[2] For two years, from 1955 to 1957, he worked for the United States Army's intelligence efforts in Washington, D.C. Schmertz further received a Doctor of Law degree from Union in 1977.

[2] From the initial joining of Mobil in 1966 to his leaving of the company in 1988, Schmertz oversaw a number of advertisements placed into the Op-Ed section of The New York Times, beginning in 1970.

This continued for further programs and led to the use of what Schmertz called "affinity-of-purpose marketing", where audiences began associating successful television shows with the companies sponsoring them.

[4] In 1983, former president Ronald Reagan nominated Schmertz to be on the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy for a term lasting until 1985.

[2] In 1986, Schmertz authored Goodbye to the Low Profile: The Art of Creative Confrontation,[7] a meditation on his experiences with the news media while working for Mobil Oil.