Governor Tommy Thompson

by John Stumpner

Many famous people and public figures ride motorcycles. Often, many entertainers and celebrities may even include motorcycle riding as part of their movies and shows. This is also true of many political and government figures. While many politicians ride, some will include their riding as part of their public appearance. One of those political figures is former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson.

Tommy Thompson was born in 1941 in Elroy, Wisconsin. In 1966, he got his law degree from the University of Wisconsin. Shortly after that, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly. He was a member of the State Assembly for twenty years (from 1967 to 1987). In 1987, Thompson ran for Governor. He was re-elected three more times and became the longest running governor in Wisconsin history. In 2001, President George W. Bush asked Thompson to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, a position he held for four years. After retirement from public life, Thompson did come back to serve as president of the University of Wisconsin system from 2020 to 2022.

As governor, Tommy Thompson worked on transportation issues and oversaw huge changes to Wisconsin’s welfare system. As Secretary for Health and Human Services, he oversaw an overhaul of the Medicare system for retirees, seeing to it that our senior citizens were able to get health insurance that included their medications and prescription drugs.

As mentioned earlier, Tommy Thompson is also a biker. In 1994, to promote tourism in Wisconsin, he started an annual motorcycle ride. He continued to host these weeklong rides in and around Wisconsin until 2001, when he left for Washington, D.C. to become Secretary of Health and Human Services. Although he does not ride as much as he used to (in 2021 he had his arm in a sling due to a water-skiing accident), he will always be remembered by many as that governor on a motorcycle.

Tommy Thompson was always a popular and effective public servant and has many buildings and parks named for him and received many honors for his public service. As a biker, in 2002 he received the prestigious honor of being made a member of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame. This honor is reserved for those individuals who have made great contributions to motorcycling and includes several prominent ABATE of Wisconsin members.

Many public figures ride motorcycles. Wisconsin is fortunate that its longest serving governor is one of those public figures. We are doubly fortunate that, along with ABATE of Wisconsin, Governor Thompson was also a tireless promoter of the freedom of the road.

John