Researching Tommy Thompson

He is the longest-serving governor in Wisconsin history, holding office from January 1987 until February 2001, and is the only person to be elected to the office four times. During his tenure as governor he was also chair of Amtrak, the nation's passenger rail service. He was chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 1991 and 1992, and the National Governors Association in 1995 and 1996. After his time in the Bush Administration, Thompson became a partner in the law-firm Akin Gump and Independent Chairman of Deloitte's Center for Health Solutions. He has served on the board of 22 other organizations.

Thompson was a candidate for President of the United States, running in the 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, but withdrew from the race before voting began. He was the Republican nominee for United States Senate in Wisconsin in the 2012 election, vying to replace retiring senator Herb Kohl, but was defeated by Democrat Tammy Baldwin in what was his only statewide election loss.

Thompson was born at Penshaw, County Durham. A sailor from a young age, he worked in the submarine service of the Royal Navy during the first world war. Following armistice, he was assigned as Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Sir Arthur Waistell. When Waistell retired several years later, Thompson served as personal assistant for several successive Admirals, until finally being positioned as the first permanent Flag Lieutenant to the Lord Admiral by Sir Samuel Hoare. Thompson continued as Flag Lieutenant between the wars, and was Winston Churchill's first when he returned to the Admiralty in 1939.

Throughout Churchill's tenure as Prime Minister, Thompson remained at the Admiralty, but it is in his function as Prime Minister's Aide-de-camp that he is best remembered. During World War II, Thompson rarely was not at Churchill's side and was present during major conferences and events in London and abroad.

In 1939 he became a member of the Order of the British Empire.

Thompson retired in 1945 alongside Churchill, ending his naval career with the rank of Commander. Churchill noted Thompson on his honours list.

A lifelong bachelor, Thompson died at the age of 71 in London.

Thompson was a standout athlete at his high school in New Jersey. He continued playing football at William & Mary between 1944 and 1948 – his career was interrupted by a year of service in the U.S. military during World War II – and helped the team to a series of winning records and bowl appearances. He was named an all-Southern Conference center three times in college and was a third-string All-American in 1948, his senior year.

Thompson joined the Browns in 1949 and played primarily as a linebacker as the team won the AAFC championship. The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 and won the league championship that year. Thompson was a leader for Cleveland, serving as its captain in 1952 and 1953, his final two seasons. He was named a first-team All-Pro in 1953. After retiring, Thompson worked as a financial executive and was a trustee at William & Mary. He was inducted into his college's athletics hall of fame in 1969 and into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. He died of cancer in 1990.

In total he played 22 seasons of professional baseball beginning with the Bloomington Bloomers of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League in 1928. His best season may have been with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League in 1945, when he had a batting average of .346. His last professional season was with the Pampa Oilers of the West Texas – New Mexico League in 1953.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Thompson volunteered for service, first in South West Africa, and then in the German East Africa campaign, with the 5th South African Infantry. He was killed in action at Kangata, taking a bullet in the neck. He is buried in the Dar es Salaam War Cemetery, near his fellow countryman and teammate Jacky Morkel, who died a few weeks before him.

His most notable achievement was the conversion of the Toronto Island into an enormous park (including a private golf course). He proposed the 12 million dollar plan to level all the buildings and revitalize the area in 1963, and work was completed in 1968.

In 1983, the northern half of the Leslie Street Spit was renamed Tommy Thompson Park in his honour.

In 2000 he sold gold recovered from SS Central America for $52 million.In 2009 he had an off-shore account in the Cook Islands of $4.16 Million.In 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued an arrest warrant for Civil Contempt for Thompson for his failure to appear as directed. In 2014, the same Court issued an additional arrest warrant for Thompson for Criminal Contempt. The investigation was assigned to Deputy United States Marshall Mark Stroh of the Southern District of Ohio. After several years of searching, U.S. Marshals arrested Thompson in 2015 at a West Palm Beach, Florida hotel, together with his fellow fugitive Alison Louise Antekeier. In November 2018 Thompson agreed to surrender 500 gold coins; but then claimed he doesn't have access to the missing coins. On 28 November 2018 a jury awarded Investors $19.4 million in compensatory damages—$3.2 Million to the Dispatch Printing Company (which had put up $1 million of $22 million invested) and $16.2 million to the court-appointed receiver of the other investors.