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JOSE FUENTES Fred Thompson: Lawyer, Actor, U.S. Senator

ONE OF THE most recognized faces in our nation, pointed Thompson Republican counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities Fred Thompson boasts a résumé that has — better known as the Watergate Committee. spanned a wide range of pursuits — from driving Thompson’s historic interrogation of aide (“Mr. Butterfield, are you a truck to occupying a coveted seat in the highly aware of the installation of any listening devices in the of the President?”) led to public dis- respected deliberative body, the U.S. Senate. closure of the infamous Watergate tapes. Thompson His greatest notoriety, however, originated not in chronicled his Watergate investigation experiences in the halls of Congress, but in the studio lots of Holly- his memoir At That Point in Time. wood, where he has enjoyed a successful and prolif- After President Nixon’s resignation, Thompson left ic acting career. Late last year, 60-year-old Thompson Washington and returned to life as a retired from a distinguished Senate career, which had lawyer. In 1977, Tennessee Parole Board Chair Marie been sparked initially by an interest in law and con- Ragghianti was fired after exposing a -selling tinued with enduring scheme, and Thompson agreed to take on her case. devotion to his Ten- Thompson’s work on the case proved that Tennessee nessee constituents. Gov. had used his influence to release Born in Sheffield, powerful criminals in a cash-for-clemency scheme. Ala., in 1942, Fred The case resulted in the governor’s removal from of- Thompson spent his fice and Ragghianti’s reinstatement. formative years at- tending public The Actor schools in Lawrence- The Blanton scandal became the subject of a best- burg, Tenn. The son selling novel and later became the movie Marie: A of a used car sales- True Story, starring Sissy Spacek. Thompson was ini- man, Thompson tially hired as a consultant, but his forceful presence worked his way convinced producers that he should portray himself through postsec- in the film. Thus began an 18-year film career, during ondary school as a which Thompson starred in such movies as No Way shoe salesman, a Out, , II, The Hunt for Red truck driver, and a October, Class Action, , Cape Fear, bike factory worker. Curly Sue, and Aces: Iron Eagle III. Thompson received Thompson has also starred in six television an undergraduate de- movies, including Unholy Matrimony and Barbarians gree in philosophy at the Gate, four television series (“China Beach,”

AP/Wide World Photos World AP/Wide and political science “,” “Matlock,” and “Wiseguy”), and the ra- from Memphis State dio special “Seven Days in May” with Ed Asner. With University in 1964 and a law degree from Vanderbilt his retirement from the Senate, Thompson has joined University in 1967. That same year, he was admitted the long-running NBC television hit “Law and Order” to the Tennessee bar and began to practice law. Sub- to play the role of District Attorney , a sequent and more challenging legal pursuits culmi- right-leaning character voted into office in a nated in Thompson’s 1994 election to the U.S. Sen- post–9/11 fervor. ate. The U.S. Senator The Lawyer Throughout his film career, Thompson maintained From 1969 to 1972, Thompson served as an assis- law offices in Nashville and Washington, spending tant U.S. attorney. While practicing in Nashville in most of his time practicing law and lobbying. In the 1972, Thompson volunteered to work on the re-elec- early 1980s, he served as special counsel to Ten- tion campaign of Sen. , a Tennessee nessee Gov. and to both the Senate Republican. A year later, at the age of 30, Baker ap- Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate

10 | The Federal Lawyer | February 2003 Committee on Foreign Relations. He was later ap- for a new “world runway” at Memphis International pointed a member of the Tennessee Appellate Court Airport, now credited with luring new business to Nominating Commission. the area. To raise the profile within Congress of the In 1994, Thompson was elected by the people of Great Smoky Mountains — America’s most visited Tennessee to serve out the remaining two years of national park — Thompson founded the Great Vice President ’s term in the U.S. Senate. Smoky Mountains National Park Congressional Cau- When re-elected for a full term in 1996, he received cus. Through this organization, he led efforts to en- more votes than any other candidate for public office act legislation that allowed the park to retain 100 in Tennessee history. Thompson won both the 1994 percent of the fees it collected and secured resources and 1996 elections by a margin of more than 20 per- for trail maintenance and air quality studies in the centage points. Thompson’s accomplishments reveal park. To preserve Tennessee’s natural resources, that he has not let his voters down. Thompson also sponsored legislation to fight erosion Under the banner, “Thompson