Actor and politician Fred Thompson officially announced he was withdrawing his candidacy for President of the United States on January 22, 2008.

Born Fred Dalton Thompson on August 19, 1942 in Sheffield, Alabama, he grew up in Tennessee.  Thompson attended Memphis State University before earning his law degree from Vanderbilt. He began his career in law in 1967 and served as a U.S. Attorney from 1969-72.

Thompson landed in the national spotlight when he was appointed as the Republican counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee investigating the Nixon White House.  During a televised hearing, it was Thompson who asked White House aide Alexander Butterfield about the existence of tapes made of Oval Office conversations.  Those tapes would eventually lead to Nixon’s resignation.

After Watergate, Thompson worked as a lawyer and lobbyist in Nashville and Washington D.C.

In 1985, Thompson was asked to play himself in the movie Marie, which was based on the life of whistleblower Marie Ragghianti whom Thompson had defended. His natural on-screen talent led to several other roles and a second career as an actor. Thompson’s films include 1987’s No Way Out starring Kevin Costner, the 1990 Tom Cruise vehicle Days of Thunder, 1990’s The Hunt for Red October and 1993’s In the Line of Fire starring Clint Eastwood.