Fred Thompson
American politician and actor (1942–2015) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Freddie Dalton Thompson[1][2][3] (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1994 to 2003; Thompson was an unsuccessful candidate in the Republican Party presidential primaries for the 2008 United States presidential election.
Fred Thompson | |
---|---|
United States Senator from Tennessee | |
In office December 2, 1994 – January 3, 2003 | |
Preceded by | Harlan Mathews |
Succeeded by | Lamar Alexander |
Chair of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee | |
In office January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2001 | |
Preceded by | Joe Lieberman |
Succeeded by | Joe Lieberman |
In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001 | |
Preceded by | Ted Stevens |
Succeeded by | Joe Lieberman |
Personal details | |
Born | Freddie Dalton Thompson (1942-08-19)August 19, 1942 Sheffield, Alabama, U.S. |
Died | November 1, 2015(2015-11-01) (aged 73) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouses | |
Children | 5 |
Education | University of Memphis (BA) Vanderbilt University (JD) |
Signature | |
Thompson, while in the Senate, speaks in support of the Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act Recorded August 2, 1999 | |
He also chaired the International Security Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of State, was a member of the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as a visiting fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, specializing in national security and intelligence.[4][5][6]
As an actor, usually credited as Fred Dalton Thompson, he appeared in a number of movies and television shows including Matlock, The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard 2, In the Line of Fire, Days of Thunder, and Cape Fear, as well as in commercials. He frequently portrayed governmental authority figures and military men.[7] In the final months of his U.S. Senate term in 2002, Thompson joined the cast of the NBC television series Law & Order, starring as Manhattan District Attorney Arthur Branch.[8]