By ROBERT MCFARLAND, JR. DBJ Contributing Writer

It’s quite a mystery. Whether there’s something in the water, or just an abundance of talent (probably the latter), the state of Mississippi has, and has had, outstanding representation in our nation’s capitol. One need only think of Trent Lott, Thad Cochran, Mike Espy, among many, many others. Now a new native son, a Delta son at that, can be added to the illustrious list of Mississippi movers and shakers in our nation’s capitol. Chris Henick, born and raised in Yazoo City, has the ear of none other than President George W. Bush. His life journey, from an idyllic Delta boyhood to the most prestigious address in the world, is one of perseverance and dedication.
“My family has been in Yazoo County for five generations,” Henick says. “My grandparents lived on Grand Avenue in Yazoo City, and I still have family living in that house. My father owned an auto supply business on the south end of Main Street and he also owned an outdoor advertising business with my grandfather. I grew up working in the family business on Main Street and most of my adult philosophy stems from lessons learned there—just plain, good, honest small town business approaches to serving people.”
Henick’s father, Chris Henick, Jr., was active in the early pioneer days of the Mississippi Republican Party. In fact, back in 1963, he was one of the few supporters of Rubel Phillips, the Republican candidate for governor. Henick says his earliest political memories are of going door to door with his father, at the age of seven campaigning for Phillips.
Attending Manchester Academy in Yazoo City, Henick did all of the normal things a teenage boy would do, such as play basketball, hunt, and so forth. “My boyhood was a typical, Southern, small-town one, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Henick says. “I loved Yazoo City, but I also loved politics, and that would be the ticket that would lead me out of town to enter the national political arena.”
Henick’s grandparents lived next door to the grandparents of another well known Washington, D.C. figure, Haley Barbour. However, the two never really crossed paths growing up, Henick says, since Barbour had a nine-year age advantage over him. “I didn’t know Haley growing up, but I certainly came to respect him, as I got older, as the well known political ‘Southern strategist’ in national GOP circles,” Henick says. “I did end up getting to know Haley well by working with him in ‘81 and ‘82 in his Senate campaign when he challenged John Stennis.”
After graduating from high school, Henick attended the University of Mississippi, later going on to receive a B.A. in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University. Henick says, curiously enough, he was not very interested in student politics while in Oxford. “I was more of an ‘Ole Miss’ student than a University of Mississippi student,” Henick chuckles. “Having says that, though, I credit politics with helping me mature and become more focused,” he adds. After a brief stint back in Yazoo City working with his father, Henick was preparing to go into the career that would eventually propel him to the White House.
Recalling his foray into the political realm, Henick mentions attending the Neshoba County Fair in 1980 and hearing the keynote speaker at the famous event that year: a fellow named Ronald Reagan.
“Governor Reagan had just received the Republican nomination for president in Detroit, and his first stop after that was the Fair, where he made a very famous speech,” Henick remembers. “I was a volunteer at the event to help prepare for Reagan’s visit, got to meet him, and delivered one of Greg Harkin’s rocking chairs to his tour bus to go back to the California ranch.” Henick laughs, when he adds, “The next thing I knew, I was offered at position at the Republican headquarters as a field representative for the Reagan/Bush 1980 campaign.”
Henick was given the responsibility of coordinating the Reagan/Bush effort in the Delta, and he says he relished the opportunity. “I was given $1000 a month and 15 cents a mile, driving from one end of the Delta to the other in my father’s station wagon but unfortunately, we ended up carrying only the counties of Warren and Carroll!” Henick laughs. “Of course, we did end up winning the state,” he adds.
Shortly after Reagan was elected, Henick found himself in Jackson, MS in 1982 as field organization director for Haley Barbour’s unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid. Afterwards, in 1983, Henick was called by Clarke Reed and offered the position of political director for the Mississippi Republican Party. “I was in charge of the campaigns of the Republican candidates for the state Legislature,” Henick says. “My focus was to build the Party’s strengths on the local level.”
About this time Henick met the late Lee Atwater, GOP firebrand strategist, who came to Jackson with President Reagan. It was a fateful meeting. “I remember Lee giving my some advice, which, in hindsight, turned out to be incredibly helpful,” Henick says. “He told me to forget about Washington for the time being, and stay in Mississippi. He says I needed to build up a local reputation and earn it by working harder.”
Henick credits Atwater’s early advice for much of his political success. “Lee was a great guy and very much misunderstood,” Henick says. “He was incredible about supporting young people, was very supportive of them and gave out a lot of encouragement. I think his greatest gift was as an educator.”
Then–Congressman Trent Lott was in charge of the Reagan/Bush ‘84 reelection campaign, and he and Atwater talked and decided to offer Henick the position of executive director for Mississippi Reagan/Bush ‘84. “So, I stayed in Jackson, and was given the whole state to travel and work for the reelection of President Reagan,” Henick says.
