Raised in Alberta, he graduated from the Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1939 and worked as a chiropractor and then as a teacher before serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.
He became a confidant of Emperor Haile Selassie I and, after the war, became deputy minister of education and helped to rebuild the nation's public school system.
Years later, Caouette claimed that he would have won, but Manning told him to tell the Quebec delegates to vote for Thompson because the West would never accept a francophone Catholic as party leader.
That meant that the government had to rely on smaller parties such as Social Credit to pass legislation and remain in power.
Additionally, the party's English wing, including Thompson, had largely abandoned social credit theory in favour of fiscal conservatism.
Negotiations failed, but with the backing of both Manning and Robert Stanfield, Thompson decided to cross the floor to the PCs in hopes of influencing that party.
Prior to the 1972 election, Thompson moved to British Columbia to teach and tried to win a seat from that province, Surrey—White Rock but was defeated in his attempt.
[citation needed] In his last years, Thompson was instrumental in bringing the former Emperor Haile Sellassie's children out of Ethiopia and to safety in the west after the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution.