Who is Fred Thompson?

As the date for the US elections draws nearer, another Republican has declared his interest in the Presidency. What do we know about this man?

Former Senator Fred Thompson was born on August 19, 1942. He is a twice married actor with four children and five grand children. He trained as a lawyer and was once appointed minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee. He also served as a Senator representing Tennessee between 1992 and 2002. His acting career began around 1972 where he played himself in a movie about the cash for clemency scandal which rocked Tennessee. Since retiring from the Senate in 2002, he has returned to acting with a regular role on the NBC series ‘Law and Order’ and was appointed by President Bush as an informal advisor to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. His interview with Fox News offered insight into the policies he will adopt if he decides to run for President.

National defence

Fred Thompson holds hawkish views on home land security. He voted in favour of deploying the missile defence shield and he argues that the country is facing perilous times and believes that the President’s policies in Iraq are the right response to the challenges the country faces. He says that he would do exactly what the president is doing in Iraq. He also argues that America is the leader of the free world and for that reason people are looking to test America’s resolve. He highlights Iran’s nuclear programme as evidence that America faces challenges and asserts that Iraq too, would surely have reconstituted its weapons programme if America hadn’t intervened.

Moral views

His moral views are also conservative. He believes that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v Wade was bad law and that as a general rule, judges should not be determining social policy. He argues that the solution to the problem should be appointing the right kind of judges. He claims that he believes in equality for all regardless of their sexual orientation but does not support special treatment for gays or lesbians. He opposes gay marriage because he believes that such issues should be left to the American people to decide instead of the courts.

Gun control

Thompson does not support gun control laws because he argues that the American Constitution clearly guarantees the right to bear arms. In his own words ‘the constitution means what it says’.

Immigration

The former Senator argues that it is just not realistic to round up the twelve million illegal immigrants in the country and ship them out in one day. Instead he says America should have a realistic means of giving the illegal immigrants ‘aspirations of citizenship’ without affecting the rights of legitimate immigrants who are queuing up for citizenship. He balances his compassionate view of immigration by also arguing that enforcement at the border should be primary objective of the US. He says that when the borders have been secured, the American people can discuss what practical policies to adopt towards the illegal immigrants living in the US.

Energy dependence

He argues that America cannot keep depending on Middle-Eastern countries for oil because America’s money is funding the part of the world that it causing America’s problems. He would consider new ideas like emission efficiency standards and increased funding for research into alternative sources of energy. His approach to energy seems to be based on national security as opposed to environmental concerns.

Comments

[Peter Hatchet]

Looks like Fraiser!

[Steevo]

If he has as good a chance as Rudy to defeat the democrat than he'll get my backing. He looks very interesting and is gaining momentum.

[Gildas]

He hasn't yet thrown his hat into the ring formally, but he's already polling on the same level as the Conservative establishment's poster boy Mitt Romney in the GOP primary polls. And he beats Hillary in the hypothetical matchups.

Incidentally, here he is on "Global Warming":

http://www.kxma.com/getARticle.asp?ArticleId=106851

[Andrew Ian Dodge]

More importantly he is sound on constitutional issues. He is fairly clearly a strict constitutionalist who is not afraid to call things as they are viz the Constitution.

A good man that should he run deserves to win. (My first choice is Rep Ron Paul.)

[Andrew Fenton]

"Incidentally, here he is on "Global Warming":"

Wow, he's a climate expert too? Amusing all these politicians think their uninformed opinions matter. If you haven't studied the issues and have any peer reviewed material on the subject, then it's just so much gas.

[Steevo]

His little sound bite is no indication of how much he has read to draw his conclusion. What makes you so sure he isn't informed well enough Andrew? Because he's not a believer? Even the one counter phenomenon he does speak of is very significant. I've read the counter to that and without getting into a GW debate in this thread a huge hole can be poked through it. But who am I, right. His opinion does matter tho, especially if he's preparing to run for president. I'd say it matters more than Gore's.

[mamapajamas]

Gildas... thanks for posting that link to Fred Thompson's comments on GW. It sounds familiar to me... something I've been saying since NASA reported the global warming on Mars back in 2001.

The truly frightening part of this is that NASA started reporting other planets' warming six years ago, and the story hasn't "leaked" out to the general population. I can't tell you how many people are startled when they hear about it!

I had already decided that Thompson was "my man in 2008", but this clinched it! :D

I PRAY that he runs!