Fletcher Thompson Standish Fletcher Thompson ( born February 5 , 1925 ) is an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1967 to 1973 from the 5th Congressional District of Georgia . Early life . Thompson was born near Atlanta in College Park in Fulton County , Georgia . He graduated from Russell High School in East Point , Georgia . In 1943 , he joined United States Army Medical Corps and transferred the next year to the United States Army Air Corps where he was a navigator with the Air Rescue Service . On demobilization , he attended the Methodist - affiliated Emory University in Atlanta , from which he graduated in 1949 . During the Korean War , Thompson re - enlisted in the United States Air Force as a pilot . Professional life . On returning from Korea , Thompson graduated in 1957 from the since defunct Woodrow Wilson College of Law in Atlanta . The following year he was admitted to the Georgia bar and set up a law firm in East Point . He was also president of an insurance firm . Politics . Thompson was a lifelong Republican , not a convert from the Democratic Party as were most Georgia Republicans at the time . In the November 3 , 1964 general election , in which Barry M . Goldwater of Arizona became the first Republican presidential nominee to win Georgia ' s electoral vote s , Thompson defeated then senior Democratic State Senator Charlie Brown in District 34 . Thompson was one of only four Republican members of the upper chamber of the legislature at the time . He was selected by the Democratic majority to represent Fulton County in the drafting and sponsorship of the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority Act . Two years later Thompson became the first Republican since the Reconstruction era to represent Atlanta and the 5th Congressional District in the United States House . On October 3 , 1966 , about a month before the general election held on November 8 , the incumbent representative , Democrat Charles Weltner , after months of campaigning for reelection , withdrew from the race . Weltner said that he could not continue in the race and honor the loyalty oath that all Democratic candidates were required to take , which in this year would have required him to support the party ' s segregationist gubernatorial nominee , Atlanta businessman Lester Maddox . Weltner ' s U . S . House colleague , Howard " Bo " Callaway , the Republican gubernatorial nominee , at first expressed " amusement " over the " foolish " Democrat pledge and claimed that Weltner really withdrew from the reelection race because he feared that Thompson , whom Callawy endorsed , would unseat him . The " Athens Daily News " agreed with Callaway ' s assessment and emphasized that anti - Maddox black voters at the time had such little experience with ticket - splitting that Thompson could prevail . Callaway later withdrew his comment and hailed Weltner ' s political courage . Weltner also refused to support Callaway in the race against Maddox , opting for a write - in campaign on behalf of Maddox ' s primary opponent , former Governor Ellis Arnall . Weltner termed southern Republicans " Dixiecrat s with button - down shirts " and accused Callaway of being a tool of big business . The Democratic Executive Committee then chose Archie Lindsey , then the chairman of the Fulton County Commission , to replace Weltner on the ballot . Lindsey had only three weeks to mount a campaign . Thompson prevailed , 55 , 423 ( 60 . 1 percent ) to Lindsey ' s 36 , 751 ( 39 . 9 percent ) . Thompson netted some 30 per cent of the black vote . Even so , Thompson benefited from the white backlash against the Civil Rights Movement and the administration of U . S . President Lyndon B . Johnson , who was highly unpopular among segregationist , blue - collar whites who lived in Atlanta ' s southern and western neighborhoods . Thompson was re - elected in 1968 , when Weltner , running on the Humphrey - Muskie ticket , sought a comeback . He was again reelected in 1970 , when he defeated Andrew Young , who after the next election in 1972 in a revised district succeeded Thompson in the Fifth District . During his various campaigns , Thompson campaigned not only in majority white precincts but also in predominantly black ones . He also was the principal speaker at the annual convention of the United States Postal Alliance , a union of African - American postal employees . Thompson ' s success in winning in a traditionally Democratic district that was by then 40 percent non - white was noted in " Time magazine " magazine . The publication described Thompson as an " unreconstructed conservative who opposes busing , liberal judges , Jane Fonda in Hanoi , Black Power and gun control . " In line with this Fletcher Thompson helped create a rift between the Black community and Black Panther Party in Atlanta . Thompson was quoted by journalist J . Lowell Ware ( September 18 , 1971 ) , " the Black Panthers should stay in California , " and " neither they nor their philosophy are welcome in Atlanta . " Thompson was editorially endorsed by C . A . Scott , owner of the " Atlanta Daily World " , the only daily African - American newspaper in Georgia . He was the first member of Congress from Georgia ever to name African Americans to West Point and the other military academies . He was the first 5th District congressman to employ an African American in his Atlanta office . In 1972 , Thompson ran for the U . S . Senate ; he won the Republican primary with little opposition . Sam Nunn defeated David Gambrell in the Democratic primary ; Gambrell was an appointee to succeed the late Richard B . Russell . When President Richard M . Nixon , a Republican , visited Atlanta a month before the general election he did not endorse Thompson , in keeping with his strategy at the time to maintain alliances with conservative Southern Democrats . Nixon had similarly snubbed Gil Carmichael in Mississippi that year , who was challenging Senator James O . Eastland , and even his former Postmaster General Winton Blount , who fell far short in a challenge to Senator John Sparkman of neighboring Alabama . Sparkman had been Nixon ' s opponent two decades earlier in 1952 . Democratic Governor Jimmy Carter hence declared that Nixon would just as soon have Nunn in the Senate as Thompson . Nunn endorsed Nixon over the national Democratic nominee George McGovern of South Dakota . " Nixon / Nunn " signs were posted all over Georgia , as were " McGovern / Nunn " , and " Wallace / Nunn " . With limited national Republican support , Thompson lost to Nunn , 362 , 501 votes ( 46 . 5 percent ) to 404 , 890 ( 52 percent ) . In time Nunn , who served for four terms became one of the most influential U . S . senators . Post - political career . After leaving the U . S . House , Thompson returned to his law firm in Atlanta . In 1985 he was made a member of the Atlanta Regional Commission . Thompson resides in Marietta , Georgia . References . Retrieved on 2008 - 01 - 24 External links . Retrieved on 2008 - 01 - 24