WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft, one of President Bush's most controversial Cabinet members, and Commerce Secretary Don Evans, one of the quietest, will not serve in the second term of his administration, the White House announced last night.

Associated Press Attorney General John Ashcroft, left, and Commerce Secretary Don Evans resigned from President Bush's administration yesterday.

Ashcroft drafted his resignation in a five-page, handwritten letter dated Nov. 2 -- Election Day -- in which he boasted that Americans have achieved safety from crime and terrorism. He noted that the public has been spared the "violence and savagery of another terrorist attack" since Sept. 11, 2001, and crime is at a 30-year low.

The White House did not report the two resignations until after the stock market had closed.

Ashcroft has been a lightning rod for criticism through his passionate advocacy of the Patriot Act and a plan to strengthen it that Congress has yet to approve.

He was widely lauded by evangelical and conservative groups, such as the Family Research Council and the Traditional Values Coalition, for his conservative ideals. When rumors of his possible departure circulated before the election, these groups begged him to stay on and issued news releases saying he was one of the nation's best attorneys general.

But Ashcroft also was excoriated by civil liberties groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, for detaining without due process thousands of predominantly Muslim men following the domestic attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The ACLU yesterday said Ashcroft's legacy "has been an open hostility to protecting civil liberties and an outright disdain for those who dare to question his policies."

Ashcroft sometimes clashed with those in the White House who felt that he was too acerbic and over-reached in his suggestion that some members of Congress, some conservative Republicans among them, were all but giving aid and comfort to the terrorist enemy by criticizing the Patriot Act. Ashcroft publicly butted heads with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who is likely to become the Senate Judiciary Committee's chairman in the next Congress.

Ashcroft also drew some public ridicule for directing that naked classical statues inside the Justice Department be draped with cloth when he held news conferences in his headquarters' great hall on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Ralph Neas, head of People for the American Way, which led a coalition that tried to block Ashcroft's nomination, yesterday called him "one of the most destructive attorneys general in the modern era. His tenure was marked by a severe erosion of Americans' constitutional liberties and a diminished commitment to civil rights enforcement."

Ashcroft, 62, endured a painful bout with pancreatitis last March and had a gallbladder operation. Friends said those setbacks left him tired and wondering whether he wanted to remain for another bruising battle when Congress debates extending the Patriot Act, portions of which expire next year. Ashcroft said in his letter that the job has been "both rewarding and depleting."

The Justice Department said the White House accepted his resignation and did not pressure him to stay.

The date of Ashcroft's letter would indicate that Bush had already received it when he said at a news conference last week that personnel changes in his second term were inevitable.

Ashcroft said he had written the letter by hand to maintain its confidentiality until Bush decided on the proper moment for the announcement. He concluded his letter to the president, "May God continue to bless, guide and direct you and your family as you lead America forward in freedom."

Ashcroft has given no indication of what he wants to do next, but, at his age, he isn't expected to retire fully. Before becoming attorney general, he had been a Missouri governor and a U.S. senator. He lost his seat in 2000 when voters instead chose a man who had died in a plane crash before the election. Ashcroft may have future political ambitions or want an ambassadorship. But he made clear that he was ready to leave his present post.

"I believe that the Department of Justice would be well-served by new leadership and fresh inspiration," he wrote. He was expected to stay until his successor is nominated by Bush and confirmed by the Senate.

Senior White House adviser Karl Rove yesterday said the president has not yet decided upon a successor. As for his own future, Rove, who masterminded the strategy for the re-election campaign, said he intended to stay on at the White House overseeing its political office, public liaison office, intergovernmental relations office and its new Office of Strategic Initiatives.

The short list of possible replacements for Ashcroft circulating for several weeks includes popular former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, who would become the first black attorney general but recently accepted a job with PepsiCo. Others on the list are former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who might not desire the post because its rigors could complicate his seeking the presidency in four years; former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, who just finished a successful stint running the president's re-election campaign; and White House General Counsel Alberto Gonzales, who might also be in line for a Supreme Court justice's seat if a vacancy occurs.

There was some speculation within the Justice Department that there might be a wholesale departmental shake-up, introducing new blood. That could potentially usher into Washington a crop of current U.S. attorneys, possibly including Mary Beth Buchanan from Pittsburgh.

Buchanan said yesterday that should could not speculate on how Ashcroft's departure might affect her career. She said she planned to meet with him today in Washington.

Evans, one of Bush's closest friends in Washington, got to know Bush shortly after the president returned to Texas from Harvard Business School and went into the energy business. Evans, himself a wealthy Texas oilman, has spent much of his Commerce Department tenure traveling the world to promote U.S. trade.

Evans, 58, told reporters a few weeks ago that he was homesick for Texas but would do the president's bidding.

The Evans announcement was a surprise, and few names immediately popped up as likely successors. One prospect is Mercer Reynolds III, a Cincinnati businessman who raised more than $250 million for Bush's re-election campaign. He also hosted a reception for first lady Laura Bush at his home that raised $800,000.