Posted on 06/05/2007 10:07:59 AM PDT by jellybean
Five years ago, former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson and Naperville native Jeri Kehn exchanged wedding vows inside a DuPage County church.
For richer, for poorer.
For better, for worse.
In good times and bad.
The Washington power couple were talking about their marriage, but the words also are apropos of the ambitious political journey upon which the Thompsons are about to embark.
On Friday, Fred Thompson, 64, took the first official step toward a presidential bid by establishing a preliminary campaign committee. The Tennessee Republican and Hollywood actor is expected to formally enter the race as early as July.
His late start will put him behind other GOP hopefuls — including Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney — in terms of fundraising, but Thompson told USA Today last week that his 40-year-old wife urged him to give it a try.
“Jeri said, ‘You know, we could have some fun,’æ” the paper quoted him saying.
Kehn, who graduated from Naperville North in 1984 and was a member of the state champion spirit team, is no stranger to political power moves. When she met the senator in 1996, she was an attorney and GOP media consultant with a prominent Washington law firm.
The couple married at Naperville’s United Church of Christ in June 2002. They now live in a tony Virginia suburb with their 4-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son.
Thompson, who returned to acting after retiring from the U.S. Senate, recently quit the NBC series “Law & Order” to explore a presidential run. However, it’s his wife who seems to be drawing a lot of the tabloid interest.
The New York Post this week referred to Kehn as a “babe wife” in headlines, while blogs tout her as the next Jackie Kennedy and rave about her white Valentino wedding gown. The reports all note the 24-year age difference between the couple, with some suggesting it could hurt Thompson’s electability.
However, unlike GOP rivals Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, both of whom began relationships with their current wives during previous marriages, Thompson was divorced for nearly a decade before he began dating his current wife. There also have been hints that his ex-wife, Sarah — whom he married at age 17 and later had three children with — would campaign for him.
But as all that political prognosticating takes place inside the beltway, Naperville is enjoying the thought of having one of its own in the White House.
Kehn comes from one of the city’s oldest and most community-minded families. Her stepfather, Ron Keller, traces his local roots back five generations to when settlers farmed the area. Nearly 150 years ago, Keller’s great-grandfather formed the Naperville Municipal Band, a beloved institution which Ron Keller has directed for more than a half century.
Keller and his wife, Vicki, have not commented on the presidential bid at their son-in-law’s request. Friends, however, say they’re excited about the campaign.
“I know Ron and Vicki are very proud,” said Jack Shiffler, who works closely with Keller each year to organize the town’s Memorial Day parade.
In 2003, the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post extended an invitation through Keller for Thompson to serve as the parade’s grand marshal. Thompson accepted and gave an eloquent and emotional speech at the end of the procession, urging spectators never to forget the incredible sacrifice man is willing to make for man.
“He was wonderful,” Naperville Mayor George Pradel says. “He was a real southern gentleman. He just had that vibe about him.”
Kehn rode in the parade car with Pradel and Thompson, waving to old friends and pointing out former haunts along the downtown route.
“I see a lot of her mother in her,” Shiffler said. “She is very beautiful and extremely intelligent. They seemed genuinely in love.”
Other visits to her parents’ house have been quieter affairs, without press or fanfare. Still, Thompson paid public homage to his wife’s hometown in an April column he wrote for National Review.
In the piece, he congratulated Naperville Central graduate Candace Parker for leading the Lady Vols to the NCAA championship. He talked about the basketball star’s humility and academic success, calling her the kind of role model he would like his daughters to have.
“My wife, by the way, is proud just to share her hometown of Naperville, Illinois,” he wrote.
The VFW offered Thompson a chance to participate in this year’s Memorial Day parade — and perhaps use the opportunity to announce his presidential candidacy. He couldn’t attend, but local veterans hope they’ll be able to call in some favors if he makes it to the White House.
Shiffler, for one, would like the prestigious Marine Corps Silent Drill Team to make an appearance in town. And friends joke that Ron Keller — a recipient of the prestigious Sudler Silver Scroll Award from the John Philip Sousa Foundation — hopes he could parlay his son-in-law’s presidency into a shot as guest conductor of the U.S. Marine Band.
Win or lose, local veterans say there will always be a spot for the Thompsons in the annual parade.
“He knows it’s an open invitation,” Shiffler said. “Our experience with them was wonderful. They’ll always be part of us.”
FRED PING!!!
I used to live in Naperville. Only thing I really miss about Illinois.
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She’s a babe.
ping
I don’t like to rub it in, but Wheaton being my hometown, I have to remind you that it was Wheaton that “liberated” the county seat from Naperville and toted it, under cover of night, to Wheaton, where it has been ever since. I remember when Naperville was a little farm village, and now it’s about the third largest city in Illinois.
C’mon folks. Rule #1!
We never thanked you for that, did we? LOL!!!
THANKS!! I have been hunting for that one...
Me too, back in the 70’s. It was a small town then, not the monster it’s become.
The one in the middle and on the right is Lorrie Morgan.
Thanks for the link to the follow up on Scarborough’s stupid comment, I’d been hoping to see some.
Nice picture of Jeri too, she’s very attractive.
Is this Fred’s daughter? She looks like him
And from that piece you linked is this:
~snip~
On May 24, USA TODAY Washington bureau chief Susan Page interviewed the Thompsons for the story she wrote last week about his expected run for the Republican presidential nomination. Page asked Jeri Thompson if she feels ready for a campaign and has any qualms. Their exchange didn’t make it into the story, but Page has pulled it out of her notes for us.
“Absolutely. I think anyone would, who was normal,” Jeri Thompson said about having qualms. “But I don’t know how to put it any other way. ... We take so many things so seriously which are not, and we don’t take the things seriously enough that are. ... He’s the only man I ever met who can do both. So I’m here.”
~snip~
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