US Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to quit when President George W Bush's term in office ends.
The moderate former army general will step down in January 2005 after becoming frustrated with the constant battles with hawks in the government, especially Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
"He will have done a yeoman's job of contributing over the four years, but that's enough," a close aide told Timemagazine.
"His view of the matter is `I did what my heart told me to do. I got [Mr Bush] here and set him up. I did the best I could do'."
The report comes as Mr Powell appeared to split with the White House policy on Iraq. In an interview with the BBC he joined calls for Saddam Hussein to allow United Nations inspectors back in to complete their assessment of its weapons industry.
The comments contradicted Mr Cheney who said last week that there was no point sending weapons inspectors back into Iraq, and instead argued forcefully for military action.
Mr Powell is currently the most popular of the entire Bush administration. An opinion poll last week gave him an approval rating of 78 per cent, higher than Mr Bush, Mr Rumsfeld, Mr Cheney and even former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Political analysts believe his departure would be a serious blow to the Republican party and its attempts to broaden its base beyond the hard liners.
The aide told the magazine that Mr Powell will stick by his earlier pledge that he will never run for President, and will not be a candidate in the 2008 election.
A state department spokesman said he will serve as long as the President wants him.
PA