Entertainment –
Fred Thompson, Actor Turned Senator, Dies
Former actor, turned U.S. Senator, turned presidential candidate Fred Thompson has died.
Entertainment
Best known for his work on the hit NBC television series “Law & Order,” then later as a United States senator and Republican presidential candidate, Thompson died on Sunday in Nashville. According to a family statement, the cause of death was due to a recurrence of lymphoma.
Fred Thompson enjoyed an unusual career, moving back and forth between the worlds of national politics and entertainment. Some considered it odd when he decided to leave behind his regular role on “Law & Order” to run for president in 2008, but it worked for him.
Although Fred Thompson made a career playing authoritative characters on television, his political presence off-camera was seen as weak and almost ambivalent. His gravitas on-screen never really transferred to the campaign trail, especially during his extremely disappointing run for the Republican presidential nomination.
Thompson strung together a solid conservative voting record in the Senate, but showed little enthusiasm for standard Republican issues, including abortion and other favorites of the religious right. This caused many to question his work ethic, both in Congress and as a candidate.
The disconnection from his own party was no more evident than in 2007, when he was asked by The National Review to name his most important accomplishments on Capitol Hill. “You mean besides leaving the Senate?” Thompson replied.
Fred Thompson began his life in public service as chief Republican counsel on the Watergate Committee, where his tough questioning of Alexander Butterfield, a former aide to President Richard M. Nixon, led to the revelation of recording devices in the Oval Office. He served 8 years in the Senate for Tennessee before deciding to leave a safe Republican seat in 2002 for a role on “Law & Order,” where he played Arthur Branch, a Manhattan district attorney.
Then in 2007 and at the insistence of party leaders who believed his on-screen charisma and small-town roots would transfer to the campaign trail, Thompson asked the producers of “Law & Order” to release him from his contract so that he could run for the Republican presidential nomination. It was a catastrophic decision.
Hopes that Fred Thompson could be turned into a modern-day Ronald Reagan, another conservative actor turned politician, were not meant to be. After an embarrassing campaign, he withdrew from the race in January 2008.
Fred Thompson was 73.
I remember Fred Thompson being among the Repubs who got SNOOKERED into running (mostly by the News Media) for President in 08 even though it was as clear as day that he/they (Giuliani and Perry) hardly stood a chance of winning the Repub nomination let alone the Presidency.
That year, the media tried to snooker Ret. General Wesley Clark into running on the Dems side. But after some deliberation, he was smart enough to say "No."
R.I.P. Fred Thompson