[msb-alumni] Former U.S. Senator and Actor Fred Thompson Dies at 73
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2015 23:58:55 -0500
BlankFormer U.S. senator Fred Thompson dies Dave Boucher and Joey Garrison, The
(Nashville) Tennessean NASHVILLE --'Fred Thompson, a'former U.S. senator for
Tennessee, GOP presidential candidate, Watergate'attorney and longtime Law and
Order 'star, has died. Mr. Thompson, 73, died on Sunday from after'a recurrence
of lymphoma,'according to a statement issued from the Thompson family. "It is
with a heavy heart and a deep sense of grief that we share the passing of our
brother, husband, father, and grandfather who died peacefully in Nashville
surrounded by his family," the statement reads. "Fred once said that the
experiences he had growing up in small-town Tennessee formed the prism through
which he viewed the world and shaped the way he dealt with life. Fred stood on
principle and common sense, and had a deep love for and connection with the
people across Tennessee whom he had the privilege to serve in the United States
Senate. He enjoyed a hearty laugh, a strong handshake, a good cigar, and a
healthy dose of humility. Fred was the same man on the floor of the Senate, the
movie studio, or the town square of Lawrenceburg, his home. "Fred believed that
the greatness of our nation was defined by the hard work, faith, and honesty of
its people. He had an enduring belief in the exceptionalism of our country, and
that America could provide the opportunity for any boy or girl, in any corner
of our country, to succeed in life. As an attorney, he helped lead to the
resignation of President Richard Nixon. As a politician, he served the state of
Tennessee for eight years as a conservative Republican in the U.S. Senate and
briefly as a possible GOP presidential nominee. As an actor, he stared in some
of the most prominent films and television series of his time. At 6'5" with a
booming voice, Mr. Thompson and his larger-than-life persona played a role in
several key moments that shaped the U.S. and Tennessee political landscape.
Early life Born in Alabama, Fred Dalton'Thompson grew up across the state line
in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. Known then as "Freddie," Mr. Thompson was described as a
"class cut-up" and "clown" by a high school basketball teammate in a Boston
Globe article. Although he was a well-respected athlete, his high school banned
him playing basketball after he married then-wife Sarah Lindsey'at the age of
17. Not a particularly impressive student, he struggled with school and his
future until his father-in-law gave him the autobiography of Clarence Darrow,
the famed attorney from the Scopes trial in Dayton, Tenn. "I just knew it, I
was 17 and I wanted be a lawyer, it's the only thing I considered for five
minutes," Thompson told the Globe in 2007. "Until I was 17, it never occurred
to me I had to be anything, but at 17 I knew I wanted to be a lawyer. He made
good on his plans, earning a law degree from Vanderbilt in 1967. Mr. Thompson
started working as an assistant U.S. attorney, where he met current U.S. Sen.
Lamar Alexander. Alexander introduced him to longtime U.S. Sen. Howard Baker,
according to the Globe profile. Baker became a mentor for Mr. Thompson, in both
his professional and political life. In turn, Mr. Thompson served as Baker's
campaign manager during his successful 1972 run. That'relationship brought Mr.
Thompson to Washington, D.C. and to a role within the Watergate investigation.
'Oh shit, that kid Baker, the ranking Republican on the Senate Watergate
Committee investigation President Richard Nixon,'secured a job for Mr. Thompson
as committee'counsel. At the time, Nixon was none-too-pleased with the
appointment of Mr. Thompson; 30 at the time, Thompson wasn't "very smart" in
the eyes of Nixon, according to a 2007 review by The Associated Press of White
House tapes. "Oh snit, that kid," Nixon said when told by his chief of staff,
H.R. Haldeman, of Thompson's appointment on Feb. 22, 1973, according to the
review. "Well, we're stuck with him," Haldeman said. Although the same tapes
showed Nixon thought Mr. Thompson would be friendly to his cause' Baker
reportedly assured Nixon that Mr. Thompson was a "big mean fella"'it was Mr.
