Liaison Henry Gyrich is the first person to be given the title of US Government liaison to the
Avengers by the
National Security Agency later by the
National Security Council. During his tenure, Gyrich revokes the Avengers' priority status after taking issue. The Avengers have to accept Gyrich's "suggestions" or have their
Quinjets and other sensitive equipment confiscated. He limits the Avengers' active membership to seven members, forces the
Falcon to join unwillingly to fill an affirmative action quota Gyrich sets, and installs various security measures for the team. Gyrich also takes part in a
Senate investigation involving the Avengers which claims the team are threats to national security. When the investigation ends, the Senate committee gives the Avengers new guidelines and designates
Raymond Sikorski as Gyrich's successor. Gyrich is a member of the
Commission on Superhuman Activities (CSA), the oversight body on superhuman activities in the
United States; he is part of the team that forces
Captain America to resign. Gyrich also takes part as a special consultant in
Project Wideawake, a program dedicated to capturing
mutants.
Political exploits After
Onslaught's events, Gyrich's involved in hunting the
Hulk and harasses
Rick Jones,
Betty Banner,
Thunderbolt Ross and
Doc Samson while doing so. During this time, writer
Peter David attempted to humanize the character with a backstory which touched upon his family life, revealing his father died of
Alzheimer's disease and that Gyrich took a year off work to care for him. Gyrich is promoted to be
Valerie Cooper's successor as the CSA's head. He uses Commission resources and remolds the vigilante
Jack Monroe into the assassin
Scourge in an attempt to kill all of Earth's superhumans, but is stopped by the
Thunderbolts. Gyrich is reassigned to the
US State Department and becomes the Avengers' liaison to the
United Nations. He leaves the position after the United Nations' relationship with the Avengers ends. Following the
Civil War storyline, Gyrich becomes the Secretary of the Superhuman Armed Forces. His base of operations is the
superhuman training facility in
Stamford, Connecticut. It is under his orders that
Gauntlet is drafted as the facility's drill instructor, after Gauntlet saves him from an attack by
Hydra in Iraq. Gyrich gives orders to cover up
MVP's death, and secretly conspires with
Baron Von Blitzschlag involving illegal cloning despite
Hank Pym's objections. He makes arrangements for
Danielle Moonstar to tutor
Trauma. However, Gyrich fires Moonstar for training Trauma to use his ability to transform into the worst fears of others to help people with debilitating phobias instead of using these abilities as a weapon. Gyrich is removed from his position after getting into a heated argument with
Iron Man. Following the
Secret Invasion storyline, Gyrich is the main antagonist for
Kieron Gillen's and Steven Sander's series
S.W.O.R.D.,where he joins the eponymous group alongside
Abigail Brand. Gyrich kidnaps several aliens, including
Noh-Varr,
Adam X,
Jazinda,
Karolina Dean, and
Hepzibah, and arrests Brand and
Lockheed. Gyrich is berated by
Norman Osborn and arrested by
Sydren. During the
Civil War II storyline, Gyrich represents the United States as a member of
Alpha Flight's board of governors. He recruits
Wiz Kid as a mole for
Orchis and the
Guardian as support with an assassination attempt on
Shi'ar empress Xandra. However, Abigail Brand shoots Gyrich out of an airlock, sending him to die in space and making his death look like a suicide. ==Other versions==