Fred Thompson grew up in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science from Memphis State University in 1964 and his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1967, working his way through school. Two years after law school, Thompson was named an Assistant United States Attorney and at the age of 30 was appointed Minority Counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, where he served in 1973 and 1974. In 1977 Thompson took on the case of a Tennessee Parole Board chairman fired under suspicious circumstances. Thompson's work helped to expose a cash-for-clemency scheme that ultimately toppled the governor. The scandal became the subject of a best-selling book and later a film, Marie, in which Thompson portrayed himself. He went on to appear in 18 motion pictures, including In the Line of Fire, Die Hard II and The Hunt for Red October. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Fred Thompson maintained law offices in Nashville and Washington and served as Special Counsel to both the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In his first campaign for public office, Thompson was elected by the people of Tennessee in 1994 to the remaining two years of an unexpired Senate term. When he was returned for a full term in 1996, he received more votes than any previous candidate for any office in Tennessee history. He won two elections in two years by more than twenty points each. Senator Thompson retired from the Senate in 2002, having served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and a member of the Senate committee on Finance. In his time in the Senate, Thompson focused on issues such as reducing taxes, curbing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and eliminating government waste, fraud and abuse. Since his retirement from the Senate, Thompson has returned to acting and plays Arthur Branch on the NBC series "Law and Order." In addition, Thompson was named by President Bush as an informal advisor to Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee John Roberts, moving his nomination through the Senate. Thompson is a monthly contributor to Townhall Magazine. Thompson is married. He has four children and five grandchildren. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2008 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:23:45 GMT Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:23:45 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Subscribe today to Townhall Magazine and get Fred Thompson's exclusive commentaries. My mind goes back to August 2002 in Tbilisi, as I visited Georgia with John McCain. I remember it feeling rather dark and secretive,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2008/08/14/dangerous_times_in_georgia_demand_serious_leadership 7b831a7f-01c0-42d4-9711-4e434ef5e33f Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:23:45 GMT The following are Fred Thompson's Prepared Remarks at the 2008 National Right to Life Conference on July 3, 2008. First, I would like to thank you for your support in my recent political endeavor. In that business,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2008/07/03/fred_thompsons_remarks_at_the_national_right_life_conference 5e3b554c-c182-48d8-935c-425f976593ac Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:49:41 GMT As I pointed out last week, and as legal scholar John Yoo did earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal, the "Boumediene Five" have done our nation and our Constitution no great service. But beyond the rhetoric, we... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2008/06/23/boumediene_a_supremely_problematic_court_decision 2d0b3ba8-0ca3-408a-ab85-b70637c30a94 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:18:00 GMT Upon reading the opinion in Boumediene v Bush, one must conclude that the majority knew where they wanted to go and simply had to figure out how to get there. The trip was not a pretty one. How could it be when the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2008/06/13/a_supreme_error f8ff8f3a-0979-4cd9-8d42-861a0ed9d39d Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:40:56 GMT I was privileged to spend some time with fellow conservatives, Republicans and concerned citizens in Hershey, PA., last Friday, where I addressed the state GOP. Here's what we discussed. We are not here tonight... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2008/06/08/adhering_to_the_principles_that_keep_america_prosperous__free f9257225-f14d-46e6-b83f-ec79b3393f10 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:41:06 GMT When I was working in television, I spent quite a bit of time in New York City. There are lots of things about the place I like, but New York gun laws don't fall in that category. Anybody who knows me knows I've... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/08/21/a_new_york_state_of_mind 7180daa7-8aca-4ae3-ad51-c3665e2141d4 Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:52:59 GMT You can't have national security without border security. It's not only necessary for any meaningful immigration reform; border security plays a key role in both the interdiction of illegal drugs and in defending... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/08/18/the_importance_of_border_security 73779c3d-9935-4da6-99f7-e42dc25cd6f5 Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:55:43 GMT Read more at Fred Thompson's blog. If you listen to folks who oppose immigration and border enforcement, you get the feeling they think we put locks on our doors to keep everybody out. The truth is we have locks so we... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/08/14/sanctuary_cities a83f9a39-f384-447c-920e-d1314462b66a Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:57:51 GMT http://fredfile.imwithfred.com Whoa now. Let's hold our horses a minute and think about the calls for new tax increases to fix our infrastructure problems. The Minneapolis bridge collapse is a tragedy, but we can't let... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/08/13/the_gas_tax 6559611d-1866-4a4a-bcdb-fb675796b966 Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:31:41 GMT This column originally appeared on Fred Thompson's blog at http://fredfile.imwithfred.com/. Economist Larry Kudlow calls today's American economy, "the greatest story never told." If you're generally predisposed to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/08/07/the_economic_reality 76269dbb-574c-4264-914a-037faa95feb2 Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:17:05 GMT Originally appeared on ImWithFred.com You've probably never heard of Rebecca Nurse, but bear with me for a moment. Nurse arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1640. There, despite being known as a woman of virtue and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/08/01/judge_southwick_should_be_confirmed da70d67f-67e8-4b3b-8917-aeeca3bddac5 Thu, 02 Aug 2007 02:34:17 GMT Orignally appeared on ImWithFred.com Last week, California officials in National City voted unanimously to use eminent domain to take over more than 600 properties-including a nonprofit youth center dedicated to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/07/30/eminent_domain f956576d-ec83-48ba-8dd3-6cd747dc9fd4 Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:00:00 GMT p>Orignally appeared on ImWithFred.com The Framers drew their design for our Constitution from a basic understanding of human nature. From the wisdom of the ages and from fresh experience, they understood the better... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/07/27/on_federalism 05aa4126-65d5-4237-b644-c16ce37f0e7a Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT Orignally appeared on ImWithFred.com Most Americans want something to be done about the illegal immigration problem we have in this country. They've been expecting the federal government to enforce the immigration laws... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/07/26/hazleton_immigration_decision bb34b25b-bf22-4752-a566-e4c1a04141fb Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT Yesterday was a good day. Talk radio, along with the blogs, helped block an immigration bill that the American people overwhelmingly opposed. Then, a congressman, who is also an ex-radio talk show host, managed to get a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/29/a_better_than_fair_day a082b626-d2c5-4ad9-b4e6-5be4fd6e4c40 Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:51:33 GMT