Fred Thompson

This article is about the actor/politician. For the silent movie actor, see Fred Thomson.

Frederick Dalton Thompson
United States Senator from Tennessee
In office December 2 1994 – January 3 2003
Preceded by	Harlan Matthews
Succeeded by	Lamar Alexander
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	(1) Sarah Elizabeth Lindsey (Knestrick), 1959–1985; divorced (2) Jeri Kehn, 2002–Present
Alma mater	Memphis State University
Profession	character actor, senator, lawyer, lobbyist, public speaker, radio personality

Frederick Dalton "Fred" Thompson (born August 19 1942) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and character actor. He represented Tennessee as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 1994 through 2003. Thompson resides in McLean, Virginia near Washington D.C.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, specializing in national security and intelligence.

As an actor, Thompson has performed in film and on television. He has frequently portrayed governmental figures. In the final months of his U.S. Senate term in 2002, Thompson joined the cast of the long-running NBC television series Law & Order, playing New York City District Attorney Arthur Branch. On May 30, 2007, he asked to be released from the show, potentially in preparation for a presidential bid.

On June 1 2007 Thompson formed a "testing the waters" committee regarding his possible 2008 campaign for President. As of July 2007, Thompson has relatively high poll numbers in the Republican field. He has led the field each week in Rasmussen polls since June 19, 2007.

Early life and education

Fred Thompson was born August 19, 1942 in Sheffield, Alabama, USA, to Ruth Inez (Bradley) and Fletcher Session Thompson, an automobile salesman. He is a member of the Church of Christ. He attended the public schools in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, including Lawrence County High School.

Thompson entered Florence State College, now the University of North Alabama, becoming the first member of his family to go to college. He subsequently transferred to Memphis State University where he earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science in 1964, and went on to earn his J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1967.

Attorney

Thompson was admitted to the State Bar of Tennessee in 1967 and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1969 to 1972. He was the campaign manager for Republican U.S. Senator Howard Baker's successful re-election campaign in 1972, which led to a close personal friendship with Baker. He later served as co-chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in its investigation of the Watergate scandal, (1973–1974), and afterwards wrote a book about it. Among the cases Thompson has handled in his private law practice are personal injury claims and the defense of individuals accused of white collar crimes.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Thompson worked primarily as an attorney, with law offices in Nashville and Washington, DC. His work included serving as special counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1980 and the Senate Intelligence Committee in 1982, and a wide variety of other legal work. Some of his clients have been foreign corporations, such as a German mining group and Japan's Toyota Motors Corporation. Thompson has also served on various corporate boards; for example, in the 1990s, he did legal work for the engineering firm Stone & Webster, while serving on its board of directors.

Role in Watergate hearings

Main article: Watergate scandal

From left to right: Fred Thompson (minority counsel), Howard Baker , and Sam Ervin of the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973.

Thompson was appointed minority counsel for the hearings surrounding the Watergate scandal. According to Fox News, Thompson was responsible for Sen. Baker asking one of the questions that is said to have led directly to the downfall of President Richard Nixon—"What did the President know, and when did he know it?" Also, Thompson himself asked former White House aide Alexander Butterfield at the public committee hearing about listening devices in the White House, although "Thompson knew the answer to the question before he asked it" because Butterfield had earlier been interviewed by Senate investigators in closed session.

Nixon was reportedly angry that Thompson had been selected as minority counsel to the Senate Watergate committee; Nixon believed the young Thompson was not skilled enough to interrogate unfriendly witnesses, and was apt to be outfoxed by committee Democrats. According to historian Stanley Kutler, Fred Thompson and Howard Baker "carried water for the White House, but I have to give them credit — they were watching out for their interests, too....They weren't going to mindlessly go down the tubes" for Nixon.

In response to renewed interest in this matter, Thompson says "I'm glad all of this has finally caused someone to read my Watergate book, even though it's taken them over thirty years."

Exposing corruption of Tennessee governor

In 1977 Thompson took on the case of Marie Ragghianti, a Tennessee Parole Board chairperson fired under suspicious circumstances. Thompson confirmed that her firing was due to her refusal to release from prison felons who had bribed aides of Democratic governor Ray Blanton to buy their freedom. Thompson filed a suit challenging Ragghianti's dismissal. A jury found in July of 1978, that Governor Blanton had fired her "arbitrarily and capriciously" and ordered her reinstatement with an award of $38,000 for back pay. Ragghianti's case would garner national attention, along with the publication of a book titled, simply, Marie, followed by a film of the same name. Thompson's work in helping to expose this cash-for-clemency scheme ultimately toppled Blanton from power.