Fights for Ten- in the Shiloh National Military Park and to authorize nesseans,” Thompson worked tirelessly for his con- the purchase of federal land for the Chickamauga– stituents on issues such as Tennessee preservation, Chattanooga National Military Park. agriculture, job creation, and tax reduction. Twice, Thompson convinced the Senate to continue funding On the National Front the Tennessee Valley Authority, clearing the way for A staunch protector of American national security the agency to carry out its land and water steward- and a firm believer in accountable government, ship mission. His support for the national security Thompson’s Senate campaigns promised to make work performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory good on these beliefs. During his time in the Senate, resulted in Senate funding for initial construction of Thompson voted to restrict rules on personal bank- the Spallation Neutron Source — an accelerator- ruptcy, to maintain permanent normal trade relations based neutron source that the U.S. Department of with China, to prohibit flag burning, to deploy a na- Energy is building to provide the most intense tional missile defense system, to increase penalties pulsed neutron beams in the world for scientific re- for drug offenders, to strengthen the trade embargo search and industrial development. The development against Cuba, to enact campaign finance reform, of this facility provided 2,300 temporary construc- maintain the ban on military base , and to tion-related jobs and 1,500 permanent positions at repeal President Clinton’s ergonomic rules on repeti- the laboratory. When the U.S. Postal Service was tive stress. Thompson has also voted in favor of considering relocating its Southeastern Regional school vouchers, a Social Security “lockbox,” tax Headquarters to Atlanta, Thompson also intervened cuts, and requirements for a super majority to raise to save 87 jobs in Memphis. taxes. Thompson opposed loosening restrictions on As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, cell phone wiretapping, expanding hate crimes to in- Thompson pushed for legislation to extend the term clude sexual orientation, banning affirmative action of copyrights in order to protect songwriters; he se- hiring with federal funds, adopting the Comprehen- cured funding for construction of a new Federal Dis- sive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, checking on back- trict Courthouse; and he helped expedite Senate con- grounds at gun shows, and eliminating block grants firmation of qualified Tennesseans for the federal for food stamps. bench — including the appointment of Bernice Don- Thompson also was one of the Senate’s loudest ald as the first African-American woman ever to sit voices for strengthening the compensation system of on the federal bench in Tennessee. the federal judiciary. In 2001 he cosponsored the Seeking to protect embattled Tennessee farmers, Federal Judicial Fairness Act, which would have pro- Thompson supported emergency funding for agricul- vided for automatic annual cost-of-living adjustments ture and voted against tobacco restrictions and tax to judicial salaries and would have delinked judicial increases. In fighting to protect Tennessee landowner COLAs from the mechanism governing salary adjust- rights, he established federal legislation requiring ad- ments to Congress. In addition, the legislation would equate notification when companies seek to have provided a cumulative upward adjustment to acquire land interests through eminent domain, a judicial salaries to offset the loss judges suffered procedure now mirrored by the Federal Energy Reg- when they were denied four COLAs in the 1990s due ulatory Commission. to congressional inaction. Throughout his service in the Senate, Thompson Thompson began his rise to political stardom in recognized the need to protect Tennessee history, Washington in 1994, when Sen. asked him tourism, travel, and resources. He worked to ensure to respond on national television to President Clin- that Tennessee received its fair share of federal high- ton’s speech requesting a tax cut. A member of the way funds for road and bridge construction and maintenance. In 1998, Thompson obtained funding THOMPSON continued on page 12

