Who is Fmr Senator (Possibly President) Fred Thompson?
Written by Brandon on March 11, 2007 – 1:25 pm - Welcome, if you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or subscribe to our email newsletter. Thanks for visiting!
Lately, I have been seeing this former Senator from Tennessee’s name popping up all over the blogosphere as a possible Presidential candidate. He appeared today on Fox News and even has a fan site dedicated to him (DraftFredThompson.com) that is quickly picking up steam as over 11,000 people have visited this week alone. Who is he? And why do so many true blue conservatives want to see him run?
For starters, his voting record speaks for itself, the man has voted almost 100% conservative, the few votes he made that I wouldn’t have made as a conservative are obviously congruent with minute differences of opinion on how corporations should be involved in the political process (I think they should be allowed to make large contributions, etc). From the roll call perspective on given issues, he looks golden. Who is he though? He is a quick excerpt from his Wikipedia Bio:
Born in Sheffield, Alabama, Thompson grew up attending the public schools in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. He first attended the University of North Alabama and then Memphis State University where he earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science in 1964. He received a J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1967. He was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1967 and commenced the practice of law, serving as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1969–1972. He was the campaign manager for Senator Howard Baker’s successful re-election campaign in 1972, which led to a close personal friendship with Baker, and he served as co-chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in its investigation of the Watergate scandal, (1973–1974).
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On November 8, 1994, Thompson was elected to the United States Senate to fill the unexpired portion of the term ending January 3, 1997, left vacant by the resignation of Al Gore, defeating six-term Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Cooper in a landslide which represented the most votes anyone had ever received for a statewide office in Tennessee history up to that point. Thompson took the oath of office on December 2, 1994. Almost immediately upon his arrival in Washington, D.C. (”while I was still unpacking my boxes,” as he put it), Thompson was selected by the Republicans to give a reply to a nationally-televised address by President Bill Clinton. This was no doubt due to his acting background, but many pundits saw this as an attempt to groom him for an even larger political role. Thompson was easily re-elected in 1996 for the term ending January 3, 2003 over Democratic attorney Houston Gordon of Covington, Tennessee by an even larger margin than that by which he had defeated Cooper two years earlier. His name was regularly mentioned in the year 2000 as a potential candidate for Vice President alongside the Republican Presidential nominee George W. Bush.
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Thompson was not a candidate for re-election in 2002. He had never planned to make a lifetime career of the Senate, and had often publicly stated as much. Although he announced in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks his intention to seek re-election, upon further reflection, which seems to have been prompted in large part by the sudden death of his daughter from unrelated events, he decided not to pursue this course. In the final months of his term, he joined the cast of the long-running NBC television series Law & Order, playing Arthur Branch. In doing so, he became the first serving U.S. Senator concurrently to hold a full-time television acting job; however, his first scenes as Branch were filmed during the Senate’s August 2002 recess, so he missed no legislative time in order to act on television.
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After the retirement of Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2005, he was given an informal position by President George W. Bush to help guide the nominated John Roberts to the confirmation through the United States Senate.
After seeing his interview with Fox News and these ads he did for Citizens United (HT: Brookfield Veteran and Blogger Pete Fanning), I think he definitely has the speaking ability (hmm, what other actor/Republican did so well in office?) to lead a great conservative campaign.
He is holding the same line as Newt Gingrich is about jumping in the race so soon, basically saying it is not wise to start a campaign so soon. Many also say that he is not running due to the fact that he is good personal friends with McCain (although his record disagrees with McCain’s) and wants to see him succeed. I hope that he runs, reading about him, watching speeches and just looking at his record has actually got me excited about a possible run from Fmr Senator Fred Thompson.
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Posted in 2008 Election Coverage, Beyond the Facade, GOP Talking Points |
March 11th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Thanks for the H/T Brandon…..to be honest I just could not get excited about ANYONE in the race until I heard Senator Thompson was considering a run. And then it was for me almost an epiphany. I don’t mean to sound biblical but it was like a big burden was lifted.
We’re not out of the woods yet. He hasn’t “decided”. But why does one really go on Fox News to indicate he’s leaving the door open? In my mind he’s in. We’ll see.
Just look at the numbers he’s running against Giuliani in the current Free Republic Poll and it’s staggering. 62.8 to 21.4! I know…not scientific…but still….
March 11th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Who is Fmr Senator (Possibly President) Fred Thompson?…
…
March 11th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
[...] Fighting Like Warriors and Thinking Right. Systematically Debunking Liberal Rhetoric. « Who is Fmr Senator (Possibly President) Fred Thompson? [...]
March 11th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
The more I read about this guy, the more I like him!
