Here is something I read that impressed me about Thompson:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
...Thompson showed he was willing to buck his party, even if it meant making enemies. In 1997, he was appointed to lead hearings into Democratic fund-raising abuses in the 1996 campaign. It was a starring role for a first-term senator and a nod at his popularity within the GOP. But the warm feelings didn't last. When Thompson broadened his investigation to look into alleged abuses by Republicans, he became an enemy to his party. "Fred was under considerable pressure to turn up and publicize evidence of wrongdoing [by Clinton], but his goal throughout was to be thorough and fair, and that didn't endear him to either side," says Sen. Susan Collins, a friend of his.
Thompson's probe—which concluded without a splash—left him on the outs with GOP heavyweights. His archives show he repeatedly requested a seat on the Senate intelligence committee. But Majority Leader Trent Lott, once a close ally, snubbed him.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19263100...wsweek/page/4/

But it doesn't matter, since Fred has now dropped out of the race:

Mr. Thompson’s move surprised supporters and rivals alike, since the Tennessean had announced his candidacy less than one week earlier.
But in his announcement Mr. Thompson made it clear that the “punishing” schedule of a presidential candidate was not to his liking: “I am putting in seven, sometimes eight-hour days, and that is not what I signed up for.”
When asked when he began having second thoughts about his decision to run for president, the former senator replied, “I’d say halfway through my announcement on the Leno show—I could definitely feel myself fading.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20710729/site/newsweek/