July 2005 . In her new capacity , Hughes spoke of improving the world 's perception of the United States via creation of a " rapid-response unit " and a plan to " forward-deploy regional SWAT teams " . During a town hall meeting on September 8 , 2005 , a State Department employee complained that " recently , we 've had tremendous amount of difficulty in some cases getting clearance for our ambassadors to speak . " Hughes replied , " If they make statements based on something I sent them , they 're not going to be called on the carpet . " At the end of her tenure in the State Department , Hughes said that one of her greatest accomplishments had been " transforming public diplomacy and making it a national security priority central to everything we do in government " . Hughes was the keynote speaker at the October 22 , 2007 , Public Relations Society of America 's International Conference and discussed , " Waging Peace -- The New Paradigm for Public Diplomacy . " Starting with a September 26 , 2005 , stop in Egypt , Hughes went on a " listening tour " of the Middle East to speak with leaders and people from the region . This was a response to growing fears in America about rampant anti-Americanism in the Middle East . Hughes was the third person chosen for this task by President Bush , following unsuccessful attempts by Charlotte Beers and Margaret Tutwiler . For her tour , Hughes asked two Citizen Ambassadors to accompany her : a college student , Tina Karima Daoud , and William O'Brien , a retired high school geography teacher
2004 Republican National Convention
2004 Republican National Convention
Karen Hughes