Thomas Jefferson Anderson (November 10, 1910 – August 30, 2002) was an American author, journalist, and farmer.

After graduating from Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Anderson attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1934.

After graduation, he sold securities for several Nashville-based brokerage firms, including J. C. Bradford & Company, and also worked as an ad-salesman for the Southern Agriculturist.

In 1947, Anderson purchased The Arkansas Farmer, the first of sixteen regional farm magazines he acquired and operated as part of Nashville-based Southern Unit Publications, Inc. Additionally, he became publisher and editor of The Farm and Ranch Magazine, a nationally circulated monthly publication based in Dallas, Texas.

Anderson was the supervising editor and author of the column Straight Talk which appeared in the magazines and was reprinted in more than 375 newspapers.

In 1972, he was the American Independent Party vice presidential nominee, appearing on the ticket with U.S. Representative John G. Schmitz, a former Republican from California.

[6] In 1978, Anderson ran as the American Party-endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee, but victory went to Republican Howard Baker, Jr. who won his third and final term in the chamber.

[7] Anderson remained active in conservative politics and was widely popular as a speaker, appearing on various TV and radio programs and delivering more than 1,500 speeches[citation needed] between 1947 and 1994.

He was known for a great sense of humor: in some circles he was called "a modern-day Will Rogers," [8] in others "the barefoot wit of the John Birch Society.

"[citation needed] One of his most famous aphorisms was "Politicians are like cockroaches: It's not what they steal and carry away; it's what they fall into and mess up."

If you want style and daring with the kick of a Tennessee mule, then Thomas Jefferson Anderson is your man.

By example of his life as well as by his word, Tom Anderson has made a permanent contribution to the literature and liberty under law.