Lobbyist

Thompson has been a lobbyist intermittently since 1975, and has earned about $1 million from his lobbying efforts during that time. He says that criticism about his lobbying activities is likely to increase as he gets closer to announcing his candidacy, but Thompson also expects that such criticism will produce “the same results” as it did during his 1994 and 1996 Senate races. Except for the year 1981, his lobbying never amounted to more than a third of his income. According to the Commercial Appeal newspaper:

Fred Thompson earned about half a million dollars from Washington lobbying from 1975 through 1993....Lobbyist disclosure records show Thompson had six lobbying clients: Westinghouse, two cable television companies, the Tennessee Savings and Loan League, the Teamsters Union's Central States Pension Fund, and a Baltimore-based business coalition that lobbied for federal grants.

For example, in 1982, on behalf of the Tennessee Savings and Loan League, Thompson lobbied the U.S. Congress to pass the Garn - St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 which deregulated the Savings and Loan (S&L) industry. This Act was supported by President Reagan and a large congressional majority, but it turned out to be one of many contributing factors that led to the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s. Thompson received $1600 for communicating with some congressional staffers on this issue.

Thompson also did some lobbying for free. For example, when Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in 1991, Thompson made a telephone call to John Sununu who was then White House Chief of Staff, in order to advocate (as Thompson described) "restoration of the democratically elected government of the Republic of Haiti." Eventually, "Aristide was restored to power in 1994 by U.S. troops under President Clinton."

Billing records show that Thompson was paid for about 20 hours of work in 1991 and 1992 on behalf of a family planning group trying to ease a departmental regulation on abortion counseling in federally-funded clinics. President George H.W. Bush eased the departmental regulation when he sent a memo to Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan stating that the regulation should allow women to receive referrals to facilities that perform abortion, but not to facilities whose principal business is providing abortions. With this easing of the regulation, Congress failed by 12 votes to override a veto by Bush of legislation that would have completely overturned the regulation.

After leaving the Senate in 2003, Thompson's only lobbying work was for London-based Equitas Ltd, which is a reinsurance company. He was paid $760,000 from 2004 to 2006 in order to help prevent legislation that Equitas said unfairly singled them out for unfavorable treatment regarding asbestos claims. Thompson spokesman Mark Corrallo said that Thompson was proud to have been a lobbyist and believed in Equitas's cause.

Character actor

The 1977 Ray Blanton-Tennessee Parole Board scandal later became the subject of a 1983 book, Marie, by Peter Maas. Director Roger Donaldson bought the film rights and traveled to Nashville to speak with the people involved with the original case. After meeting with Thompson, Donaldson asked Thompson if he wanted to play himself in the movie; Thompson agreed. The resulting film, Marie, was released in 1985. Donaldson then cast Thompson in the part of the CIA Director in his next movie, No Way Out, in 1987. Thompson would go on to appear in many films and television shows.

In the final months of his U.S. Senate term in 2002, Thompson joined the cast of the long-running NBC television series Law & Order, playing Arthur Branch. While Thompson was still serving in the Senate, Thompson filmed his parts during Senate recesses. He has also made occasional appearances in the same role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and the pilot episode of Conviction. On May 30 2007, he asked to be released from the show.

A 1994 New York Times profile wrote that "When Hollywood directors need someone who can personify governmental power, they often turn to [Thompson]."

Senate (1994-2002)

Two campaigns for U.S. Senate

In 1994, Thompson was elected to finish the remaining two years of Al Gore's unexpired Senate term. Gore had been elected Vice President of the United States in 1992, and resigned his Senate seat leaving Harlan Mathews as "caretaker" of the seat. During the 1994 campaign, Thompson's opponent was longtime Nashville Congressman Jim Cooper. Thompson campaigned in a red pickup truck, and Cooper charged that Thompson "is a lobbyist and actor who talks about lower taxes, talks about change, while he drives a rented stage prop." In a good year for Republican candidates, Thompson defeated Cooper in a landslide upset victory, overcoming Cooper's early 20% margin in the polls to defeat Cooper by an even greater margin. On the same night Thompson was elected to fill Gore's unexpired term, political newcomer Bill Frist, a Nashville heart surgeon, defeated three-term incumbent Democrat Jim Sasser, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, for Tennessee's other U.S. Senate seat, which was up for a full six-year term. The twin victories by Thompson and Frist gave Republicans control of both of Tennessee's Senate seats for the first time since Sasser ousted incumbent Bill Brock in 1976.

In 1996, Thompson was re-elected (for the term ending January 3 2003) with 61% of the vote, defeating Democratic attorney Houston Gordon of Covington, Tennessee, even as Bill Clinton narrowly carried Tennessee by less than three percentage points on his way to re-election. The GOP continues to hold the seat, as it was won by former Tennessee Governor and Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in 2002.

Senate career

Senator Thompson meeting with U.S. soldiers in South Korea.

Senator Thompson speaking about campaign finance reform

While in the Senate, Thompson served as the chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs from 1997 to 2001. The committee investigated alleged Chinese attempts to influence American politics prior to the 1996 elections. During 1997, Thompson was "largely stymied" during his U.S. Senate investigations of both Clinton-Gore and GOP campaign fund-raising activities, with witnesses declining to testify, claiming the right not to incriminate themselves, or simply leaving the United States' jurisdiction. Thompson's final report on the matter also pointed to another problem: "Our work was affected tremendously by the fact that Congress is a much more partisan institution than it used to be."

He has an "86.1 percent lifetime (1995-2002) Senate vote rating compiled by the American Conservative Union," compared to 89.3 for Bill Frist and 82.3 for John McCain. Senator Susan Collins of Maine characterized her colleague this way: "I believe that Fred is a fearless senator. By that I mean he was never afraid to cast a vote or take a stand, regardless of the political consequences." Thompson was "on the short end of a couple of 99-1 votes," voting against those who wanted to federalize matters that he believed were properly left to state and local officials.

On February 12 1999, the Senate voted on the Clinton impeachment. The perjury charge was defeated with 45 votes for conviction, and 55 including Thompson against. The obstruction of justice charge was defeated with 50 including Thompson for conviction, and 50 against. Conviction on impeachment charges requires the affirmative votes of 67 senators.

In the 2000 Republican presidential primaries, Thompson initially backed former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, who eventually succeeded Thompson in the Senate two years later. When Alexander dropped out of the presidential race, Thompson endorsed Senator John McCain's bid and became his national co-chairman. Both McCain and Thompson were contenders to be then-Governor Bush's running mate in 2000.

When control of the Senate passed from Republican to Democratic in 2001, Thompson then became the ranking minority member of the Committee on Governmental Affairs.

Post-Senate activities

Thompson was not a candidate for re-election in 2002. He had publicly stated his unwillingness to have the Senate become a long-term career. Although he announced in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks his intention to seek re-election ("Now is not the time for me to leave," said Thompson at the time), upon further reflection he decided against it. The decision seems to have been prompted in large part by the death of his daughter.

Political work

In March 2003, Thompson was featured in a commercial by the conservative non-profit group Citizens United that advocated the invasion of Iraq, stating: "When people ask what has Saddam done to us, I ask, what had the 9/11 hijackers done to us -- before 9/11," and he has remained supportive of that invasion.

Thompson did voice-over work at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

After the retirement of Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 2005, he was appointed to an informal position by President George W. Bush to help guide the nomination of John Roberts through the United States Senate confirmation process. Thompson also is the chair of the International Security Advisory Board, a bipartisan advisory panel that reports to the Secretary of State and focuses on emerging strategic threats.

Legal defense for Lewis Libby

Main article: Lewis Libby

In 2006 he served on the advisory board of the legal defense fund for I. Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Jr, who was indicted and later convicted of lying to federal investigators during their investigation of the Plame affair. Thompson, who had never met Libby before volunteering for the advisory board, was convinced Libby was innocent. The Scooter Libby Legal Defense Fund Trust set out to raise more than $5 million to help finance the legal defense of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. Thompson hosted a fundraiser for the Libby defense fund at his home in McLean, Virginia. After President Bush commuted Libby's sentence Thompson released a statement: "I am very happy for Scooter Libby," Thompson said. "I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children. This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life."

Radio analyst

In 2006, he signed on with ABC News Radio to serve as senior analyst and vacation replacement for Paul Harvey. He used that platform to spell out his positions on a number of political issues. A July 3, 2007 update to Thompson's ABC News Radio home page referred to him as a "former ABC News Radio contributor," indicating that Thompson has been released from his contract with the broadcaster.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson describes himself as a conservative. He has said that federalism is his "lodestar," providing "a basis for a proper analysis of most issues: 'Is this something government should be doing? If so, at what level of government?'"

