Ronnie Thompson (Georgia Politician) - School Busing

School Busing

Thompson emphatically opposed school busing to achieve racial balance as affirmed in 1971 in the United States Supreme Court decision Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. He blamed President Nixon for directing the machinery of the administration toward achieving school integration. He accused Nixon of having advocated "socialistic trends" in housing and welfare, of leniency toward "hippies and revolutionaries", and with failure to end "forced busing." In Macon, a court-ordered desegregation plan in 1970 transferred many students to different schools. When Thompson's 12-year-old son, Johnny, was among those relocated, he continued to take his son to the previous school, as did other parents. He was threatened with contempt of court, and despite boycotts by angry parents, the desegregation plan was implemented.

Thompson went to Washington meet with Nixon, whom Thompson said "told me positively, face to face, there would be no busing to meet racial quotas. . . . " As the busing continued, Thompson remained livid with Nixon. Watergate, however, prompted Thompson to defend Nixon and to attack the three national television networks for their comparable anti-Nixon coverage. In time, Thompson called on Nixon to surrender the White House tapes because Thompson expected the information to exonerate the President. Despite Nixon's resignation, Thompson said that he would always hold the former president "in the highest esteem". Thompson said that he never hesitated to take on politically impractical and unpopular causes.