President Bush has suffered another personal and political setback today after his nomination for the US Supreme Court, Harriet Miers, withdrew her nomination.

Ms Miers, who had been part of the White House legal team, had been a controversial choice and had faced criticism from both Democrats and Republicans for her lack of experience and political affiliations.

Ms Miers said in a letter to the White House today that she was concerned the Senate confirmation process "presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interest of the country".

Mr Bush, who had initially refused to stand down on his choice of nomination, said in a statement: "Today, I have reluctantly accepted Harriet Miers’s decision to withdraw her nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States.

"My responsibility to fill this vacancy remains. I will do so in a timely manner."

The White House said that a bipartisan effort in Congress to obtain internal documents relating to her role as counsel to the President had played a part in today's decision.

"It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House, disclosures that would undermine a president’s ability to receive candid counsel," Mr Bush said.

Gerard Baker, US Editor of The Times, said that despite today's move being "one of the darkest moments for the President politically", the reason given for the withdrawal was the best face-saving strategy for the Bush Administration. "It is a clever way of getting out," he said.

"Her withdrawal was inevitable. The opposition to her nomination was becoming so strong among Republicans. She is so under-qualified for the job. But this withdrawal does give him the chance for rebuilding, to put forward a different nomination."

The latest political setback for Mr Bush comes on the eve of possible indictments for senior White House aides over a CIA leak scandal.

Karl Rove, Mr Bush's chief adviser, and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, are at the centre of an investigation into the naming of an undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.

The President has been under pressure from his traditional conservative base to withdraw the nomination from the 60-year-old Texan.

Ms Miers had made her name in the Lone Star State, but has done little to impress the legal establishment and still less to appeal to the Republican Right.

They had hoped for someone with a clear anti-abortion record in the hope that the Supreme Court will move to the Right and eventually overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade case setting out the legal right for abortion.

Doubt was cast over Ms Miers's conservative credentials when it emerged that in 1988 she donated $1,000 to the presidential campaign of Al Gore, the Democratic candidate.

Mr Bush also had to battle charges of cronyism for naming Ms Miers, his former personal lawyer and a non-judge, whom he referred to as "the best candidate he could find".

In another embarrassing setback, fawning letters from Ms Miers to Mr Bush found their way into the public domain.

In one, sent to Mr Bush when he was Governor of Texas, Ms Miers declared: "Keep up all the great work. The state is in great hands. Thanks also for yours and your family’s personal sacrifice."

Again, after seeing Mr Bush sign an autograph for a little girl, Ms Miers was moved to write: "I was struck by the tremendous impact you have on the children whose lives you touch."

Times Recommends

• UN may halt 400-year-old 'freedom of the seas'
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone
• Gas deal on hold, but Ukraine may pay in the end