James R. Thompson Biography

James Robert Thompson was born in Chicago, Illinois, to pathologist Dr. James Robert Thompson and Agnes Josephine Thompson. James spent his childhood in the Garfield Park area and had the ambition of becoming President of the US at a very young age.

In 1953, after graduating from high school, Thompson enrolled at the University of Illinois in Chicago for his pre-law studies. He studied there for two years and then at Washington University in St. Louis for a year.

He next studied at the Northwestern University Law School and got his Juris Doctor Degree in 1959. The same year, he joined the Illinois bar and worked for five years as a prosecutor in the State Attorney’s office in Cook County.

In 1964, he joined Northwestern University as an Associate Professor of criminal law and taught at the University for five years.

He was appointed by President Nixon as an Assistant Attorney General in 1969, following which he fought over 200 cases in the Illinois Supreme Court.

In 1975, Thompson quit his job and became a counsel with a law firm in Chicago. The next year, due to his popularity which he earned by handling high-profile cases, he was elected as a Republican candidate for the post of Governor of Illinois.

His first term lasted only for two years as the state of Illinois shifted the timing of gubernatorial election to coincide with the midterm Congressional election. He was re-elected three more times and served as the Governor of Illinois for a total of fourteen years.

President George H.W. Bush appointed Thompson as the Chairman of the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board in 1989. The board advises the President regarding the legality of workings of foreign intelligence agencies. Thompson worked in this role for four years.

In 1991, he left politics and joined a Chicago law firm called Winston & Strawn LLP. He served in various high-profile positions for the firm and also served as the Senior Chairman. Under him, the firm handled cases related to government regulations.

Thompson also served as the head of the Audit Committee for the Chicago-based media company Hollinger International, founded by businessman Conrad Black who was convicted of fraud.

He was a member of many public-service boards such as JBT Corporation, Navigant Consulting Group, Inc., Rare Isotope Accelerator Task Force and ABA Committee on Sentencing Reform.

During his tenure as an Assistant Attorney General, he successfully tried and convicted many prominent politicians on charges of corruption, such as Mayor Richard Daley, former Governor Otto Kerner Jr. and former U.S. Senator William Rentschler. He also fought the ground-breaking Escobedo versus Illinois case in the Supreme Court of the United States.

He served as the Governor of Illinois for fourteen years during which he settled complicated Labor-management issues, regularly travelled abroad to further the business interests of Illinois and also organized many trade missions to Europe, Mexico, Canada, Asia and the Middle East.

He was chosen as one of the USA’s 100 most influential lawyers by the National Law Journal in 1997, and again featured in the list after three years.

Thompson married an attorney, Jayne A. Carr in 1976 during his campaign for Governorship. The couple had a daughter, Samantha Jane.

James R. Thompson on August 14, 2020, after suffering from heart issues. He was 84.
 

This respected and long-serving former Illinois Governor wanted to become President of the U.S when he was just eleven years old and wrote in his high school yearbook, 1984, President of the U.S.