Changes

With Earl Long's encouragement, Thompson was elected to the U. S. House in the 1952 mid-terms<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=404947 LA District 7 Race - Nov 04, 1952]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref> and re-elected six times through 1964.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=36345 Candidate - T. Ashton Thompson]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref>

With Earl Long's encouragement, Thompson was elected to the U. S. House in the 1952 mid-terms<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=404947 LA District 7 Race - Nov 04, 1952]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref> and re-elected six times through 1964.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=36345 Candidate - T. Ashton Thompson]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref>

Along with the rest of the Louisiana congressional delegation in 1956, Thompson signed the [[Southern Manifesto]] in opposition to the [[United States Supreme Court]] ruling in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' which mandated the desegregation of public schools.<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/84/crecb/1956/03/12/GPO-CRECB-1956-pt4-3.pdf GPO-CRECB-1956-pt4-3.pdf]. ''Congressional Record''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref> He voted against the [[Civil Rights Act]]s of [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|1957]],<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42 HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref> 1960,<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/h106 HR 8601. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1960. APPROVAL BY THE HOUSE OF THE SENATE'S AMENDMENTS.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref> and [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|1964]]. A [[Segregation|segregationist]], as were nearly all state politicians at that time, Thompson along with [[Felix Edward Hébert]] and [[Hale Boggs]] of [[New Orleans]],  [[Joe Waggonner]] of Bossier Parish, [[Edwin Willis]] of St. Martinville, [[James H. Morrison]] of Baton Rouge, [[Gillis Long]] of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], and [[Otto Passman]] of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], voted against the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]],<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h182 H.R. 7152. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION (H. RES. 789) PROVIDING FOR HOUSE APPROVAL OF THE BILL AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref>Thompson died a week before passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which Boggs, Morrison, and Willis supported.<ref>.TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT. -- GovTrack.us, accessed August 24, 2021.</ref>

Along with the rest of the Louisiana congressional delegation in 1956, Thompson signed the [[Southern Manifesto]] in opposition to the [[United States Supreme Court]] ruling in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' which mandated the desegregation of public schools.<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/84/crecb/1956/03/12/GPO-CRECB-1956-pt4-3.pdf GPO-CRECB-1956-pt4-3.pdf]. ''Congressional Record''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref> He voted against the [[Civil Rights Act]]s of [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|1957]],<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42 HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref> 1960,<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/h106 HR 8601. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1960. APPROVAL BY THE HOUSE OF THE SENATE'S AMENDMENTS.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref> and [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|1964]]. A [[Segregation|segregationist]], as were nearly all state politicians at that time, Thompson along with [[Felix Edward Hébert]] and [[Hale Boggs]] of [[New Orleans]],  [[Joe Waggonner]] of Bossier Parish, [[Edwin Willis]] of St. Martinville, [[James H. Morrison]] of Baton Rouge, [[Gillis Long]] of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], and [[Otto Passman]] of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], voted against the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]],<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h182 H.R. 7152. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION (H. RES. 789) PROVIDING FOR HOUSE APPROVAL OF THE BILL AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref>

Thompson missed 11.4 percent of all [[roll call vote]]s during his congressional tenure.<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/theo_thompson/410797 Rep. Theo Thompson]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref>

Along with the majority of the Louisiana congressional delegation, Thompson voted for the Food Stamp Act<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h149 H.R. 10222. PASSAGE.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved August 25, 2021.</ref> and the Economic Opportunity Act,<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h201 S. 2642. PASSAGE OF THE ANTI-POVERTY BILL WHICH INCORPORATED THE TEXT OF H.R. 11377.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved August 25, 2021.</ref> both of which were key components of [[Lyndon Johnson]]'s [[War on Poverty]].

 

Thompson died a week before passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which Boggs, Morrison, and Willis supported.<ref>.TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT. -- GovTrack.us, accessed August 24, 2021.</ref> Hemissed 11.4 percent of all [[roll call vote]]s during his congressional tenure.<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/theo_thompson/410797 Rep. Theo Thompson]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 11, 2021.</ref>

==Death in office==

==Death in office==