Biography: Fred Thompson
Fred Thompson began his political career as a staffer for Senator Howard Baker and played a role in the Watergate hearings. Following his short stint on the Hill, Thompson became a corporate lobbyist for companies including General Electric and Westinghouse. He helped lobby for passage of a 1982 law deregulating the Savings and Loan industry that led to the failure of more than 1000 savings and loans and required a bailout by the federal government costing $150 billion.
While he worked as a lawyer and lobbyist in D.C., Thompson also built a career as a part time character actor in Hollywood. He has appeared in 23 films over the past 20 years. He was elected to the Senate in 1994, and retired in 2003. He was one of the Senate’s few bachelors during the time and was linked with country singer Lorrie Morgan and Republican consultant and talking head Laura Inghram. After leaving the Senate, he continued his acting career and returned to a D.C. law firm. He was rumored to run for Tennessee Governor in 2006, but eventually decided not to. He also backed out of running for president in 1996. He has not yet announced whether or not he will run for president. Thompson was divorced in 1985, but remarried recently and has two grown children from his first marriage and two young children by his second.
