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Ronald John Thompson, known as Ronnie Thompson or 'Machine Gun Ronnie' Thompson (born July 21, 1934), is a former Georgia Republican politician who was the first member of his party to have been elected mayor of Macon, the seat of Bibb County in central Georgia. Thompson served two controversial terms from 1967 to 1975. He is also a former gospel and country music singer known for his highly conservative views on issues. In 1972, Thompson was a Republican candidate for the United States House of Representatives, but he was defeated by the Democratic incumbent W.S. Stuckey, Jr.. In the 1974 gubernatorial election, as his party's nominee, Thompson was trounced by Democrat George D. Busbee. A populist in political philosophy, Thompson was often at odds with his state and national moderate Republican leadership. Buddy Kelly Moore, who completed a Master of Arts thesis on Thompson's career in 1976 at Georgia College & State University, opined that Thompson "shocked and fascinated observers with hard-line approaches to law-and-order, municipal unionism, and race relations."(HREF="http://www.kotoba.ne.jp/word/11/Talk:Ronnie Thompson (Georgia politician)#Huh?" TITLE="Talk:Ronnie Thompson (Georgia politician)#Huh?">''see talk page'' ) Moore defined Thompson's career in terms of a "predilection for the flamboyant."〔Buddy Kelly Moore, ''Machine Gun Ronnie' Thompson" A Political Biography'', Georgia College at Milledgeville, Master's thesis, August 1976, p. vi〕 Unconventional author Will D. Campbell called Thompson "a harbinger of the New Right", a movement which emerged in the late 1970s to help to elect Republican Ronald W. Reagan of California as U.S. President. ==Early years, family, education, business== Thompson was born in Augusta, Georgia, to Remus Warren Thompson and the former Mattie Lou Watkins, a southern working-class couple. The family included two older brothers, Kenneth and William Thompson, and a younger sister, Janice. Remus Thompson worked in a cotton mill, credit manager, and firefighter. His mother operated a restaurant.〔Moore, Thesis, pp. 1-2〕 Originally a segregationist, Thompson said that he had been reared to "believe in separation of the races."〔Roger Williams, "What Makes Ronnie Run", ''Atlanta Magazine'', January 1971, p. 94〕 He also developed a resentment of the dominant wealth and power elite. He once said that he could not fully evaluate the overall status of Macon because "I'm from the other side of the railroad tracks."〔Margaret Shannon, "Can a Gospel Singer Find Happiness as the First Republican Mayor of Macon?" ''Atlanta Journal and Constitution Magazine'', May 25, 1969, p. 16〕 Thompson's family moved to Macon in 1945. Thompson attended Baptist-affiliated Mercer University in Macon, the University of Georgia extension campus at Warner Robins, and the since disbanded Woodrow Wilson Law School in Atlanta,〔(Oglethorpe University : Administrative : Registrar : Woodrow Wilson College Of Law )〕 but only for a quarter in each institution. Instead, he became general manager for 39 Friedman's jewelry stores in four southeastern states.〔Williams, "What Makes Ronnie Run," p. 94〕 In 1952, he married Nita Thompson; they later had two children. The couple separated in 1972; the couple divorced in 1974.〔Moore Thesis, p. 4〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ronnie Thompson (Georgia politician)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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