Thompson's knowledge of the tapes themselves that helped seal the president's
fate. Lore says it was Mr. Thompson who helped phrase the famed Baker question
"What did the president know and when did he know it? But the AP accounting
notes a different question from Mr. Thompson himself that truly spurred Nixon's
downward spiral. Through GOP investigators, Mr. Thompson learned from former
White House aide Alexander Butterfield about the recording system within
the'White House. Although Thompson told the White House that the committee knew
about the tapes, a move that resulted in years of criticism from Democrats, he
still was the first to bring up the matter of the tapes in a public hearing. On
July 16, Mr. Thompson asked Butterfield during a hearing if he was "aware of'he
installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the president. As
noted in the AP report, the question, and it's answer, precipitated the
president's resignation'nearly one year later. "Legalisms aside, it was
inconceivable to me that the White House could withhold the tapes once their
existence was made known. I believed it would be in everyone's interest if the
White House realized, before making any public statements, the probable
position of both the majority and the minority of the Watergate committee," Mr.
Thompson wrote in one of his books, according to the report. Mr. Thompson
worked as a lobbyist off and on roughly more than 20 years'after serving as
counsel to several legislative committees. Hollywood In 1977, Mr. Thompson
found himself representing the whistleblower'in on of Tennessee's biggest
political scandals. In her role as a parole administrator,'Marie Rigghianti
refused to release inmates granted pardons after paying then-Gov. Ray Blanton.
Thompson successfully represented Rigghianti in a wrongful termination case,
helping her win a settlement and return to her job in 1978. That case
eventually became the subject of a book and launched Mr. Thompson's acting
career. Mr. Thompson played himself in the 1985 version of the movie'Marie.
Critics praised his performance, and more roles soon followed. Five years
later, Mr. Thompson had roles in three of the biggest films of 1990: Days of
Thunder,'The Hunt for Red October 'and Die Hard 2 . He also enjoyed a five-year
run on NBC's Law and Order 'as Arthur Branch from 2002-2007. Though he took a
break to run for Republican nomination for president in 2008, acting remained a
constant in Mr. Thompson's life. He appeared'in box-office hits as recently as
2012, with a role in the horror film Sinister ,'and had a recurring role on
NBC's short-lived 2015 series Allegiance . Senate and the presidency In 1994,
Mr. Thompson successfully earned a seat in the U.S. Senate, in the race to
serve out the remainder of then-Vice President Al Gore's term in the Senate. He
defeated current U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, by a wide margin. While
Cooper criticized Mr. Thompson for acting like a Tennessean while living the
life of a Washington lobbyist and Hollywood star, Mr. Thompson' argued in a New
York Times article 'that "in many respects, I am an average Tennessean. "I
worked in a factory. I drive a truck. I practice law. I was a Federal
prosecutor. I've worked without health insurance. I've worked for minimum
wage...Like a lot of people in Tennessee, I had to get with it to get by,"
Thompson told the Times in 1994. Mr. Thompson won re-election in 1996 by an
equally wide margin, but chose not to run again in 2002. He returned to acting,
assuming his well-known role on "Law and Order" in 2002. However, he started to
again move away from acting and back toward politics in the run-up to the 2008
presidential election. Eventually announcing as a candidate, Thompson
underwhelmed. He never placed higher than third in any of the early primary
states, and dropped out of the race in late January of 2008. In his book
Teaching the Pig to Dance: A Memoir of Growing Up and Second Chances ,'Mr.
Thompson described his failed candidacy as the first time in his life he
"couldn't accomplish something I had set out to do. "It occurred to me that, to
paraphrase one of Churchill's comments, perhaps I had more to be humble about
that I had realized. It also occurred to me that this was a pretty doggone
expensive way to achieve a little humility," Mr. Thompson wrote in the book,
published in 2010. 'Maybe I needed to be reminded of what an old-timer told me
years ago after I'd had some success: 'Just remember, son, the turnout at your
funeral is still going to depend a hell of a lot on the weather. Family
Thompson is survived by his son Fred Thompson Jr., who goes by Tony; his wife
Jeri and their two young children.
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