Meldrim Thomson, Jr.

Meldrim Thomson, Jr. ( born March 8, 1912 in Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, † April 19, 2001 in Orford, New Hampshire) was an American politician and 1973-1979 Governor of the State of New Hampshire.

Early years

Thomson was born in Pennsylvania, but grew up in Florida and Georgia. Until 1930 he attended the local high school in Miami. He attended Mercer University Law School and Washington and Jefferson College. In 1936 he graduated from the University of Georgia his law degree, after which he was admitted to the bar. Between 1936 and 1951 he was at a publishing house in Brooklyn, New York City, hired, who specialized in legal literature. In 1951 he made his own and then set up his own legal publishing, he moved from New York City to Orford in New Hampshire in 1954.

Political rise

Thomson was a member of the Republican Party. In 1964 he was member of a commission to revise the constitution of New Hampshire. In 1966, he was the School Council of Orford, in which he spoke out against federal funding for the promotion of education, because they were linked in his opinion, too many conditions. Both in 1968 and in 1970 he applied unsuccessfully for his party's nomination for the office of governor. In 1972 he was nominated for but candidates. During the election campaign he promised as governor each control template that would be presented to him to reject and also introduce yourself no new taxes.

Governor of New Hampshire

After his election as Governor Thomson was able to take up his new position on January 4, 1973, he was able to exercise after two elections in 1974 and 1976 to 4 January 1979. Regarding the taxes Thomson kept his word. In his reign no new taxes were introduced and some existing taxes were abolished. To date, there are in New Hampshire neither an income tax nor a VAT (Sales Tax). Were compensated for the loss of revenue due to reductions in spending. Regardless of its tax policy, Thomson developed an ultra conservative politician. He demanded, among other things, to equip the National Guard of the state with nuclear weapons. He imputed Martin Luther King an immoral character and put him in the vicinity of communism. He held this conservative attitude also in many other fields such as against homosexuals or protesting demonstrators. During his tenure, the death penalty was reintroduced in New Hampshire. Thomson knocked on the rights of his state to the federal government, but also to the neighboring countries. This resulted in his reign to quarrels with the states of Maine and Massachusetts.

Further CV

In 1978 he briefly left the Republican Party and founded his own party, which he called the Constitutional Party. He intended to stand as a candidate of his new party in 1980 for the American presidency. But after he had to admit that his financial resources for the campaign were not enough, and the Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan, whom he had himself supported by the way in 1976, he withdrew from the election campaign. Reagan then won the general election against Jimmy Carter. Thomson then went back to the Republicans.

Meldrim Thomson died in 2001. Together with his wife Anne Gale Kelley he had six children.