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powerful Senate Committee on Finance, Thompson penalties, adequate presidential waivers, and con- served on the Health Care, International Trade and gressional oversight. Thompson successfully brought Taxation, and IRS Oversight Subcommittees. He was the legislation to the Senate floor during the debate also a member of the Senate Select Committee on In- on permanent normal trade status for China. In 1998, telligence, the Senate National Security Working the Senate leadership also chose Thompson to serve Group, and the Senate Renewable Energy and Ener- on a special Senate task force to examine whether gy Efficiency Caucus. Thompson focused on reduc- the Chinese government improperly obtained Ameri- ing taxes by reforming the tax code and pushed for can satellite and missile technology. The task force’s an export control policy that protects the country’s findings resulted in returning satellite export control national security with minimal bureaucratic red tape. authority to the State Department. He regularly promoted a smaller, more efficient, and He was among the first group of senators to visit more accountable government and was widely cred- Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and he ited for keeping a watchful eye over Washington’s spent much of his remaining time in the Senate in- fiscal matters. vestigating the government’s intelligence failures be- Since 1997, Thompson served as the senior Re- fore Sept. 11. He supported increased military fund- publican on the Senate Committee on Governmental ing and believes that military personnel deserve Affairs, acting as chair until June 2001, when Senate higher pay, expedited benefits, and improved health leadership switched to Democratic hands, after care. Thompson emphasized expanding the force which he served as the committee’s ranking member. structure to deal with threats while building new He was among the most junior senators in history to weapons and providing better training. He is also serve as chair of a major Senate committee. In this very aware of the nation’s vulnerability to computer leadership position, Thompson was charged with attacks from terrorists, crime rings, and hackers. In overseeing management of the federal government. response to this threat, he authored the Government He held hearings on topics such as improving the Information Security Act, which provided a new federal regulatory process, exploring ways to elimi- framework for protecting the government’s comput- nate fraud and abuse, reforming the IRS, and dealing ers from outside attack by hackers. “Effective com- with a number of national security issues, including puter security starts with effective management and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He has this legislation will help federal agencies get a han- worked to enact solutions to information manage- dle on preventing hackers from wreaking havoc with ment problems, such as computer security. Overall, citizens’ sensitive information,” Thompson said. Thompson was always concerned with the govern- In 1999, Thompson joined the Senate Finance ment’s management style: “We create a lot of expen- Committee, where he worked to cut taxes and to re- sive agencies and programs, and then we pretty form America’s Social Security and Medicare pro- much turn our backs on them while they run for grams. He joined with a bipartisan group of senators years and years.” to endorse a plan to reform Social Security by cutting In 1997, the Senate’s Governmental Affairs Com- payroll taxes and allowing workers to invest in per- mittee was tapped to conduct an investigation into sonal savings accounts. Thompson also pushed for a alleged illegal activities associated with the 1996 fed- biennial budget to end the yearly appropriations eral election campaigns. Thompson’s Watergate ex- struggle in Congress and for revised procedures lim- perience proved invaluable to this effort. The com- iting congressional sessions to half the year. This mittee exposed a campaign system rife with abuse process would help Washington lawmakers focus on and foreign influence peddling, including Chinese in- current funded programs and would allow them to volvement in U.S. presidential and congressional spend more time in their home communities. campaigns. The committee produced a 9,600-page Having discovered that federal programs $20 report, leading to indictments and several ongoing billion dollars in 1999 ($4 billion in uncollected debts criminal investigations. and $16 billion in overpayments to contractors), Thompson is a strong supporter of a robust, multi- Thompson worked with the U.S. General Accounting tiered national missile defense and he believes that Office to unveil the first ever audit of the federal proliferation of weapons of mass destruction threat- government. “The government failed miserably,” ens national security. As a result, during the 106th Thompson said. “The government’s deteriorating ac- Congress, Thompson introduced the China Nonpro- counting systems put Congress at a severe disadvan- liferation Act, which confronted the transfer of tage because we lack reliable information to assess weapons of mass destruction by “key supplier” coun- program performance, control costs, and stop wide- tries like China and Russia to rogue states like Iran, spread waste, fraud, and abuse. We must do better.” Iraq, North Korea, and Libya. The bill required an Thompson was also responsible for holding a annual review of these countries’ proliferation activi- ties by establishing clear standards, reasonable THOMPSON continued on page 20

