Fred Thompson grew up in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Fred Thompson 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, Fred 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 Fred 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, Fred 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. Fred Thompson 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, Fred Thompson was named by President Bush as an informal advisor to Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee John Roberts, moving his nomination through the Senate. Fred Thompson is a monthly contributor to Townhall Magazine. Fred 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) 2009 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:38:37 GMT Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:38:37 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Editor's note: This article is from the December issue of Townhall Magazine. Click here to subscribe and receive a free copy of Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign that Started It All by Craig Shirley.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2008/11/17/time_to_look_ahead 000104ca-874e-4303-b681-973eaaf2d43a Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:38:37 GMT When John McCain selected Governor Sarah Palin, as his running mate, the Democrats and their far-left constituency let out a primal scream that could be heard from sea to shining sea. How dare he choose someone that... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2008/09/30/qualified 41781e42-10cb-4524-bd0b-95f4fb6fd151 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:59:44 GMT Although Americans are used to Labor Day campaign kickoffs, this year's back-to-back political conventions meant exposure to more than the usual number of partisan promises of a bright future and excoriation of the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2008/09/10/the_john_mccain_i_got_to_know 9d60afbc-99c4-4c57-830b-15c18199b672 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:55:49 GMT Note: The following article is from the September issue of Townhall Magazine. To subscribe to twelve issues of Townhall Magazine, click here. I'll bet it came as a surprise to most folks that the financial stability... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2008/09/08/the_dangers_of_government_guarantees 35e0c700-30c4-44a6-b87f-f732d8ed620a Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:17:57 GMT 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 Recently, the new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the root cause of the current genocide in Darfur is . global warming. Now if you've been following the tragedy of the Darfur region in the African nation of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/28/the_darfur_genocide_and_global_warming 04ce6342-e6a0-439b-944d-f04971d4c72a Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:55:32 GMT Our country seems to be able to come to the right conclusions over time, even when we're being told over and over again that we're wrong. When I say the right conclusions, by the way, I mean conclusions supported by... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/27/common_sense_on_capital_punishment 9f260800-0833-4c36-bdb7-9b436d85447d Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:23:56 GMT We're hearing those phrases again; national health care, universal health care, socialized medicine. We're being told that government bureaucrats can take over our entire medical industry -- which by the way is the best... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/26/duplicating_disaster 74dc9e30-d033-4a59-aa3f-bf339e2a5723 Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:49:01 GMT Last week, I was fortunate enough to spend some time in London. Being there, I couldn't help but think how much America owes to British culture and traditions. Even our past disagreements, like that "taxation without... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/25/the_queen_and_free_speech 90976449-35a2-43d4-ac18-a00ac57f572c Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:56:36 GMT One of the reasons I keep ringing the bell about the Bush tax cuts is that they've been so good for our country in so many ways. Letting them expire would amount to a tax hike of historic proportions -- a tax hike that... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/22/tax_cuts_for_kids cd12ecd6-80a0-4bfe-b248-ea5ad4f0fd2d Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:23:32 GMT Out-of-control medical malpractice lawsuits have been a problem in many parts of the country for a long time. Malpractice insurance costs can be driven so high, that doctors and insurance companies flee to more... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/21/a_federalist_approach_to_malpractice_abuse 1cd097b2-1e94-4797-8161-17a93ae0e3cc Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:15:59 GMT I've talked before about the Council on American-Islamic Relations -- most recently because it filed that lawsuit against Americans who reported suspicious behavior by Muslims on a U.S. Airways flight. Better... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/20/good_news_about_cair a0e970d2-3c23-4c0f-b7df-dcd9c51e9cc0 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:21:56 GMT There was a time in America when local governments and employers could take advantage of powerless workers. Unions formed as a result. Nowadays, government generally sides with, instead of against, unions. The single... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/19/union_dues_and_secret_ballots 4a0599e0-3506-411e-9f94-fd80a72eded5 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:15:37 GMT Watch video of the speech by clicking here. Thank you very much. Charles Moore, Anthony Browne, Dean Godson, distinguished guests: I appreciate the cordial welcome to London. I always look forward to visiting the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/19/fred_thompsons_remarks_to_policy_exchange_in_london 0593481a-234c-4194-9326-b768346128c1 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:10:10 GMT Well, you've heard by now that Senate leader Harry Reid insulted one of this country's brightest military minds, Marine Corps General Peter Pace -- calling him "incompetent." Let me take a few moments to put this in... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/18/reading_harry_reid 535f559d-bfdc-4163-81fe-c2b44ba1a6e1 Mon, 18 Jun 2007 23:05:04 GMT It's funny how things change. Well, not always, but in this case, the story involves one of America's best humor writers -- Dave Barry. There was a time when American universities were known as havens of free... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/15/banning_dave_barry 61b5960d-ab86-4d3d-bffc-b77f7aa22a4d Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:20:40 GMT We're coming up on the 45th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis and I think it's worth talking about. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy faced down the USSR, risking total war, and forced the Soviets to remove... