He attended Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, graduating summa cum laude in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts in history.

Following college, Thompson attended the University of St Andrews in Scotland on a Rotary Foundation Scholarship.

[citation needed] From 1997 to 1998, Thompson served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Richard S. Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

[3] In 1998, he won the Violet Gingles Award for his short biography of the Arkansas legislator Paul Van Dalsem.

[4] In 2008 Thompson was named as one of 24 fellows in the 2008 class of the Aspen Institute's Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership.

During the 2005 legislative session, Thompson sponsored bills that created a Drug Court for Greene County, strengthened laws on prosecuting sexual offenders, and addressed financial problems of recently consolidated school districts.

On May 23, Thompson defeated Paragould resident and former state representative Gary Biggs in the Democratic primary election for the District 11 seat.