PERSON: John Feehery

The Feehery Group

Founder, Republican strategist

Feehery has spent two decades in a variety of influential positions in Washington, D.C, both as a key advisor to leading members of the Congress, and in the private sector.

Feehery is widely-regarded as an insightful strategist, and is a regular guest on cable television programs like CNN’s The Situation Room and MSNBC’s The Ed Show and Hardball. His blog, The Feehery Theory, is one of the most popular reads on Capitol Hill, and he also regularly contributes to The Hill’s Pundit’s Blog, Politico’s Idea page and CNN.com’s opinion section. He has been called "indefatigable" by Norm Ornstein and "highly-regarded" by the Washington Post's Al Kamen, and he was named to Roll Call's Fab Fifty List for six years when he served in Congress.

Feehery served 6 years as the lead spokesman to Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, where he managed the communications department for the speaker. According to the Congressional Research Service, Feehery’s tenure as top spokesman to a speaker was the longest in House history.

Right before he started The Feehery Group, Feehery served as executive vice president for Global Government Relations and Global Public Relations for the Motion Picture Association of America. There, he focused on issues like intellectual property protection, anti-piracy, and artistic freedom.

Feehery came directly to the speaker's office after a stint as a government relations advocate for the well-known firm Barbour, Griffith and Rogers, while also serving concurrently as vice president for communications for policy impact communications. Before that stint, Feehery served from 1995 until 1998 as the communications director for Majority Whip Tom DeLay.

Before becoming DeLay's communications director, he served as the Whip office's chief floor assistant, during the historically notable "Contract with America." He advised Members of Congress on how to vote, and helped the Whip Office count votes for the first eight months of the historic 104th Congress.

Feehery started his career with House Minority Leader Robert Michel, where he served as a research analyst and speechwriter. His most notable achievement during his service in Michel's office was his creation of the House Republican Theme Team. Under Feehery's leadership, for the first time in history, House Republicans used one-minute speeches and Special orders in a coordinated fashion to promote their message, helping to poke holes in the Clinton Administration's agenda and setting the state for the 1994 elections. The Theme Team still exists today.

-- thefeeherygroup.com