- A woman in Washington, DC, read his novel "The Hunt for Red October" when it was first published by the Naval Press Institute in the 1980s, and loved it so much that she gave a copy to all her friends. One of those friends was President Ronald Reagan, who stepped off Marine One with the book tucked under his arm. A reporter saw the book and asked Reagan, "What are you reading?" Reagan then held up the book so everybody could see the cover and replied, "It's a really a good yarn." After Reagan's compliment, Tom Clancy's first novel became a best seller.
- He was 37 years old when his first novel "The Hunt for Red October" was published.
- Due to the limited technology of the 1980s, his novel, "The Hunt For Red October," had to be saved on ten floppy disks.
- In August 2000, he sold his video game company, Red Storm Entertainment, to Ubisoft for $45 million. The company still (as of 2020) concentrates on games based on Clancy stories and characters.
- He was an insurance agent before becoming a full time author of military fiction and non-fiction. He never had any military or government experience.
- Of the three actors to portray Jack Ryan before Clancy's death, Ben Affleck was said to have been his favorite.
- His second wife (and widow) Alexandra Marie Llewellyn Clancy is the daughter of businessman/entrepreneur J. Bruce Llewellyn, the first black owner of a Coca-Cola bottling plant in the USA, and she is also the goddaughter of Colin Powell.
- Dreamed of serving in the US military ever since he was a young boy. However, he failed to continue ROTC in college because he couldn't pass the required eye exam, crushing his hopes of ever serving in the army. (Loyola College required all students to enroll for two years of ROTC.)
- The Tom Clancy Estate is still a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball, under majority owner Peter Angelos, and along with another famous local Baltimore minority owner, former internationally ranked woman's tennis player Pam Shriver.
- Reportedly is worth over USD $190 million. (2001)
- He attempted to buy the Minnesota Vikings in the late 1990s. Due to his on-going divorce from Wanda Clancy, he did not have sufficient funds. The team was instead bought by (now former owner) Red McCombs.
- He majored in English Literature at Loyola College (now Loyola University Maryland) in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He graduated in the class of 1969.
- Along with Stephen King and Danielle Steel, he was one of the three best selling authors of the 1980s.
- Attended Loyola High School (now known as Loyola Blakefield), graduate class of 1965 and then Loyola College (now known as Loyola University Maryland) graduate class of 1969. Major: English Literature.
- Father of four, including son Thomas Leo Clancy III, with first wife Wanda, who divorced him in 1997.
- Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors." New Revision Series, Vol. 132, pp. 86-93. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.
- Although he was known for being a vocal conservative Republican, four of the actors who have played his most famous character Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and John Krasinski) have been vocal supporters of the Democratic Party and Chris Pine, who played the role in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), has been openly critical of the Republican Party and Donald Trump.
- Clancy was cremated. His ashes were given to his widow.
- Born on exactly the same date as "Wonder Years" star Dan Lauria.
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