After Reagan’s overwhelming victory, House Whip Lott invited Henick to Washington, which Henick says was his dream finally coming true. “Trent was gracious enough to offer me a position on the House floor through his office even though I had no Washington experience,” Henick says. This was during the first session of the 99th Congress, in 1985, and Henick was a nose-counter for votes, calling it a “great job, a great way to start my career in D.C.” However, following other advice Lee Atwater had given him, Henick decided he wanted to be a campaign manager.
“I was not yet 30,” Henick reminisces, “but I went on as a consultant in one of Lee’s campaigns for a fellow named Alec McMillan, a first-term member of Congress from Charlotte, North Carolina. So, in January of 1986, without knowing a soul there, I moved to Charlotte and managed McMillian’s reelection campaign. We won that reelection battle in a hard-fought, high profile race,” Henick continues. “We made it, though, and as a result, Lee was named to George Bush’s campaign manager for his presidential bid, and he decided to bring me over to the Republican National Committee as the Southern Director.” Henick held this post until 1990, overseeing the eight southern states from Virginia to Mississippi.
When Bush was elected president, Lee Atwater became chairman of the RNC, and Henick saw his role, and territory, expand into Louisiana and Texas, becoming more involved in several important campaigns.
In February of 1991 Henick was offered the position of Executive Director of the Republican Governor’s Association from South Carolina governor Carroll Campbell. “I held that position until 1995,” Henick says, “and that experience gave me the opportunity to learn national politics across the country instead of just in the South.” It was in this time that Henick finished his degree at Georgetown University.
While at the RGA, Henick developed strategic approaches to 53 Gubernatorial campaigns around the country and served as a coordinator of all national assistance for those campaigns. By the end of the 1994 election cycle, Republicans had the second highest number of governors in the history of the country, most notably up and coming Governor George W. Bush of Texas
In 1995, after declining an offer to stay on at the Southern Governor’s Association, Henick was offered a Fellowship at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. “That was really a great opportunity to teach politics to undergraduates,” Henick says, noting that the Institute preferred having political practitioners and managers teach the courses.
Following his stint at Harvard, Henick joined the Washington lobbying firm of what was then Griffith and Rodgers (now Barbour, Griffith and Rogers), the Griffith being Lanny Griffith from Corinth, MS. “I managed state affairs for the firm as well as corporate development with various companies,” Henick says, staying at this position of Managing Director and Principal until April of 2000.
“At that point, Karl Rove, Governor Bush’s senior strategist, offered me a position in Austin, Texas, to help in the strategy division of the George W. Bush for president campaign,” Henick continues. His official title during the election was Deputy Director of Strategy. This led to his being named Deputy to the Senior Advisor, who is Karl Rove, and Deputy Assistant to Mr. Bush upon his election as president. The 45 year old Henick assists Rove in overseeing the strategic planning, political affairs, and public liaison efforts of the White House. “President Bush’s strategy is simple: be a new kind of Republican, do what we promised, and change the tone in Washington,” Henick says.
“My job consists of assisting the Senior Advisor in all of his multi-faceted responsibilities,” Henick says. “One day we’re dealing with the energy crisis in California, the next might be the atrocities in the Sudan or monitoring a legislative strategy meeting on the federal budget. My work really runs the gamut.” Henick says he has a few occasions to brief President Bush on a particular issue, but that he mainly stays in close contact with Karl Rove.
“I think we are in store for some dynamic times in our country’s history,” Henick says when asked about his opinion of the Bush White House. “President Bush is obviously comfortable with himself and is a quick decision maker,” Henick says. “He’s also a very disciplined man and you can see that in his proposals, such as in education and with the tax cuts. In the Wilsonian sense, President Bush is the man for the hour, and really fits the time.”
“It’s amazing when you stand in the Oval Office and see that early morning sunlight come slipping over the President’s shoulders,” Henick sums up. “It’s an honor for me to serve in the White House, and it’s doubly an honor being able to say I’m a Mississippian who serves.”
“Chris Henick is not only a true patriot, he’s also a true Deltan,” says Mississippi Republican stalwart and former mentor, Clarke Reed. “He’s a well-read man, a student of the Delta,” Reed adds, mentioning Henick’s love of famed Delta writers Shelby Foote and Walker Percy. “I keep in touch with him on an almost weekly basis, and I’m very proud of his accomplishments,” Reed says. “I consider him part of my family.”
Based on his previous track record, there is no doubt that Chris Henick will serve both his country, and his home state, well during his time in the Bush White House. Blessed with an obvious political Midas Touch, it will be exciting to watch Henick’s career evolve over the next few years. DBJ