Hollywood actor considers White House run
The veteran actor Fred Thompson, best known for his work on TV show Law and Order, is considering running for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.
Thompson, 65, is a former Senator from Tennessee and starred opposite Harrison Ford in The Hunt for Red October.
He has combined entertainment work with law and politics throughout his adult life, and is considered a strong Conservative candidate in a Republican field dominated by liberals.
The Daily Telegraph reports Thompson as saying : “I’m giving some thought to it … going to leave the door open.”
Even though he has yet to even throw his hat into the ring, a USA Today/Gallup earlier this week put him in third place for the Republican nomination with 12%.
His Southern drawl and bulky frame makes him an ideal candidate for what Americans imagine the leader of the free world should look like.
The front-runners in the Republican race, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senator John McCain, are not thought to have the conservative opinions on gay rights and abortion that appeal to the right.
He became a lawyer in 1967 and was co-chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in its investigation of the Watergate scandal from 1973-1974.
Mr Thomson represented Tennessee in the Senate from 1994 to 2003.
As well as his work on Law and Order, he is a well-know radio host in the US.
He has uttered some of the most memorable lines in modern movies, among them, “Shit, son, the Ruskies don’t take a dump without having a plan,” in The Hunt for Red October.
Thompson played similarly straight-talking characters in Days of Thunder and Die Hard 2: Die Harder.