saying goodbye
BY DAVE BOUCHER , JOEY GARRISON, & DAVE PAULSON
Fred Thompson, with Larger-Than-Life Persona, Dies at 73 Fred Thompson, the former U.S. senator from Tennessee, Republican presidential candidate and “Law and Order” actor, died Sunday after a recurrence of lymphoma. He was 73. Thompson’s family announced the news in a statement, which was published in The Tennessean. “It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of grief that we share the passing of our brother, husband, father, and grandfather who died peacefully in Nashville surrounded by his family,” the statement said.
an actor but as a real-life prosecutor too." Thompson's rise to the Senate was atypical. He had never before held public office, but he overwhelmingly won a 1994 special election for Al Gore's old Senate seat after connecting with voters. In 1996 he easily won a six-year term. The son of a car salesman, the towering 6’ 6” Thompson was born in Sheffield, Ala., and grew up in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., where he was a star athlete. He was 17 when he married Sarah Lindsey. The couple, who divorced in 1985, lived in public housing for a year as newlyweds.
It continued: "Fred once said that the experiences he had growing up in small-town Tennessee formed the prism through which he viewed the Thompson graduated from Memphis State world and shaped the way he dealt with life. Fred University in 1964 and earned his law degree stood on principle and common sense, from Vanderbilt University and had a deep love for and connection in 1967. To pay for school, he with the people across Tennessee worked at a bicycle plant, whom he had the privilege to serve in post office and motel. the United States Senate. He enjoyed a hearty laugh, a strong handshake, a Thompson went on to good cigar, and a healthy dose of become a lawyer in humility. Fred was the same man on Nashville. In 1969, he the floor of the Senate, the movie became an assistant U.S. studio, or the town square of attorney, then volunteered in Lawrenceburg, his home." 1972 to work on the reelection campaign of former Fred "Fred believed that the greatness of Thompson Republican Sen. Howard our nation was defined by the hard Baker. A year later, Baker work, faith, and honesty of its people. selected Thompson to be He had an enduring belief in the exceptionalism chief minority counsel on the committee of our country, and that America could provide investigating the Watergate scandal. the opportunity for any boy or girl, in any corner of our country, to succeed in life. " Afterward, Thompson returned to Tennessee and represented Marie Ragghianti, the head of the Thompson, born in 1942, served in the Senate Tennessee Parole Board who was fired in 1977 from December 1994 to January 2003. after exposing a pardon-selling scheme. Ragghianti won reinstatement and her case was Following his time in the Senate, Thompson made into a 1985 movie titled "Marie," based on played District Attorney Arthur Branch on Law the 1983 book "Marie: A True Story," by Peter & Order for five seasons, leaving the show to run Maas. The producers asked Thompson to play for president. himself, which launched his acting career. Thought to be a contender during the early stages of the 2008 Republican presidential primary cycle, Thompson drew little support in many of the early states and he took a big hit when the former Southern senator failed to win South Carolina. He eventually dropped out in late January. "Fred Thompson lived life to the very fullest," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. in a statement. "The first in his family to go to college, Fred would go on to become Watergate lawyer, Senate colleague, presidential candidate, radio personality, and icon of silver and small screen alike who didn't just take on criminals as
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In June 2002, Thompson married Jeri Kehn, a political and media specialist. After retiring from politics, Thompson hosted a conservative radio talk show between 2009 and 2011 and became a TV advertising pitchman for American Advisers Group, a reverse mortgage financial company. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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