Tommy G. Thompson is the current Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush.

Secretary Thompson was born in Elroy, WI, on November 19, 1941. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received his B.S. in 1963 and his J.D. in 1966. Thompson also served in the Wisconsin National Guard and the Army Reserve. He is married to Sue Ann and has three children: Tommi, Kelli, and Jason.

Thompson's political career began in 1966, when he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly as a representative. He was then elected assistant Assembly minority leader in 1973 and Assembly minority leader in 1981.

Thompson was elected governor of Wisconsin in 1987. In 1998 he was elected to his fourth term. During his time as governor, he served as chairman of the National Governors' Association, of the Education Commission of the States, and of the Midwestern Governors' Conference.

President Bush chose him as the nominee for Health and Human Services in part because of Wisconsin's landmark welfare-to-work legislation and because of Thompson's support of expanded access to health care for low-income people, a program known as "BadgerCare." Thompson is the 19th individual to serve as secretary of HHS, which employs more than 60,000 personnel and had a fiscal year 2001 budget of $429 billion.