Meldrim Thomson, Jr.
| Meldrim Thomson Jr. | |
|---|---|
| 73rd Governor of New Hampshire | |
|
In office January 4, 1973 – January 4, 1979 |
|
| Preceded by | Walter R. Peterson Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Hugh J. Gallen |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 8, 1912 Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania |
| Died | April 19, 2001 (aged 89) Orford, New Hampshire |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Gale Kelly |
| Profession | publisher |
Meldrim Thomson Jr. (March 8, 1912 – April 19, 2001) was an American politician who served three terms as governor of the U.S. state of New Hampshire from 1973 to 1979. A Republican, he was known as a strong supporter of conservative political values.
Thomson was born in 1912 in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, the son of Meldrim and Marion (Booth) Thomson, and was raised in Georgia and Florida. He was an Eagle Scout. Thomson attended Mercer University, Washington and Jefferson College, and the University of Georgia School of Law and was admitted to the practice of law in Florida in 1936.
In 1938, he married his secretary, Anne Gale Kelly, and together they had six children.
Thomson made his fortune publishing law books. In 1952, he founded Equity Publishing Corp., which published the laws of New Hampshire, Vermont, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico in English and Spanish. In 1955, he moved his family to New Hampshire, where he became involved in local and state educational and tax issues.
In 1966, as chairman of the Orford School Board, Thomson refused to accept federal education aid because he said there were too many strings attached. He lost races for governor in Republican primaries in 1968 and 1970, running again in the 1970 general election on the third-party American Independent line of Alabama Governor George Wallace. He finally won the governorship in 1972 after a campaign in which he pledged to veto any new sales or income tax that was put on his desk, and he further promised not to raise existing taxes.
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