Thomas W. Beasley (a.k.a. Tom Beasley) (born 1943) is an American lawyer, political activist and businessman based in Tennessee. He served as the chairman of the

Tennessee Republican Party The Tennessee Republican Party (TRP or TNGOP) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Tennessee. Since the mid-1960s, the state has become increasingly Republican. The current chairman of the Republican Party of Tennessee is Sco ...

. In 1983 he was a co-founder of the

Corrections Corporation of America CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasley ...

(CCA), a private prison management company. He served as its president and chief executive officer from 1983 to 1987, and as its chairman from 1987 to 1994. As of 2015, it has become the largest prison management company in the United States.

Early life

Thomas W. Beasley was born on January 8, 1943, on a farm owned by his family from the late 1790s in

Smith County, Tennessee Smith County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,166. Smith County is located in the region of the state known as Middle Tennessee. Its county seat is Carthage. The county was organized in ...

.Bill Haslam
State of Tennessee House Joint Resolution No. 248
, April 21, 2011
''Vanderbilt Register'', May 22, 2006 He was educated at the Smith County High School in

Carthage, Tennessee Carthage is a town in and the county seat of Smith County, Tennessee, United States; it is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,306 at the 2010 census. It is located on the Cumberland River, which was important ...

. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

in 1966. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in Vietnam, the Panama Canal, and Nicaragua. He was awarded a

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

and two

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

s. Beasley returned to graduate school after the military. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the

Vanderbilt University Law School Vanderbilt University Law School (also known as Vanderbilt Law School or VLS) is a graduate school of Vanderbilt University. Established in 1874, it is one of the oldest law schools in the southern United States. Vanderbilt Law School has consiste ...

in 1973.Vanderbilt Law School: Distinguished Award Recipients
/ref> While in law school, he rented a

garage apartment A garage apartment is an apartment built within the walls of, or on top of, the garage of a house. The garage may be attached or a separate building from the main house, but will have a separate entrance and may or may not have a communicating doo ...

from future Tennessee governor and U.S. senator

Lamar Alexander Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee fro ...

Career

Beasley worked as a lawyer for the law firm White, Regen, Burch, and Beasley from 1973 to 1977. He served as the chairman of the

from 1977 to 1981.Matt Pulle
"Elephant in the Room: At only 39, GOP golden boy Gus Puryear is a Bush judicial appointee, but congressional Democrats are targeting his inexperience and deep Republican ties:
''Nashville Scene'', March 6, 2008 Beasley is credited with getting

Robin Beard Robin Jerald Beard Jr. (August 21, 1939 – June 16, 2007) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th congressional district, who served from 1973 to 1983. ...

elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. Beasley served the chairman of Community Education Partners. He served on the board of directors of the

Education Corporation of America Education Corporation of America, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, was a privately held company that operated proprietary colleges across the United States. Included were three schools with 31 campuses, plus one online school and four affilia ...

and the Horizon Resources Group. He is a member of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

and the

American Correctional Association The American Correctional Association (ACA; called the National Prison Association before 1954) is a private, non-profit, non-governmental trade association and accrediting body for the corrections industry, the oldest and largest such associati ...

Corrections Corporation of America

In the early 1980s, Beasley and his former roommate, Nashville lawyer, businessman and Republican presidential fund-raiser for Reagan,

Robert Crants Robert Crants (born 1944) is an American businessman. He is a co-founder of the Corrections Corporation of America. He served as its chairman and chief executive officer from 1994 to 1999. Early life Doctor Robert Crants was born on November 17, ...

met an executive of the Magic Stove Company who "said he thought it would be a heck of a venture for a young man: To solve the prison problem and make a lot of money at the same time" (CCA Source 2003). On January 28, 1983, Crants, Beasley, who was then Tennessee

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

chairman and

T. Don Hutto Terrell Don Hutto (June 8, 1935 – October 22, 2021), known as T. Don Hutto, was an American businessman and one of the three co-founders of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), whose establishment marked the beginning of the private priso ...

founded

, a private prison management company. CCA received initial investments from

Jack C. Massey Jack Carroll Massey (June 15, 1904 – February 15, 1990) was an American venture capitalist and entrepreneur who owned Kentucky Fried Chicken, co-founded the Hospital Corporation of America, and owned one of the largest franchisees of Wendy's.Gle ...

, the founder of

Hospital Corporation of America HCA Healthcare is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owns and operates 186 hospitals and approximately 2,000 sites of care, including sur ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

. Beasley served as its president and chief executive officer from 1983 to 1987, and as its chairman from 1987 to 1994. In 2000, he was appointed as the interim chief executive officer of CCA and Prison Realty Trust, as the latter firm merged with CCA.CEO of Prison Realty Trust terminated
''Nashville Business Journal'', July 31, 2000 In the early 21st century, CCA had become the largest private prison management company in the United States. By 2016, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) along with

Geo Group The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in North America, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, the company's f ...

were running "more than 170 prisons and detention centres". CCA's revenues in 2015 were $1.79 billion.

Philanthropy

Beasley served on the

Tennessee Board of Regents The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR or The College System of Tennessee) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of two public university systems, the other being the University of Tennessee system. It was author ...

as well as on the board of trustees of

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberland ...

, a private university in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropolit ...

. In 1997, Beasley endowed the Thomas W. Beasley Scholarship at the Vanderbilt University Law School for

veterans. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the law school. The Tom 'Wish' Beasley/Alumni Sports Center at Smith County High School is named in his honor. Beasley served on the boards of trustees of the Tennessee Nature Conservancy and Leadership Nashville. He is a former member of the Nashville Rotary Club. In 2011, the State of Tennessee passed Resolution 248 in his honor.

Personal life

He married Wendy Williams on December 29, 1973. They have three children Jeb, Matt, and Kristin Beasley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beasley, Thomas W. Living people 1943 births People from Smith County, Tennessee United States Military Academy alumni Vanderbilt University Law School alumni Businesspeople from Tennessee American company founders American chief executives American corporate directors CoreCivic people Tennessee Republicans Philanthropists from Tennessee