2006 Year In Photos: Politics

House Speaker Dennis Hastert walks away after answering questions in Aurora, Ill., Oct. 10, 2006. Hastert said he would dismiss staff members found to have covered up concerns about ex-Rep. Mark Foley's approaches to former congressional pages. A House panel later concluded that GOP leaders did not break any rules, but were found to be negligent in protecting those pages against Foley's improper advances.

President George W. Bush, right, walks out of the Oval Office of the White House in Washington with outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Nov. 8, 2006, after announcing that former CIA Director Robert Gates had been nominated to replace Rumsfeld. After months of criticism, Rumsfeld resigned the day after Democrats posted big wins at the polls, in what many saw as a referendum on U.S. policy in Iraq.

House Democratic Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., celebrates with Democratic House and Senate leaders at an election night rally in Washington on Nov. 7, 2006, after their party took control of the House of Representatives. The Democrats will also have control of the Senate in the 110th Congress. Pelosi, who will become the first woman speaker, said voters "spoke for change..."

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., shakes hands with well-wishers outside a firehouse in New York on Nov. 8, 2006. Clinton was re-elected to the Senate from New York by a large majority. She has yet to say whether she will seek the presidency in 2008.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shakes hands with supporters as he celebrates at a victory party in Beverly Hills on Nov. 7, 2006. Schwarzenegger coasted to an easy victory over Democrat Phil Angelides, completing a comeback from a disastrous bid a year ago to realign political power in Sacramento.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, wearing sunglasses belonging to Elvis Presley, pretends to play a guitar as Priscilla Presley, second from left, Lisa Marie Presley, center, and President Bush, second from right, look on during their tour of Graceland, Elvis' home in Memphis, Tenn., on June 30, 2006. Koizumi, a big Elvis fan and friend of the president, stepped down as prime minister in September.

Christus Spohn Hospital emergency room medical director Dr. David Blanchard speaks during a news conference on the condition of the 78-year-old lawyer wounded by Vice President Dick Cheney on Feb. 15, 2006 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Cheney accidentally shot Harry Whittington while on a hunting trip four days earlier.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. acknowledges the crowd at the state Democratic election celebration party in Manchester, N.H., on Dec. 10, 2006. Obama was the guest speaker at the event. The first-term senator was a hit in New Hampshire, bus has not anounced whether he'll run for president in 2008.

Fielding Questions — AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

President George W. Bush speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House on Oct. 11, 2006. The president's sixth year began with initiatives on immigration, education and energy. As the year ended, the president was working on a new approach to Iraq -- but insisting it still would be aimed at victory.