Michael H. Herson is an American lobbyist and consultant for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

defense industry, and serves as the president and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of ''American Defense International'' (ADI). He was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1993.

Early life and education

Herson, whose father was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veteran, grew up in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. He began working at age 11. Herson painted poles, packed candy at warehouses, picked up garbage at drive-in movie theaters, and worked at a fried chicken restaurant. Herson attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, where he earned his B.A. and Master's degree in national security studies. Herson also holds a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Rutgers University School of Law Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

Career

While studying at Georgetown University, Herson served as an intern for Representative

Jim Courter James Andrew Courter (born October 14, 1941) is an American Republican Party politician, lawyer, and businessman. He represented parts of northwestern New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In 1989, he uns ...

. He was then chosen as a White House intern during the Reagan administration. During his internship, Herson worked in the executive office of the President, and spent time in other offices including the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

, the Office of Public Liaison, and the

Office of the First Lady The Office of the First Lady (OFL) is the staff accountable to the first lady of the United States. The office and its responsibilities, while not constitutionally mandated, have grown as the role of the first lady has grown and formalized throug ...

. Herson then joined the speech writing office of Vice President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

as an intern. He worked on state and federal campaigns while attending law school in New Jersey. Herson was later appointed as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management and Personnel, the Pentagon’s senior manpower official responsible for all personnel policy and oversight of the recruiting, training, compensation, support, and management of the Department’s military and civilian personnel. After leaving the Department of Defense, Herson became a visiting fellow for national-security affairs at the

Alexis de Tocqueville Institution The Alexis de Tocqueville Institution (AdTI) was a Washington, D.C. based think tank. AdTI was named after the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville. Founded in 1988, its president was Ken Brown and its chairman was Gregory Fossedal. At its pe ...

and was part of a team that represented the Great Lakes Naval Training Center before the Base Closure Commission. Herson returned to New Jersey when the county chairman contacted him about running for the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. Herson, who was working for a healthcare company at the time, won the Republican primary, but the campaign was lost to incumbent Frank Pallone, Jr.Arthur Z. Kamin
"Belford Commuter Ferry Proposal Becomes an Election Issue".
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 11/6/1994. In 1995, Herson joined the defense lobbying firm American Defense International (ADI) and became president and CEO of the firm.Nathan Hodge
"Defense Industry Fears More Budget Cuts".
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', 7/14/2011.Kate Ackley
"Street Talk: The Dream of Recess Deferred".
'' Roll Call'', 7/5/2011. ADI has worked with clients such as

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

, Raytheon,

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

and

United Technologies Corporation United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems ...

. As of 2015, ADI had 70 client bases in eight countries. Herson has been included on The Hill's list of Top Lobbyists from 2010 through 2019.

Other activities

Herson is on the board of Surprise Lake Camp, and has his own wine label, Herson Family Vineyards. Herson also serves on the Consensus for American Security, a program of the

American Security Project American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, and on the advisory board of The Bronx Freedom Fund.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herson, Michael H. American lobbyists Living people Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni American chief executives Rutgers University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)