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/14/the_castrochavez_axis 10c84478-1d57-4e9b-b353-963a5ac19627 Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:09:32 GMT It's funny how historic events can have unexpected impacts many decades after memories have begun to fade. America, in fact, is facing a crisis in the next few years that could be traced directly to actions in Nazi... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/13/a_prescription_for_the_nursing_shortage 7eed5cc1-914a-41e8-89b1-9631241ace43 Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:51:29 GMT If there's a hell on earth, it's probably Zimbabwe. Life expectancies in the landlocked nation in the South of Africa are the world's lowest. Reports say women live an average of 35 years; men a bit longer. Four in five... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/11/an_unsustainable_development c50fa9ee-a3d4-44b5-9564-a69a1b526353 Tue, 12 Jun 2007 02:17:07 GMT When Iran abducted 15 British citizens from Iraqi waters in March, the world knew about it. The regime used the hostages for their own underhanded propaganda purposes, but they were at least released. Last week,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/07/the_new_hostages b688c12b-1f28-4adb-bcc1-28c45ad7440a Fri, 08 Jun 2007 01:24:48 GMT The sentencing of Scooter Libby was the last in a series of acts that has resulted in a shocking injustice - one created by and enabled by federal officials. As I've been saying for many months, this is a "he said-she... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/07/sentencing_of_scooter_libby 31963a15-6e1c-42fb-8717-d9732d1d36c1 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:24:41 GMT We've all heard by now about the plot by Muslim extremists to use jet fuel tanks and pipelines in a terror attack on JFK Airport and Queens, NY. One reason the incident is interesting is that the suspects have mostly... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/04/a_story_of_vigilance 64b2cacc-0763-4bf9-b9c5-20dbf404c1f2 Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:36:04 GMT Well, he's done it. Hugo Chavez was already systematically silencing criticism of his autocratic rule through threats and intimidation. Journalists have been threatened, beaten and even killed. Now he's shut down the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/06/01/speaking_up_for_freedom f6d3ecf0-0c4b-4a57-a81b-689a34f12dc5 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:37 GMT Let me ask you a hypothetical question. What do you think America would do if Canadian soldiers were firing dozens of missiles every day into Buffalo, N.Y.? What do you think our response would be if Mexican troops for... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/30/living_in_terror 9ccbda84-fb60-4fb4-94c7-794544829162 Thu, 31 May 2007 01:50:48 GMT I remember when I was a kid; one thing was clear to me. The more I learned about the rest of the world, the luckier I felt just having been born in America. The more I learned about America, the more I appreciated what... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/25/i_remember aee636e2-c7b3-42e3-b22d-63d5ef10088b Fri, 25 May 2007 23:12:50 GMT I'm never particularly surprised when the United Nations seems to oppose human freedom rather than promote it. At least a third of its member nations aren't democratic themselves. Many that claim to be, are only... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/21/tolerating_trafficking e5628c86-1186-496f-8eeb-f849187d28f9 Tue, 22 May 2007 01:19:27 GMT Most Americans know that we have an illegal immigration problem in this country, with perhaps as many as 20 million people residing here unlawfully. And I think most Americans have a pretty good idea about how to at... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/19/the_immigration_bill_comprehensive_or_incomprehensible b5f30974-2b7e-4a52-a0dd-0e6824bb1245 Sat, 19 May 2007 04:05:05 GMT I had planned on talking a bit today about Venezuela. The president there doesn't like the way his media is covering him, so he's doing away with the free press. He's established rules on what he thinks is fair, and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/17/you're_listening_to_radio_free_congress 1e3f591b-a4ea-4197-9d66-206962f7d261 Fri, 18 May 2007 01:50:11 GMT If you went to college in the sixties, like I did, you might not know how much higher education has changed since then. Universities today are different places. At Vanderbilt, where I got my law degree, I hear you can... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/17/those_who_cannot_remember_the_past 9d1ca10b-3802-415b-bc5a-63e402fa1c21 Thu, 17 May 2007 14:14:22 GMT Just when you think you've seen just about everything; in this case I'm talking about that video of the Palestinian children's show featuring a costumed Mickey Mouse character. An awful lot of you have watched this... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/16/it's_a_small_world_after_all 3edae44a-f296-4091-be7f-0aae3d9d70f1 Wed, 16 May 2007 04:03:31 GMT If you went to college in the sixties, like I did, you might not know how much higher education has changed since then. Universities today are different places. At Vanderbilt, where I got my law degree, I hear you can... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/16/those_who_cannot_remember_the_past 07f81db9-e62e-4bf1-a263-6eace0b632ef Wed, 16 May 2007 04:00:56 GMT Once again the Washington scandal machine is in full frenzy. This time the hapless Justice Department is baring the brunt. It's over the administration's firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year. Who's responsible for... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/15/power_of_the_president 4b78cd34-952d-4c9f-adad-fa7bfa372412 Tue, 15 May 2007 17:55:21 GMT - The Following speech was delivered to the meeting of the Council for National Policy on Saturday, May 12, 2007. One thing about folks knowing you are going to speak at the Council for National Policy, you get lots of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/14/first_principles_first 45f23cb9-260a-4eb4-bbf4-dc57bab3df71 Mon, 14 May 2007 19:55:41 GMT If you care about Constitutional law, and everybody should, the big news is that it looks as if the Supreme Court is going to hear a Second Amendment case some time next year. The event that sparked this legal fuse was... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/11/armed_with_the_truth 43f73819-7721-4e2c-96b5-2d149ed0044b Fri, 11 May 2007 04:00:26 GMT The election of Nicolas Sarkozy to the presidency of France has been a serious blow to those who claim that America has earned the undying hatred of Europeans. Oh, to be sure, the French media hates us, but there are a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/10/a_toast_to_monsieur_sarkozy d113e098-635b-49f1-b336-a11a4cca82d3 Thu, 10 May 2007 04:00:50 GMT I watched George Tenent's interview with Tim Russert on "Meet the Press" Sunday. Tenent's new book gives his version of history leading up to September 11. It's almost obligatory nowadays; after you have been in the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/09/tenent's_time_with_tim 291d46b8-a494-44d3-a5c5-0fb562d29ba0 Wed, 09 May 2007 04:00:59 GMT