Tommy Thompson

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Tommy Thompson

Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941 in Elroy , Juneau County , Wisconsin ) is an American politician . He was the 42nd governor of the state of Wisconsin and served as the seventh US Secretary of Health from 2001 to 2005 .

Early years and political advancement

Thompson was born in Elroy, where his father ran a gas station and a grocery store. He studied law at the University of Wisconsin at Madison . Thompson is a former captain in the US Army and was a member of the military reserve.

In 1966 he was a Republican MP in the Wisconsin State Assembly . He stayed there until 1984 and was at times chairman of the Republican parliamentary group. In the 1986 gubernatorial election in Wisconsin, he proposed the Democratic incumbent Tony Earl and succeeded him on January 5, 1987.

Governor of wisconsin

Thompson has been elected as the only governor to date four times in a row for four years in office. He was in office for 14 years until February 1, 2001. During these 14 years he received numerous awards and honors. He was a member of several governors' associations.

Tommy Thompson giving a speech

During his 14 years as governor of Wisconsin, Thompson was known for promoting school selection programs. In 1990, Thompson introduced the first state-wide parent school election program that allowed families to send their children to private or public schools of their choice.

His program "Wisconsin Works" or "W-2", which was launched in 1996, is also known. The program required unemployed people to get work, but at the same time offered services and financial assistance. This should facilitate the return of the unemployed to the labor market. The help consisted of support with child care, health and mobility as well as training measures. The program was seen as successful and exemplary: Wisconsin's monthly welfare expenses fell 90 percent and the economic situation of the participants in "W-2" improved. Similar programs were then carried out in other US states. In Germany, the Hessian Prime Minister Roland Koch referred to this program as a model. However, at this point in time, independent institutes in the USA had already determined the total failure of this so-called “future model” in a report. The German Association of Towns and Municipalities came to a similar conclusion in its assessment of November 2003. The DStGB drew the following conclusion: "The report" Passing the Buck "[was written by three politically independent institutes [meant: Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, the Center for Economic Development at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Institute for Wisconsin's Future] [ "Slipping the buck to someone else"] proves that former welfare recipients have by no means made it into the world of work, as one might assume from the falling number of welfare recipients, but that most of them simply switched from state aid to Caritas are. The desired effects were not achieved on the labor market either. The cost of social benefits has increased significantly. Even in Wisconsin with comparatively more favorable starting conditions, the "welfare-to-work" model has failed. "

In 1996 he was on the list of possible vice-presidents for Republican candidate Bob Dole , along with New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman , Texas Governor George W. Bush , Michigan's Governor John Engler and Jack Kemp , with Thompson and John Engler playing an important role in the Election campaign played.

United States Secretary of Health

In 2001, the newly elected President George W. Bush Thompson appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services to his cabinet . Thompson then resigned as governor on February 1, 2001. In this position he tried to raise more private money for the National Institutes of Health , and reorganized Medicare and Medicaid in favor of more private provision. By dissolving reserves, 1.8 million low-income Americans could also be insured. After the attacks of September 11, 2001 , Thompson also stepped up preparations for bioterrorism . Thompson was no longer a member of George W. Bush's second administration, appointed after the 2004 election; Michael Leavitt was his successor .

Presidential candidacy

On April 1, 2007 he announced his candidacy for the presidency in 2008 , which he gave up again in August 2007 due to lack of support.

additional

Tommy Thompson has three children with his wife Sue Ann Thompson. One son, Jason Thompson, received brief attention when he held a brunch calling for President Obama to be "sent back to Kenya ". He later had to apologize for it.

Web links

Commons : Tommy Thompson  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Press release of the Institute for Wisconsin's Future dated December 23, 2001
  2. German Association of Cities and Municipalities, November 2003: "Wisconsin model failed"  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.dstgb.de  
  3. Washington Post
  4. ABC NEws (English) ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. / @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / abcnews.go.com