Thompson, Tommy (1941-…), an American politician, served as United States secretary of health and human services from 2001 to 2005 under President George W. Bush. Before holding that office, Thompson served as governor of Wisconsin from 1987 to 2001.
Thomas George Thompson was born in Elroy, Wisconsin, on Nov. 19, 1941. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin in 1963. He received a law degree from the university in 1966. Thompson was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1966 and was reelected to nine two-year terms. Thompson also worked as a lawyer in private practice during his years in the legislature.
In 1986, Thompson was elected governor of Wisconsin. He was reelected in 1990, 1994, and 1998, becoming the first Wisconsin governor to be elected to four terms. In 1996, Thompson gained national attention for enacting a “welfare-to-work” program that became a model for welfare reform. During the early 1990’s, Thompson helped create a state-funded school choice program that allowed needy Milwaukee students to attend private schools. He later helped create a statewide program to allow students to attend the public schools of their choosing.
In 2001, midway through his fourth term as governor, Thompson resigned to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this office, Thompson helped enact a prescription drug coverage program for senior citizens and worked to increase funding to fight infectious disease. After leaving the position in 2005, Thompson served as chairman of a health care company and as a partner in a law firm based in Washington, D.C. In April 2007, Thompson announced that he would seek the Republican Party’s 2008 presidential nomination. But fund-raising struggles and low poll numbers led Thompson to withdraw from the campaign a few months later.
In August 2012, Thompson won a Republican primary contest for a U.S. Senate seat representing Wisconsin. He lost the November election to Democrat Tammy Baldwin.
