Gibbs leaves White House

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says it’s been a “remarkable privilege” to be President Barack Obama’s top spokesman.
“I would not trade the worst days here for many of the best days at another job,” Gibbs said today, after announcing his departure from the White House. But he said he wants to “step back a little bit and recharge some” after four years of campaigning and a hard-fought first half of the Obama administration — “probably the busiest years that Washington and the White House have seen in a couple of decades.”
Gibbs said he will leave the podium after the upcoming State of the Union address — but will remain in the Washington area as a pundit, supporting White House positions on cable television and in speeches.
“It’s a remarkable privilege. It is in may ways the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. We’ve been going at this pace for four years.”
No decision has been made about his replacement, he said.
In a written statement, Obama hailed Gibbs as “a close friend, one of my closest advisers and an effective advocate from the podium.” But he said it was “natural” for his longtime aide “to want to step back, reflect and retool.”
Gibbs was Obama’s spokesman during the 2008 presidential campaign, having joined the future president’s team when Obama ran for U.S. Senate in 2004.
The Alabama-born Gibbs is a vocal supporter of Auburn University who shares Obama’s enthusiasm for sports. (CNN)