Merrick "Mac" Carey is CEO and founder of the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank established in 1998 and based in Arlington, Virginia. The Institute runs research, press efforts and policy forums to advance democratic capitalism and a strong national defense. Its annual revenues are currently $2.2m per year.

Carey was Press Secretary to Representative Jack Kemp (1982-1984). From 1985 to 1987, Carey was Chief of Staff to Representative James Courter, a member of the House Armed Services and Iran-Contra Committees, and in 1989 he served as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean. From 1990-1993, Carey was Executive Vice President of the international economic advisory firm Johnson Smick International.

Carey also served from 1989 through 1996 as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Naval Reserve. He was an Intelligence Watch Officer at U. S. Navy Headquarters, Europe, from September 1990-April 1991 as a mobilized reservist for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  He also served as an Air Intelligence Officer for 5 weeks in 1996 preparing missions and flying with VP-11 in support of Operation Decisive Edge over Bosnia.

Carey has been published in Barron's, Proceedings, Richmond Times Dispatch, The San Diego Union Tribune, and numerous other publications. He has lectured at the Naval War College, Marine Corps University, George Washington University, the Heritage Foundation, and at numerous business and policy forums.

Carey has a B. A. in History and Political Science from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. He is married to the former Melissa Coggeshall, and they have a sixteen-year old son, Randy, an fourteen-year old daughter, Ellen, and a five-year-old son, Merrick. They live in Arlington, Virginia.