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number of hearings and providing reports unveiling needs. After so many bouts of “frustration in the past, wasted taxpayer dollars. In 2000, he proposed legis- going out with this is a tremendous thing.” He called lation that would require federal agencies to identify his time in the Senate “a tremendous honor.” improper payments and accounting errors. Along the Thompson doesn’t plan to spend all of his new- same lines, Thompson joined a bipartisan group of found time acting. He plans to remain active in shap- senators to pass the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act. ing public policy by making contributions outside of The act now requires the White House’s Office of elected office. “One of the nice parts is I don’t have Management and Budget to disclose to the public the to have plans, don’t have to fill up a calendar for a costs and benefits of regulatory programs, as well as while.” He has accepted the presidency of the Feder- an analysis of the impact of federal regulations on al City Council, a nonprofit group of Washington- state, local, and tribal governments, on small busi- area civic and business leaders seeking to promote ness, and on economic growth. Thompson believes quality of life issues in the District of Columbia. In that “people have a right to know the costs and ben- some respects, this position will be a continuation of efits of important regulatory decisions.” his efforts on the Committee on Governmental Af- Thompson’s service on the Governmental Affairs fairs. He also is considering other public policy proj- Committee and the Senate Finance Committee made ects. He has signed up with the Washington Speakers him a potential vice presidential running mate for Bureau for a series of speeches, will continue his ap- George W. Bush in the 2000 election. Senator pearances on “Law and Order,” and plans to explore Thompson has remained a fervent believer that “gov- a teaching engagement with his alma matter, Vander- ernment closer to the people works best” and that bilt University, including its law school. Eventually, too often Congress gets involved in matters that are he will associate himself with a law firm but not for a better left to the local and state governments. “This while, he says. fits my longstanding concern that every time there is Thompson praised federal service and private-sec- a news story, we run to the floor and want to feder- tor lawyers for all they accomplish in the federal sys- alize something.” tem. “For Congress, laws are our stock in trade. But Stating that he simply did not “have the heart for so much of the real effect is on the fine print and in- another six-year term,” Thompson retired after eight terpretation. We have such a busy schedule that we years of service in the U.S. Senate. He called the Sen- don’t have time to spend on the consequences of ate a “remarkable place,” but he says, “I’m not 30 what we do. Having good legal minds addressing the years old. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life ramifications and consequences of our legislative ef- up here. I don’t like spending 14- and 16-hour days forts is very important.” voting on ‘Sense of the Senate’ resolutions on irrele- Thompson is delighted with the shift to Republi- vant matters.” Divorced in the mid-1980s, Thompson can control of the Senate and feels that the most sig- recently married media Jeri Kehn from the nificant and immediate focus will be on expediting former Verner Liipfert law firm in Washington, D.C. votes on judicial nominations. “We can now set the Thompson’s last days in the Senate were spent fo- agenda on the floor and in committees. It’s not a rev- cusing on the investigation into the intelligence fail- olution but it is a sign, which we need to recognize ures before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and creating and to act accordingly. Most political capital is made the Security Department. On Nov. 25, af- by watching the other side make mistakes.” We need ter a White House signing ceremony, he explained: to use this opportunity to make our bully pulpit big- “Now the hard part comes. Putting the department ger in order to sell our ideas better and most impor- all together.” He felt fortunate to have accomplished tantly, put them into proper perspective, but not this historic overhaul, over which he had taken the overreach.” lead, on his last day in session with the U.S. Senate. President Bush has applauded Thompson for serv- “Many times people put time and effort into things ing “the people of Tennessee with honor, distinction, without coming to fruition. … How many holes [do] and class.” TFL you have to dig without any success and spend time on insignificant things?” But to Thompson, this victo- Jose Fuentes, former attorney general for Puerto Rico, ry was a clear sign of how quickly the nation is able is counsel with the Washington, D.C., office of Reed to change its priorities and focus to achieve what it Smith LLP.

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