Fred Thompson Biography

Fred Thompson was born in Sheffield, Alabama in 1942. Growing up, he attended the public schools in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, received an undergraduate degree at Memphis State University, and then later received a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School.

In 1967, he began practicing law and by 1969, he was the assistant U.S. attorney. He later served on the minority counsel, Watergate Committee, special counsel to Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate Intelligence Committee, and the Tennessee Appellate Court Nominating Commission.

In 1994, Thompson was elected to the Senate after receiving the greatest number of votes anyone had ever received in a state-wide election. He served in the Senate until 2003, when he chose not to run for re-election, after the death of his adult daughter. In his last bid for election, Fred Thompson set a record for the number of votes recieved from the electorate by a margin of 61-37 percent. With his election to the Fred replaced Al Gore in the US Senate.

Thompson pursued an acting career joined the cast of Law and Order: Trial by Jury. He has also appeared in many noteworthy films such as The Hunt for the "Red October" and "Die Hard 2".

"Fred Thompson Joins ABC News Radio." ABC News: Entertainment. 26 Feb 2006. ABC News. 16 Mar 2007

"Senator Thompson's Biography." Fred Thompson: United States Senator, Tennessee. 11 Nov 2002. 16 Mar 2007

Thompson, Fred D. At That Point in Time: The Inside Story of the Senate Watergate Committee. New York: Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co., 1975.

1980; special counsel, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1980-1981; special counsel, Senate Intelligence Committee
Was a lawyer/attorney before becoming an actor Senator Thompson went to Memphis State University in 1964 and Vanderbilt University in 1967.
Worked as a shoe salesman, truck driver, and even a factory worker prior to becoming a lawyer.
Although he maintained his membership in the Screen Actors Guild when he was a senator, Thompson generally took the opposite side of the unions in legislation.
He won a special election to the United States Senate in 1994 and was reelected for a full term in 1996.
When he joined the cast of "Law & Order" (1990) in the fall of 2002, Thompson (District Attorney Arthur Branch) became the first serving U.S. Senator to take a regular TV acting job.
His adult daughter, Elizabeth "Betsy" Thompson Panici died suddenly on January 30, 2002 of an accidential overdose. Betsy had been intimately involved in his political campaigns. Even though, he had previously announced that he would again stand for reelection. He decided to leave the Senate. Many believe this decision was directly related to his loss.
Fred married his second wife Jeri on June 29, 2002. She is a political media consultant at Verner Liipfert law firm in Washington, who once worked for Senate Republican Conference and Republican National Committee. She was 29 when they married.
Fred retired from the US Senate in January 2003.
He and wife Jeri welcomed a daughter, Hayden Victoria, in October 2003.
In 2006, Fred & Jeri announced the birth of their son,
Helped introduce President George W. Bush at the Republican National Convention (2004) in New York. Also has two sons and five grandchildren.
In 2005, the senator shepherded the nomination of the Roberts nomination through the Senate to the Supreme Court.

A Biography