Thompson supports free trade and low taxes. He says that Roe v. Wade was a wrong decision that ought to be overturned, but he also has said that states should decide not to criminalize young women for early term abortions. Thompson is skeptical that humanity is to blame for global warming. He says citizens are entitled to keep and bear arms if they do not have criminal records. Thompson's support of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation brought criticism from groups such as Gun Owners of America (GOA), who said that the legislation limited their ability to inform the public about the gun rights voting records of incumbent politicians. Thompson now says that the limitation on political speech within 30 or 60 days of an election was wrong and should be repealed. His position on immigration is that U.S. borders need to be secured before considering comprehensive immigration reform. Thompson supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, but believes that mistakes have been made since then. He also believes that Iran's threats of war should be taken seriously.

Possible presidential campaign

Polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2008

Main article: Opinion polling for the Republican Party (United States) 2008 presidential candidates

Speculation, comments, and rumor

On March 11 2007, Thompson appeared on Fox News Sunday to discuss the possibility of a 2008 candidacy for president. The announcement spurred several grassroots draft movements, including a well-organized draft campaign started by Dean Rice, a former Thompson political aide, in Knoxville, Tennessee. While Thompson had not yet formally announced his intentions, he said he would "leave the door open." Thompson has stated that he would not be interested in accepting a hypothetical nomination for vice president, explaining "I don't think I would ever want to do that and be in the second position."

More recently, a New York Times article cited Thompson's aides as saying on July 18th that Fred Thompson planned to enter the race just after Labor Day (the first Monday in September), with a national announcement tour.

Thompson's March 11 announcement spurred a flurry of conjecture, discussion and activity on the internet. A "Draft Fred Thompson" forum site became a particularly popular online forum for supporters of Fred Thompson. One group of Fred Thompson supporters, many of whom call themselves "FredHeads," organized under the banner "FredHeadsUSA" with a plan to build a grassroots pro-Fred political movement in the physical world to expand on the vigorous pro-Fred activity already taking place in the virtual world. On May 18, he continued his Internet campaign, posting a letter to Pajamas Media acknowledging his online supporters.

Exploratory committee

Thompson formed an exploratory committee on June 1. Thompson's first public appearance after this exploratory committee was June 2 at the Virginia Republicans annual fund-raising gala in Richmond, Virginia, according to the Virginia Daily Press. Shortly later on June 5, 2007 Fred Thompson launched his official website. Also on June 5, there was a Republican Presidential candidates debate with the current 10 candidates, from New Hampshire, broadcast on CNN. Fred Thompson was mentioned repeatedly as one of the poll front runners even though he did not participate. In a June 6 appearance on Hannity and Colmes, Republican pollster Frank Luntz described Fred Thompson as the "Six-million-pound gorilla" of the Republican primary race.

On June 12, 2007, Thompson appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He would not announce his candidacy, but referred to his "testing the waters" committee, which he stated yielded positive prospects. Leno mentioned that Thompson was #2 in the polls, and asked Thompson if he would at least state if he would like the job of President. Thompson responded that, while he did not crave the job itself, there were things he would like to do that he could only do by holding that office.

Political insiders in Tennessee expect the inner circle of a Thompson campaign to include, in addition to his politically experienced wife, a number of functionaries with whom Thompson has been associated in the past. Also said to be likely senior advisers are former Republican National Committee chair Ed Gillespie, former tobacco company executive Tom Collamore, PR man Mark Corallo, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission Michael E. Toner, former U.S. Senate aide Tom Daffron, longtime Tennessee politician Tom Ingram and Congressman Zach Wamp.

In early July 2007, Liz Sidoti of Associated Press wrote: "Thompson's easygoing, no-nonsense style is clearly his strength and undoubtedly has helped him soar in presidential polls." Sidoti says that, "His stump speech consists of broad conservative themes, talk of bipartisanship and commentary on issues of the day." Tucker Eskew, a Republican strategist unaligned in the race said, "Smooth is good, but sometimes nitty gritty is essential" and "He'll be tested (but) he has a little time."

On July 24, 2007, Thompson announced he was replacing his campaign manager, Tom Collamore, a former vice president of the food and tobacco company Altria with former Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Florida GOP strategist Randy Enright.

Endorsements

On June 12 2007 former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato (New York) endorsed Thompson for Republican presidential nominee in 2008. Also, as of July 6 2007, Thompson had been endorsed by fourteen current members of Congress, including both Tennessee senators.

Controversy

Main article: Fred Thompson controversies

Fred Thompson has seen some controversy, most notably controversial pro-choice lobbying, allegations of using his political action committee to benefit his son, allegations of purchasing smuggled Cuban cigars, and allegations of being a White House mole during Watergate.

Personal life

In September 1959, at the age of 17, Thompson married Sarah Elizabeth Lindsey. Their son Fred Dalton "Tony" Thompson Jr. was born in April 1960. Another son and a daughter were born soon thereafter. While Thompson was attending law school, both he and his wife worked to pay for his education and support their three children.

