After two years of missteps, criticism, Steele withdraws

Republicans emerged from a 2008 electoral drubbing lacking not only a telegenic spokesman for the party but virtually any major officials who were not white, a major void after the election of the nation's first black president. Michael S. Steele seemed like the right man at the right time: an African American Republican who loved going on television.

But instead of turning into a solution for the GOP, Steele stumbled so many times in his first few months as chairman of the Republican National Committee that party officials openly considered replacing him before the first quarter of his two-year tenure had ended.


Michael S. Steele, with Republican National Committee member Holly Hughes,
heads back to the floor of Friday's meeting at National Harbor to release his delegates

Republicans completed the dumping of Steele on Friday, voting out the party's first-ever black chairman.

His reelection defeat was widely anticipated but still an unusual moment in American politics: a party removing its chairman after winning historic victories with him at the helm. Despite the wins, his tenure may be best remembered for the RNC paying for an evening at a bondage-themed Hollywood nightclub for potential donors, Steele's feud with conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh and his declaration that the war in Afghanistan was one of "Obama's choosing."

"I hope you all appreciate the legacy we leave. Despite the noise, despite the difficulties, we won," a weary-looking Steele said Friday in a speech at National Harbor in Prince George's County as he withdrew from contention for the chairman's post.

For Steele, the defeat ends his time in a place he had long coveted: a high-profile job in national politics. The D.C. native, who was lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2006 and decided against a run for party chairman the next year. Continue ►