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Craig Shirley

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Craig Shirley
Shirley in 2016
Born
Craigan Paul Shirley

(1956-09-24) September 24, 1956 (age 68)
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Alma materSpringfield College
OccupationAuthor
SpouseZorine Shirley
Children4
Websitewww.craigshirley.com

Craigan Paul Shirley[1][2] (born September 24, 1956) is a conservative American political consultant and author of four books on Ronald Reagan.[3]

Life and career

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Youth and education

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Shirley is the second son of Edward Bruce Shirley and Barbara Cone Shirley. His father was a founding member of the New York State Conservative Party.[4] In 1964, he went door to door with his parents, campaigning for presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. In 1978, Shirley graduated from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he majored in history and political science.[5]

Career

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In the 1970s, he was on the staff of Senator Jacob Javits of New York, the John N. Dalton campaign for governor of Virginia,[6] and Senator Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire.[7] Ronald Reagan traveled to New Hampshire to campaign for Humphrey, where Shirley first met Governor Reagan.[8]

In 1980, he ran an independent expenditure campaign in support of former California governor Ronald Reagan's presidential bid in the first six primary states on behalf of the Fund for a Conservative Majority. Shirley produced and placed radio and newspaper ads in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and three other states, maximizing the three quarters of a million dollars FCM budgeted for the campaign to help Reagan at a time when his campaign was short on funds.[9]

He joined the staff of the Republican National Committee in 1982. During the 1984 presidential campaign, Shirley was the Director of Communications for the National Conservative Political Action Committee, America's largest independent political committee, which spent over $14 million on behalf of President Ronald Reagan's re-election.[10] After the election, Shirley opened his own firm[11] and worked on numerous matters in co-ordination with the Reagan White House, including aid to the Nicaraguan Contras, support for the Strategic Defensive Initiative, support for the Afghanistan Mujahideen, support for Jonas Savimbi's UNITA, and support for the Tax Reform Act of 1986. He also worked on the White House Conference on Small Business in 1985.

In 1986, he became a consultant to the Fund for America's Future, the political action committee of Vice President George H. W. Bush, and worked on George H. W. Bush's 1988 presidential bid.[12] In 1991, Shirley ran an advertising and public affairs campaign supporting President Bush and Operation Desert Storm, later represented the Embassy of the State of Kuwait and was placed in charge of public relations for an international conference on democracy hosted in Prague by President Václav Havel of then Czechoslovakia. For a short time, Shirley and David Keene partnered in a firm, but that association ended in 1992.[13]

During the 1990s, Shirley conceived and created Citizens for State Power, which represented small investor-owned utilities, and they successfully stopped the attempts by Enron to nationalize the electricity grid.[14] In 2000, Craig Shirley & Associates became Shirley & Banister Public Affairs. In 2019, it became Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs. Shirley is the acting chairman of the political action committee Citizens for the Republic.[15][16]

Shirley is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Reagan Ranch[17] and has lectured at the Reagan Library.[18] He was chosen in 2005 by Springfield College as their Outstanding Alumnus[19] and has been named the Visiting Reagan Scholar at Eureka College, Ronald Reagan's alma mater. He taught a weeklong class, "Reagan 101", at Eureka College in 2012.[20] He was also appointed as a Trustee of Eureka.[21] He is also a member of the school's Reagan Forward Advisory Council.

Books

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  • Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All (Thomas Nelson, 2005)[22]
  • Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America (Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2009)[23]
  • December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World (Thomas Nelson, 2011)[24]
  • Last Act: The Final Years and Emerging Legacy of Ronald Reagan (Thomas Nelson, 2015)[25]
  • Reagan Rising: The Decisive Years, 1976-1980 (HarperCollins, 2017)
  • Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative (Thomas Nelson, 2017)[26]
  • Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington's Mother (Harper Collins 2019)[27]
  • April 1945: The Hinge of History (Thomas Nelson, 2022)[28]

His book December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World (2011) was a New York Times bestseller.[29] His book, Last Act, was named best narrative in the non-fiction category by USA Book News for 2015. His book Rendezvous with Destiny, about Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, was named one of the five best campaign books of all time by the Wall Street Journal.

Personal life

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Shirley is the founder of the Ft. Hunt Youth Lacrosse Program and was a coach there for 14 years.[30] Zorine Shirley is a Vice President of the Essex Country Historical Society.[31]

References

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  1. ^ "Green, Max: Files, 1985-1988" (PDF). Reagan Library. p. 143. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "Contributions Arranged By Type And Recipient". Federal Election Commission. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "Craig Shirley". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
  4. ^ "Edward Shirley Dies In Hospital". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York. March 12, 1977. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  5. ^ "Springfield College History Program News | Springfield College". springfield.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  6. ^ Quenqua, Douglas. "Profile: Shirley helps right-wing ideals reach new heights". The PR Week.
  7. ^ "Ronald Reagan: A look at his life, presidency and policies with Craig Shirley". Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  8. ^ Shirley, Craig. "Ronald Reagan: A look at his life, presidency and policies with Craig Shirley". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ "A Bit of History". Archived from the original on 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2015-04-25.
  10. ^ Dillin, John. "Ad campaigns on behalf of candidates are rough-and-tumble". The Christian Science Monitor.
  11. ^ "About Us". Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  12. ^ "Craig Shirley". Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  13. ^ "Craig Shirley". Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  14. ^ Drinkard, Jim. "Fronts in Lobbying Edging Grass Roots". Associated Press.
  15. ^ "Officers". Retrieved 2015-04-27.
  16. ^ "Mission". Retrieved 2015-04-27.
  17. ^ "Reagan Ranch Board of Governors". Retrieved 2012-08-08.
  18. ^ "Lecture with author Craig Shirley" (web). craigshirley.com. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  19. ^ "Lecture and Book Signing with Craig Shirley". Archived from the original on 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  20. ^ "Ronald Reagan". Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  21. ^ "EC elects trustees, officers". Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  22. ^ Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign that Started it All. Thomas Nelson. 2010. ISBN 978-1-59555-342-3.
  23. ^ Shirley, Craig (2011). Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America. ISBN 978-1-935191-93-3.
  24. ^ December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World. Thomas Nelson. 2011. ISBN 978-1-59555-457-4.
  25. ^ Last Act: The Final Years and Emerging Legacy of Ronald Reagan. Thomas Nelson. 2015. ISBN 978-1-59555-534-2.
  26. ^ Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative. Thomas Nelson. 2017. ISBN 978-1-59555-448-2.
  27. ^ Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington's Mother. Harper. 2019. ISBN 978-006245651-9.
  28. ^ April 1945: The Hinge of History. Thomas Nelson. 2022. ISBN 978-140021708-3.
  29. ^ "April 1945". Marketing Pages. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  30. ^ Hosticka, Alexis. "Fort Hunt Youth Lacrosse Celebrates 25th Year". Alexandria Gazette Packet.
  31. ^ elizabeth.prillaman. "Board of Directors & Staff". Essex County Museum & Historical Society. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
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