Fletcher Thompson

Standish Fletcher Thompson (born February 5, 1925) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a representative in Congress for the 5th Congressional District of Georgia.

Early life

Thompson was born in College Park in Fulton County, Georgia. He went to public schools, followed by Russell High School in East Point. In 1943 he served in the United States Army Medical Corps, transferring the next year to the United States Army Air Corps where he was a navigator with the Air Rescue Service. On demobilization he attended Emory University from which he graduated in 1949. During the Korean War, Thompson re-enlisted in the United States Air Force as a pilot.

Professional life

On returning from Korea, Thompson went to the now defunct Woodrow Wilson College of Law from which he graduated in 1957. The following year he was admitted to the Georgia bar and set up a law firm in East Point. He was also president of an insurance firm.

Politics

In November 1964 Thompson was elected as a Republican to the Georgia Senate from the thirty-fourth senatorial district. Two years later he won a previously Democratic seat in the United States House of Representatives based around Atlanta and East Point, when the sitting Congressman, Charles Weltner, opted not to run for reelection after being confronted with a 'loyalty oath' to segregationist candidate for Governor Lester Maddox. Weltner's successor as candidate, realtor Archie Lindsey, could not get himself established.

He was re-elected in 1968 and 1970. Thompson's success in being elected in a traditionally Democratic district that was by then 40% non-white was noted. "Time magazine" described him as an "unreconstructed conservative who opposes busing, liberal judges, Jane Fonda in Hanoi, Black Power and gun controls". " [http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942586,00.html Uphill Republican Struggle] ", November 6, 1972.]

In 1972, Thompson ran for the U.S. Senate; he secured the Republican nomination without opposition, and faced Sam Nunn in the general election after Nunn defeated David Gambrell in a bitter Democratic primary. Thompson tried to tie Nunn to the unpopular Democratic Presidential candidate George McGovern, but was faced with accusations that he had not spoken to a black audience for four years. Philip D. Duncan and Christine C. Lawrence, "Politics in America 1996: The 104th Congress", Congressional Quarterly, 1995, p. 338.] Thompson was defeated 46% to 54%; in a simultaneous special election for the two months remaining of Richard Russell, Jr.'s term, he won 46.5% of the vote.

Post-political career

After leaving Congress, Thompson went back to his law firm in Atlanta. He currently owns and operates a trucking company. In 1985 he was made a member of the Atlanta Regional Commission. Thompson lives in Marietta, Georgia.

References

CongBio|T000217 Retrieved on 2008-01-24

External links

CongBio|t000217 Retrieved on 2008-01-24

###@@@KEY@@@###USRepSuccessionBox
state = Georgia
district = 5
before= Charles Weltner
after= Andrew Young
years= January 3, 1967 - January 3, 1973