Candidate Status:

Out

Current Job:

Actor, media personality

Birth Date:

August 19, 1942 in Sheffield, Alabama

Family:

Wife Jeri Kehn Thompson (2001-present); ex-wife Sarah Knestrickin (divorced 1985); four children

Religion:

Church of Christ

Education:

Memphis State University, B.S., 1964
Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 1967

Career:

Fred Thompson is a former Tennessee senator (1994-2003) and attorney who served as minority counsel during the Watergate hearings. He represented Marie Ragghianti in a famous 1970s suit challenging then-Gov. Ray Blanton's dismissal of her as chair of the Tennessee Parole Board. The case was later made into a movie, for which the producers asked Thompson to play himself. Thompson parlayed the appearance into a veritable acting career, acting in a number of features and TV shows over the years. His latest gig was for "Law & Order."

Other facts:

• Thompson married his 1st wife while he was still in high school.
• Thompson has appeared in such big screen films as "No Way Out," "In the Line of Fire," "Die Hard II," "Days of Thunder," and "The Hunt for Red October."

Abortion:

Thompson's Senate record shows he opposed partial-birth abortion in 1999, opposed access to abortions on military bases, and opposed a ban on human cloning. However, he has been criticized in the past for suggesting the procedure should not be criminalized, and his '08 campaign recently mishandled a response to charges that he was once a consultant for a pro-abortion group. Thompson has said he would not support a constitutional ban on abortion, and that such decisions should be left to the states. Despite conservative criticism that he has been too lenient, Thompson says he has never supported abortion and that he considers the Supreme Court decision allowing them to be bad law and bad science, and that he would appoint strict constructionist judges. Thompson has said that seeing the sonograms of two of his children pushed him to talk about his positions despite already having a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee and a zero rating from Planned Parenthood.

Energy/Environment:

Thompson says reliance on foreign oil threatens national security as well as the American economy. He proposes increasing domestic supplies and promoting alternative fuels and other renewable energy sources. He says the country should pursue reducing CO2 emissions, even though he does not believe we know for sure how or why climate change is happening.

Immigration:

Thompson wants to discourage incentives for illegal immigrants to come to the U.S. and obtain welfare benefits, and wants to strengthen employment verification procedures. Thompson opposed the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill, which provides a temporary guest worker program and a process for citizenship. Thompson says he supports tougher border control along the U.S.-Mexican border, as well as increased penalties against alien smuggling and document fraud. He also believes American's porous borders increase the potential for threats by Islamic fundamentalists on the homeland. Thompson has supported actions by local communities to enforce federal immigration laws, saying sanctuary cities offer shelter to criminals.

Iraq:

Thompson supports the Bush's plan to withdraw 30,000 troops from Iraq by next summer. He says he is encouraged by reports from Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker about security improvements within the country. He says America should be united in its determination to defeat Al Qaeda and other extremists want to force its surrender. Thompson believes an early withdrawal from Iraq would embolden not only Al Qaeda but Iran, and that it would not do justice to the memories of the soldiers who died and were wounded there. Thompson says "bottom-up" reconciliation among Iraqis should be allowed to grow, and that Congress should not be so beholden to its designated benchmarks that it does not account for progress outside of them.

Taxes:

Thompson backed the Bush tax cuts, and has argued that they are responsible for the economic turnaround of 2003. He also emphasizes fiscal restraint and what he calls common-sense principles like fighting inflation and keeping regulations to a minimum. Thompson says lack of money is not the reason for deficit problems; instead, he blames the politics and bureaucracy that have built up around the funding process as the culprit which holds back proper decision-making on issues like infrastructure. Thompson does not support 'temporary' tax hikes, saying they always become permanent. He says he would give taxpayers the option of filing under a simplified system with only two rates: 10 and 25 percent. Under the plan, joint filers earning up to $100,000 and single filers earning up to $50,000 would be taxed at 10 percent; income above that would be taxed at 25 percent. Thompson would also like to expand free trade.

Economy:

Thompson has expressed concern about a looming fiscal crisis that will unduly burden future generations with deficit. He wants to curb government spending to alleviate this problem.

Homeland Security:

Thompson supports expanding and modernizing the U.S. military to enhance preventative security capabilities. He is in favor of a missile defense system to hedge against long-range ballistic missiles and a more integrated intelligence community.

Education:

Thompson supports voucher programs and charter schools and a simplified educational bureaucracy. He is in favor of creating programs that create incentives for math and science education and the pursuit of math and science careers.

Health Care:

Thompson favors a healthcare system that increases competition and consumer choice and preventative-driven measures with more chronic disease healthcare management.

Coming soon.