Fred Thompson Dies Age 73

ARRA News Service -  Fred Thompson, a republican,  former U.S. senator from Tennessee,  and candidate for the Republican nomination for President and endorsed by the Arkansas Republican Assembly and the National Right to Life, died today in Nashville, Tennessee.

A statement by the family said Thompson died at age 73 in Nashville following a recurrence of lymphoma and was surrounded by his family. "It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of grief that we share the passing of our brother, father and grandfather who died peacefully in Nashville. ... Fred was the same man on the floor of the Senate, the movie studio, or the town square of ... his home."

Thompson, a lawyer, alternated between politics and acting much of his adult life. Once regarded as a rising star in the Senate, he retired from that seat when his term expired in January 2003, saying he didn't have the drive for another term.

However, he returned to politics in 2007 by announcing that he would seek the Republican presidential nomination. He dropped out in January 2008 after faring poorly in the early caucuses and primaries. Thompson served as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board at the United States Department of State, was a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was a Visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, specializing in national security and intelligence. In 1973, Thompson was appointed minority counsel to assist the Republican senators on the Senate Watergate Committee, a special committee convened by the U.S. Senate to investigate the Watergate scandal.

Thompson, 6-foot-6 with  folksy Tennessee demeanor, appeared in at least 20 motion pictures. His credits include "In the Line of Fire," ''The Hunt for Red October," ''Die Hard II" and "Cape Fear." Thompson also was a member of the cast on the long-running NBC television series Law & Order, playing Manhattan District Attorney Arthur Branch. He also made occasional appearances in the same role on other TV shows, such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and the pilot episode of Conviction.

Thompson also authored an interesting book of personal insights titled Teaching the Pig to Dance: A Memoir of Growing Up and Second Chances - Fred Thompson remembers the solid American values his father taught him -- and that he took to Hollywood and Washington.
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