Born in Leasburg, North Carolina in 1810 to Nicolas Thompson and Lucretia (van Hook) Thompson, Thompson attended Bingham Academy in Orange County, North Carolina and later went on to graduate from the University of North Carolina in 1831, where he was a member of the Philanthropic Society.
Afterwards, he served on the university faculty for a short time until he left to study law in 1832.
He was admitted to the bar in 1834 and commenced practice in Pontotoc, Mississippi.

Thompson got involved in politics and was elected to the 26th Congress, serving from 1839 to 1851.

He was appointed to the United States Senate in 1845 but never received the commission, and the seat went to Joseph W. Chalmers.
Thompson was the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs in the 29th Congress.
He lost reelection to the 32nd Congress and went back to practicing law until 1857, when newly elected President James Buchanan appointed Thompson United States Secretary of the Interior.

In the later years of the Buchanan administration, the cabinet members argued with one another on issues of slavery and secession.
In an 1859 speech, Thompson advanced a moderate unionist position.
He denounced Republicans in the North who spoke of the slavery issue as an "irrepressible conflict" and Southern extremists who favored reopening the Atlantic slave trade.
Born in Leasburg, North Carolina in 1810 to Nicolas Thompson and Lucretia (van Hook) Thompson, Thompson attended Bingham Academy in Orange County, North Carolina and later went on to graduate from the University of North Carolina in 1831, where he was a member of the Philanthropic Society. Afterwards, he served on the university faculty for a short time until he left to study law in 1832. He was admitted to the bar in 1834 and commenced practice in Pontotoc, Mississippi.
Thompson got involved in politics and was elected to the 26th Congress, serving from 1839 to 1851.
He was appointed to the United States Senate in 1845 but never received the commission, and the seat went to Joseph W. Chalmers. Thompson was the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs in the 29th Congress. He lost reelection to the 32nd Congress and went back to practicing law until 1857, when newly elected President James Buchanan appointed Thompson United States Secretary of the Interior.
In the later years of the Buchanan administration, the cabinet members argued with one another on issues of slavery and secession. In an 1859 speech, Thompson advanced a moderate unionist position. He denounced Republicans in the North who spoke of the slavery issue as an "irrepressible conflict" and Southern extremists who favored reopening the Atlantic slave trade.
Jacob Thompson