Craig Shirley

Craigan Paul Shirley^[1][2] (born September 24, 1956) is an American political consultant and author of several books on Ronald Reagan.^[3] Another work, Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington's Mother, was voted the Library of Virginia's 2020 People's Choice Award in the Nonfiction category.^[4]

Craig Shirley
Shirley in 2016
Born	Craigan Paul Shirley (1956-09-24) September 24, 1956 (age 68) Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Springfield College
Occupation(s)	Author, political consultant
Spouse	Zorine Shirley
Children	4
Website	www.shirleyandmcvicker.com

Life and career

Youth and education

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.^[5] As an eight-year-old, he accompanied his parents as they campaigned door to door in 1964, stumping for presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. In 1978, Shirley graduated from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he majored in history and political science.^[6]

Career

In the 1970s, he worked for Senator Jacob Javits of New York, the John N. Dalton gubernatorial campaign in Virginia,^[7] and Senator Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire.^[8] Shirley first met Ronald Reagan when Reagan campaigned for Humphrey in New Hampshire.^[9]

In 1980, the Fund for a Conservative Majority independent-expenditure political action committee spent $750,000 in support of Reagan's presidential bid, for which Shirley produced and placed radio and newspaper ads in six of the early primary states.^[10]

He joined the staff of the Republican National Committee in 1982. During the 1984 presidential campaign, Shirley was communications director for the National Conservative Political Action Committee.^[11] After Reagan’s reelection, in the late fall of 1984, Shirley opened his own firm 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 Mujaheddin, 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.; and lobbying on behalf of The Heritage Foundation for weapons shipments, via apartheid South Africa, to perpetuate Jonas Savimbi's 20-year insurgency against Angola. He also supported Reagan's Tax Reform Act of 1986, which reduced the top marginal tax rate from 50 percent to 28 percent, and participated in the 1985 White House Conference on Small Business.

In 1986, he became a consultant to Vice President George H. W. Bush's political action committee, Fund for America's Future, and supported George H. W. Bush's 1988 presidential bid.^[12] In 1991, Shirley ran an advertising campaign that recruited Kuwaitis to make false charges against Iraq during its occupation of Kuwait which helped lay the groundwork for the Gulf War, later doing public relations for the Embassy of Kuwait and for an international democracy conference hosted by Czechoslovak President Václav Havel. Shirley briefly partnered with David Keene, but that association ended in 1992.^[13]

During the 1990s, Shirley founded, on behalf of a group of privately owned utilities, a lobbying entity called Citizens for State Power, which — as the Tulsa World pointed out — was a "secretly funded front group to create an illusion of public support," spending "$350,000 on ads for his anti-deregulation group."Drinkard, Jim. "Fronts in Lobbying Edging Grass Roots". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2021-02-21.</ref> In 2000, Craig Shirley & Associates became Shirley & Banister Public Affairs. In 2019, it became Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs. Shirley is acting chair of the right-wing political action committee Citizens for the Republic.^[14][15]

Shirley is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Reagan Ranch^[16] and has lectured at the Reagan Library.^[17] He taught a week-long seminar on Reagan at Eureka College, a private Christian institution of which he is a trustee,^[18] in 2012.^[19]

Books

• 2005: Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All (Thomas Nelson)^[20]
• 2009: Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America (Intercollegiate Studies Institute)^[21]
• 2011: December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World (Thomas Nelson)^[22]
• 2015: Last Act: The Final Years and Emerging Legacy of Ronald Reagan (Thomas Nelson)^[23]
• 2017: Reagan Rising: The Decisive Years, 1976-1980 (HarperCollins)
• 2017: Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative (Thomas Nelson)^[24]
• 2019: Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington's Mother (Harper Collins)^[25]
• 2022: April 1945: The Hinge of History (Thomas Nelson)^[26]

His book December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World (2011) was a New York Times bestseller.^[27] His book, Last Act, was named best non-fiction narrative by USA Book News for 2015, while Rendezvous with Destiny was named one of the five best campaign books by the Wall Street Journal.

Personal life

Shirley is the founder of the Fort Hunt Youth Lacrosse Program and coached there for 14 years.^[28] His wife, Zorine Shirley, is a vice-president of the Essex Country Historical Society.^[29]