Fred Thompson
Candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential
nomination
by Beth Rowen
Fred Thompson has worked alongside both Washington and Hollywood’s elite, but he
never achieved A-list status with either group. In the Senate, he avoided
both the limelight and the grueling schedule endured by many other
colleagues. Onscreen, he often portrayed authority figures but in supporting
roles. Is Thompson ready to become leading man, on a set where there are no
second takes?
His lackluster performance on the stump and in his first
debate seems to indicate that Thompson has yet to find his stride. In fact,
at October’s Republican debate in Michigan—his first—he extolled the
“rosy’ economy. Someone on his staff apparently neglected to
tell him that Michigan’s unemployment rate, 7.4%, is the highest in
the country.
Long Deliberation Process
Before throwing his hat
into presidential politics, Thompson was perhaps best known as District
Attorney Arthur Branch on television’s Law & Order. He
joined the show in 2002, during the last months of his second term in the
Senate. He left the show in May 2007, in all likelihood to prepare for a run
for the Republican presidential nomination.
Thompson publicly flirted
with the idea of running for the Republican presidential nomination for
months before finally declaring his intention on the Jay Leno Show in
September, skipping the New Hampshire debate to do so.
Comparison to Reagan
Comparisons to Ronald
Reagan, another B-list actor turned politician, are inevitable. Thompson,
like Reagan did, uses his folksy charm, confidence, and communication skills
to appeal to the masses. And he shares Reagan’s conservative views on
lowering taxes, small government, and moral issues.
Modest
Beginning
Thompson, the son of a used-car salesman, was born in 1942
in Sheffield, Alabama, and raised in
Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. At 6’6”, Thompson stood out on the
athletic field, but not in the classroom. An academic underachiever, he was
often labeled the class clown. He married Sarah Lindsey in 1959 at age 17,
when she became pregnant. The couple had three children. Their daughter,
Betsy, died in 2002 of an accidental prescription drug overdose. The
marriage ended in divorce in 1986.
Thompson put himself through
Memphis State College and earned a scholarship to Vanderbilt Law School,
graduating in 1967. He worked as a U.S. attorney from 1969 to 1972 and then
worked on the successful reelection campaign of Tennessee Senator Howard
Baker.
Role in Watergate Hearings
Thompson and Baker formed a
close friendship that led to Thompson’s appointment as minority
counsel on the Senate Watergate Committee. Thompson bolstered his reputation
when his questioning of former Nixon aide Alexander Butterfield revealed
Nixon’s secret wiretapping system.
Path to
Acting
Thompson then spent time as a lawyer and lobbyist in
Washington and Nashville. He made a lucrative career lobbying clients such
as Westinghouse, deposed Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and the
Tennessee Savings and Loan League.
In
1977, Thompson defended whistleblower Marie Ragghianti, who exposed a bribe
scheme that involved Tennessee governor Ray Blanton. Director Roger
Donaldson asked Thompson to play himself in the film adaptation of the
story. And so began Thompson’s acting career. He went on to appear in
several films, No Way Out, In the Line of Fire, and Days of
Thunder.
Another Career Change
Thompson ventured back into
national politics in 1994, when he was elected to fill Tennessee’s
Senate seat that was vacated when Al Gore became vice president. (Gore was
elected vice president in 1992, but his seat was not contested until 1994.)
Thompson reinvented himself during the campaign, turning in his Lincoln
Continental and tailored suits for a red pickup truck and jeans.
He
began his first full term as a Senator after breezing to reelection in 1996.
Indeed, he won more votes than any other politician in Tennessee history.
Thompson served as the chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs
from 1997 to 2001, and also sat on the Finance and Intelligence
committees.
After an active bachelorhood, Thompson married Republican
consultant Jeri Kehn in 2002. They have two children. In 2004, he was
diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is now in
remission.
Thompson faces an arduous schedule and countless auditions
before critical audiences in his pursuit of the presidency. Time will tell
if he’s ready to assume the ultimate leading role.
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