Fred and Sarah Thompson divorced in 1985. They have two surviving children, as well as five grandchildren. Thompson's daughter Elizabeth "Betsy" Thompson Panici died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs on January 30 2002.

Prior to his current marriage, Thompson was romantically linked to country singer Lorrie Morgan, Republican fundraiser Georgette Mosbacher, and columnist Margaret Carlson. On June 29 2002, Thompson married Republican consultant Jeri Kehn. The two had first met on July 4, 1996. They have two small children.

Thompson has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), a form of cancer. "I have had no illness from it, or even any symptoms. My life expectancy should not be affected. I am in remission, and it is very treatable with drugs if treatment is needed in the future — and with no debilitating side effects," Thompson said. Like many patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Thompson received treatment with Rituxan. Thompson's cancer, though currently incurable, is reportedly indolent, the lowest of three grades of NHL. Thompson has nodal marginal zone lymphoma which is a rare form of NHL, accounting for only 1% to 3% of all NHLs. Coincidentally, two other potential Republican presidential nominees have also had cancer: John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

If elected president, he would become the second president in U.S. history (after James Garfield) to belong to the Churches of Christ, a small, non-denominational Christian group that emerged from the American Restoration Movement in the 19th century.

Filmography

Movies

• Marie (1985)
• No Way Out (1987)
• Feds (1988)
• Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
• The Hunt for Red October (1990)
• Days of Thunder (1990)
• Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
• Flight of the Intruder (1991) (uncredited)
• Class Action (1991)
• Necessary Roughness (1991)
• Curly Sue (1991)
• Cape Fear (1991)

• Aces: Iron Eagle III (1992)
• Thunderheart (1992)
• White Sands (1992) (uncredited)
• Born Yesterday (1993)
• In the Line of Fire (1993)
• Barbarians at the Gate (1993)
• Baby's Day Out (1994)
• Celsius 41.11 (2004)
• Racing Stripes (2005, voice)
• Last Best Chance (2005)
• Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005)
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007)

File:Trailer1.JPG

Fred Thompson as President of the U.S. in the docudrama Last Best Chance (2005).

TV series

• Law & Order (2002-2007)
• Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005-2006)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (11 episodes, 2003-2006)
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2 episodes, 2005)
• Conviction (1 episode, 2006)
• Sex and the City (1 episode, 2000, as "Politician on TV")
• Matlock (1 episode in 1989 as "Gordon Lewis" and 1 episode in 1993 as "Prosecutor Mr. McGonigal")
• Roseanne (1 episode, 1989, as "Keith Faber")
• China Beach (1 episode, 1989, as "Lt. Col. Reinhardt")
• Wiseguy (3 episodes, 1988, as "Knox Pooley")

Electoral history

Tennessee United States Senate Election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Fred Thompson (Incumbent)	1,091,554	61.37	+0.93
	Democratic	Houston Gordon	654,937	36.82
	Independent	John Jay Hooker	14,401	0.81
Majority			436,617	24.55	+2.72
	Republican hold		Swing

Tennessee United States Senate Election, 1994 (Special)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Fred Thompson	885,998	60.44
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	565,930	38.61
Majority			320,068	21.83	−16.07
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

External links

• I'm With Fred, Friends of Fred Thompson, Inc. (official exploratory committee).
• The Fred Thompson Report, ABC Radio Networks (official site).
• The Official YouTube Page for Sen. Fred Thompson (official site).
• FredHeads USA, The national sign up site for the national organization of volunteers supporting Fred Thompson.
• NorthEast HQ for FredHeads, and the NH State site.
• The Fred Thompson Papers, University of Tennessee.
• Viguerie, Richard. "Conservatives, Beware of Fred Thompson". ConservativeHQ. Retrieved 2007-07-18. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
• Gill, Steve. The Fred Factor: How Fred Thompson May Change The Face Of The '08 Campaign (2007).
• Novak, Robert. "Thompson's White House Talk is No Act" Sun-Times, (2007-04-02). Retrieved 2007-07-14.
• Halperin, Mark. "A New Role for Fred Thompson", TIME Magazine (2007-05-24). Retrieved 2007-06-01.
• United States Congress. "Fred Thompson (id: T000457)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress..
• Fred Dalton Thompson at IMDb acting career.
• Center for Responsive Politics (aka OpenSecrets.org) campaign contributions.
• The Fred Files Lobbying disclosures, 1975-1994.
• Fred Thompson Hometown Biography, Lawrenceburg Tennessee