Gordon Hensley, the principal of Strategic Media, Inc., began his political career in 1980 as a $40 per week town chairman coordinator for Ronald Reagan’s New Hampshire presidential campaign. After that life-changing experience, he was hooked on political campaigns.
Hensley went on to serve for over a decade as a press secretary and speechwriter on Capitol Hill and various statewide and presidential campaigns for, among others, former U.S. Rep. Joe DioGuardi (R-NY); former U.S. Rep. James Courter (R-NJ); U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX); GOP presidential candidate Pete du Pont; New Jersey Senatorial candidate Pete Dawkins; and Texas gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams.
He has also served as communications director to Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, in Baton Rouge, LA, and as a DC deputy communications director for state media on George H.W. Bush’s 1992 re-election campaign.
Hensley, having learned the ups and downs of the rough and tumble campaign communications business -- from the ground up -- saw a clear need for more emphasis on improving coordination of cumulative paid/earned media message output. He founded Strategic Media, Inc. in 1993 with a specific niche focus on optimizing candidates’ daily stump message with paid and earned media efforts.
This same basic function remains a cornerstone of SMI's corporate and campaign efforts -- and is even more important today with the growing array of message vehicles now available.
Following his new firm’s communications work in several statewide campaigns -- including George Pataki's 1994 gubernatorial effort in New York against Mario Cuomo -- Hensley shelved SMI after being tapped by U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) to serve as communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
From 1995-'97 he served as the senior NRSC spokesman and writer, and was responsible for all aspects of the Committee's national and state media communications strategy for 34 U.S. Senate races. Concurrent with his NRSC work, Hensley also worked as a communications consultant for Senator Bob Dole’s GOP presidential primary campaign. In ’96, Hensley had the opportunity to author South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond’s final campaign announcement speech, and also spent several months on the ground in Oregon as a senior communications advisor to help elect U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith.
It was then that Hensley was recognized for his expertise in news management tactics, operations and strategy – and was cited by the Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, as one of its “Fabulous Fifty” most influential on Capitol Hill. In addition to being invited to made several appearances as a guest lecturer on campaigns and politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, he also appeared on various National Press Club campaign newsmaker panels.
After leaving the NRSC, in early 1997, SMI was retained by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to help elect U.S. Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) in a competitive NY-13 (Staten Island/Brooklyn) special election. Hensley’s firm was also retained by the reelection campaign of U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell (R-GA), the Republican Leadership Council (RLC), the New York State Republican Party, and several other political clients.
SMI remained 100% campaign-oriented until 1999, when the firm took a more non-partisan, private sector path -- and began collaborating with larger public relations firms on major corporate accounts. SMI did no additional political work until 2006, when Hensley, late in the cycle, helped re-tool, overhaul and lead the Bob Corker for U.S. Senate communications operation in his high profile Tennessee victory against former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, Jr.
Now in its 15th year, SMI has worked with a wide variety of the nation's major Republican and Democratic media consultants, polling firms and public affairs professionals on many successful projects and campaign endeavors.