Fred Thompson

After a number of poor showings in early primaries--and lackluster debate performances--Thompson dropped out of the 2008 presidential contest, stating in a brief announcement on his campaign web page, Fred08.com: "Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people."

After what seemed like a surge in grassroots conservative public support, Thompson had announced his presidential campaign on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in early September 2007, as well as on a video announcement posted on his campaign website. Arguing on his campaign video that "our country needs us to win next year, and I'm ready to lead that effort," Thompson highlighted his positions in the "war on terror" as a key aspect of his campaign. He criticized Democrats for their efforts to push for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, saying: "Our courage as a people must match that of the brave men and women in uniform fighting for us. They know if we abandon our efforts, or appear weak and divided, we'll pay a heavy price for it in the future."

Although not tightly aligned with the neoconservative political faction, Thompson has long pursued U.S. security policies in line with the views expressed by his former colleagues at the neoconservative-led AEI. He has outspokenly defended the Iraq War, frequently voiced skepticism of the United Nations, championed controversial missile defense policies, and is a reliable antagonist of Mideast regimes targeted by neoconservatives as part of the "war on terror." Such is his standing among this faction that the Bill Kristol-run Weekly Standard promoted Thompson as a possible replacement for John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Opined the Standard's blog in November 2006: "Like Bolton, [Thompson is] tough, well versed in national security, extremely articulate, and would be a forceful public advocate for the president's policies. ... A Thompson pick would also send a bold signal that the president isn't about to run-out-the-clock on his term" (November 15, 2006).

After Thompson hinted in early 2007 that he might run for president, many hardline conservatives voiced loud approval. The Standard's Victorino Matus, for example, wrote an irreverent piece analyzing Thompson's film career to get "deeper insights into the individual, his thoughts, and inclinations." Matus highlighted Thompson's role in The Hunt for Red October, in which he played Adm. Josh Painter, the commander of an aircraft carrier tracking a Soviet submarine. Matus highlighted a quote from the admiral during a discussion about Kremlin strategy. When one character expressed skepticism about the existence of a Kremlin "plan," Thompson's character responded: "Russians don't take a dump, son, without a plan." Commented Matus: "Though a bit scatological, Thompson displays the keen insight of a Sovietologist, fully aware of how Russians think and act--and without having to look into anyone's soul. (Incidentally, during an editorial lunch at the Weekly Standard, Senator Thompson said he considered The Hunt for Red October to be his favorite film to have worked on--even more than Curly Sue)" (see Weekly Standard, March 22, 2007).

Playing on his conservative image--and perhaps the fact that he is an actor--Thompson came out of the gates in his presidential run attempting to ride Ronald Reagan's popularity. According to the New York Times, Thompson "had one central strategic goal as he formally began his presidential campaign on [September 6]: to win over conservatives who are disheartened at their current choice of Republican candidates by positioning himself as the ideological and stylistic heir of Ronald Reagan" (New York Times, September 7, 2007).

But as a candidate he never gained the steam that some Republicans hoped he would. As the Times reported in October 2007: "So far on the campaign trail, Mr. Thompson has stumbled at times when pressed for his views on certain local and national issues, like not knowing of the fight over oil drilling in the Everglades and in referring to Russia as the Soviet Union" (New York Times, October 8, 2007).

At AEI, Thompson was a frequent conference speaker, often joining the likes of Max Boot, Fred Kagan, and Danielle Pletka in panel discussions on themes such as "Five Years Later: A Progress Report on U.S. Security Post-9/11." In April 2004, Thompson gave what AEI termed "a major policy address about the war in Iraq, terrorism, and the 2004 presidential election." In the address, Thompson lambasted opponents of the Iraq War, arguing, "in every war the prophets of doom reach for the same old phrasebook. Every significant battle facing the United States has been, and I quote, ‘another Vietnam.’ But just as these voices were wrong in 1991 and 2001, and wrong again in 2003, so too are they wrong again today." He also dismissed the need to get UN support for U.S. actions, saying: "For those who argue that the United Nations can bestow legitimacy on the occupation that the United States lacks, and that this will quell the insurgency, let me remind you that insurgents have bombed the United Nations mission in Iraq twice" (AEI, April 16, 2004).

Thompson concluded his address, saying: "The challenge of winning this fight is real and it is daunting, but we should not confuse symbolic gestures for genuine strategy. Our enemies can tell the difference, and so should we. The purpose of terrorism is to undermine public opinion here at home, to weaken the strategic center of gravity for this war. I believe, however, that the American center will hold. And when the president's political opponents run a campaign on defeat, it is they who will be defeated. Contrary to the pronouncements of the prophets of defeat, Americans do not walk away from a challenge, and we are not going to run away from this fight. In September 2001, we became a nation filled with resolve, and I believe we still are."

Thompson's views on climate change also came across as outdated. In a March 2007 radio broadcast entitled "Plutonic Warming," which was posted on the National Review and AEI websites, Thompson ridiculed the notion of global warming, telling his audience: "Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever. Now scientists are telling us that Mars is experiencing its own planetary warming: Martian warming. It seems scientists have noticed recently that quite a few planets in our solar system seem to be heating up a bit, including Pluto. NASA says the Martian South Pole's ‘ice cap’ has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from Earth. If so, I guess Jupiter's caught the same cold, because it's warming up too, like Pluto. This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, non-signatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien SUV-driving industrialists who run their air conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle. Silly, I know, but I wonder what all those planets, dwarf planets, and moons in our solar system have in common. Hmmmm. Solar system. Hmmmm. Solar? I wonder. Nah, I guess we shouldn't even be talking about this. The science is absolutely decided. There's a consensus. Ask Galileo" (AEI, March 22, 2007).

Thompson has also been a supporter of the limited-government organization Citizens United, appearing in promotional ads for the group in 2003 and 2004.

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Susan Saluny, "He Can Act, But Can He Debate? Untested Thompson Faces Rivals for First Time," New York Times, October 8, 2007