March 11th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
the big question: is this just a boomlet, like Govs. Sonny Perdue or Mark Sanford or Bob Riley, or will this become a real exploratory committee… If Howard Baker keeps pulling strings for Thompson, this may be more than a trial balloon. It would be kinda funny if Thompson is able to capitalize on the current dislike for the Big Three candidates in a way that Newt was hoping to do in September.
March 11th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Contrast this weekend’s buzz around Fred Thompson to Tommy. No one cares about TGT and his time has come and gone.
The major networks are tripping over themselves to get Fred on TV and Tommy has yet to get any appreciable coverage (aside from token mentions in Iowa polling).
Republicans are starving for a conservative that is articulate, presents himself well, doesn’t take populist positions (Rudy, Mitt, Tommy, McCain), and actually has intellectual prowess (but in this point, I’d have to include Rudy - despite his seven marriages…).
March 11th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Does this mean his acting career is over? I’m depressed now… thanks guys…
March 12th, 2007 at 9:55 am
If he decides to run, will he repudiate his financial aid given to Scooter Libby during the trial?
Honestly, we all agree that the republican front-runners are uninspiring. But Thompson is not the answer. He cannot win, nor should he win.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Most people completely agree with Fred Thompson’s assessment of the false Libby debacle.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTQ5NjMzNDU4MmY2YTBjYTQxNTI5ZTFjZjFkNTMzNWI=
The Libby trial is a bunch of liberal hype, Ryan doesn’t like Fred Thompson because he is a solid conservative that people are excited about. What else is new?
March 12th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I’m not too excited… he hasn’t come out and officially announced.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
[...] Gop3.com Fred Thompson Posts: Who is Fmr Senator (Possibly President) Fred Thompson? More Video and Posts on Possible President [...]
March 12th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
I understand, Brandon. Sometimes, when my students don’t have arguments, they claim that the other side is simply biased. I’ve seen this behavior before.
Thompson isn’t a viable candidate. Not because he is conservative, of course, but because he is largely unknown outside of political circles. There are other reasons, namely his support of Libby and the fact that his acting job made him miss Senate business on a number of occasions.
But to put it in the form any college kid should be able to understand — Fred Thompson:Republicans::Dennis Kucinich:Democrats
March 12th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
I disagree again Ryan, it may be beneficial for you to minimize Fred Thompson but, he is far more viable than Kucinich. Which is why you so vehemently oppose him. You, along with many other liberals are scared of him.
March 13th, 2007 at 6:45 am
I would echo Pete Fanning somewhat. I like Mitt but I like Fred better. he makes sense, he answers questions with answers, not more questions.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Fred,
Your country needs you now more than ever. This is a crucial time for our country. A crucial time when we need a true conservative.
March 13th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
[...] Who is Fmr Senator (Possibly President) Fred Thompson? [...]
March 13th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
[...] Majority Leader Bill Frist has endorsed Fmr Senator Fred Thompson in his recent post “Fred Thompson Should Run For President” (also on The Hotline Blog): [...]
March 13th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
FRED THOMPSON FOR PREDIDENT WITH NUET AS VP. tHESE ARE THE ONLY TWO MEN WHO CAN POSSIBLY PULL THE US OUT OF THIS MESS
March 15th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Senator Thompson: It would indeed be an honor for all citizens of our great Country for you to serve as President of the United States. Sincerely, Diane Thulin
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:02 am
[...] this video doesn’t get you fired up about Fred Thompson, I’ll keep looking. (HT: [...]
March 29th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
[...] Tommy for a White House run. I can’t say I agree with him right now as I would like to see Fred Thompson as the true conservative and the big four (Rudy Guliani, John McCain, Sam Brownback and Mitt [...]
April 11th, 2007 at 9:46 am
[...] presidential candidate and Fmr Senator Fred Thompson has announced he has indolent lymphoma that has been in remission for the past two and a half [...]
May 1st, 2007 at 1:10 pm
[...] Former Senator and possible Presidential candidate Fred Thompson continues to build momentum towards a 2008 presidential campaign, other candidates are beginning to [...]
May 6th, 2007 at 10:36 am
[...] live C-SPAN on Friday night at 11:00 PM. Believe me, it’s not a common occurrence but, Fred Thompson was speaking to the Lincoln Club of Orange [...]
May 12th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
[...] Fred Thompson has beat out all challengers in the WisPolitics 2007 GOP Convention Straw Poll beating out Wisconsin’s own Tommy Thompson by 11 votes. Maybe they all watched this video. For our commentary on Tommy Thompson’s speech and the entire 2007 WI GOP Convention with photos, click here. [...]
June 6th, 2007 at 10:10 am
[...] can I donate to Former Senator Fred Thompson’s Presidential Campaign? Where can I volunteer to help Fred Thompson, the man I hope will be our next [...]
September 9th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
[...] reflect on his chances as the race continues to develop. We have chronicled many of Fred’s achievements, his conservative record and his many advantages over his fellow competitors but, The Club For [...]