SMPA's Leadership

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                         Founder | Chairman

New York Times bestselling author and five-time Ronald Reagan biographer, Craig Shirley founded the firm in the 1980s, and continues to serve as chairman today. 

Craig Shirley has been professionally involved in American politics and government for over four decades. He worked in government and on campaigns at the congressional, gubernatorial, and presidential levels but now, in addition to helping manage the affairs of Shirley & McVicker, he spends his time writing and lecturing about  presidential politics and American history. Craig worked for the Republican National Committee in 1982, served as the Director of Communications for the National Conservative Political Action Committee in 1984, and in 1986, he became a consultant to the Fund for America’s Future, the political action committee of Vice President George H. W. Bush, working closely with the future President George W. Bush.

After Reagan’s reelection and in the late fall of 1984, Shirley opened the 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 Mujahideen, support for Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA, and support for the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Shirley was also a decorated contract agent for the CIA.

Mr. Shirley is a frequent on-air commentator on various news shows on Newsmax, as well as MSNBC's Morning Joe, FOX's The Ingraham Angle, C-SPAN's The Washington Journal, and his opinion pieces are consistently featured in Townhall, The Washington Examiner, The Washington Times and a variety of other major media outlets. 

He is widely known as one of the leading presidential historians on the life and times of our 40th president, Ronald Reagan. 

Shirley is a member of the Board of Trustees of Eureka College, is a member of the Board of Governors of the Reagan Ranch and has often lectured at the Reagan Library. He is also a member of the Reagan Alumni Association. He has addressed the Friends of Ronald Reagan association in Los Angeles and occasionally consults for the Reagan Library, especially on campaign displays and political history. 

He is the author of ten books, including four on Ronald Reagan. 

He was chosen in 2005 by Springfield College as their "Outstanding Alumnus" and has been named the Visiting Reagan Scholar at Eureka College, Ronald Reagan's alma mater. He taught a week-long class, "Reagan 101" at Eureka College in 2012. He was also appointed as a Trustee of Eureka. He is also a member of the school’s Reagan Forward Advisory Council. In the fall of 2019, he taught a course on Ronald Reagan at the University of Virginia.

                      Vice President | Partner

Kevin McVicker is the vice president and a partner at Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs.  He joined the firm in 1999 as an account executive, then for twelve years expanded his managerial role as an account supervisor, became Vice President of the firm in 2015, and in 2019 was made a partner of the firm. 

He currently oversees the daily operations of the firm, while continuing to provide effective political, media relations and public policy strategies to the firm’s diverse clientele.

In his tenure at SMPA, Kevin McVicker gained extensive experience in the area of issue advocacy coalitions, which include strategizing initiatives on public policy issues.  He successfully publicized major litigation including landmark U.S. Supreme Court Cases involving Hobby Lobby in 2014, the Little Sisters of the Poor in 2016, and in 2020 June Medical Services v. Russo.  He has directed publicity for multi-million dollar documentary feature films, including 2016: Obama’s America, the second highest-grossing political documentary, Unplanned, and most recently the documentary No Safe Spaces. 

Mr. McVicker has also spearheaded media coverage and maintained high-visibility exposure for prestigious clients, including presidential candidates, law firms, and bestselling authors, such as Ann Coulter, the late Robert Novak, and Major Garrett.

He is a native of New Jersey, and holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Politics from the Catholic University of America.  In 2005, Mr. McVicker was selected as a Rising Star of American Politics by Campaigns & Elections magazine.  He has contributed op-eds and book reviews to Newsmax.com, FoxNews.com, and The Washington Times.  In 2018 he began teaching U.S. Citizenship and English language learner classes through his parish.

Mr. McVicker resides in Woodbridge, Virginia, with his wife, Patty, and their three children.  He is an active member of the Knights of Columbus.