EXCUSE me, but shouldn’t Fred Thompson be gearing up for his presidential campaign about now? His admirers consider him a natural: charismatic, articulate, savvy, tough. His resume is one of the most unusual and appealing in politics. But he has endorsed his fellow Tennessean, Lamar Alexander, for president.
“I kept my options open,” says Thompson, but “as time went on it just didn’t feel right. For me, not having an inherent personal desire to run, there would have to be a very good reason. The person and the times must come together.” His service as Republican counsel to the Watergate committee, his midlife career as a movie actor, his election to the Senate—all of these things, he says, came naturally and unexpectedly. “I have never been one to plan things out. In some respects, I’m the exact opposite of my buddy Lamar. Lamar sees a goal, he plans, and more likely than not he achieves what he wants. 1 don’t do that.”
Comments