One of the greatest Presidents this nation has been blessed with was an actor. His name was Ronald Reagan. Those who loved him still do. The same can be said for those who hated him, but look for the latter crowd to use his name in an attempt to further their cause, and rather soon. In their minds they will be grateful for the memory of Reagan and his career prior to politics because it will be the only tool at their disposal if things work out as I expect. But there is much the left will omit.
Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois in 1911. He studied economics and sociology at Eureka College, played on the football team and acted in school plays. After graduation, he became a radio sports announcer and in 1937 won a Hollywood contract after a screen test, spending the next two decades appearing in 53 movies. His first political experience was as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and he quickly switched from liberal to conservative as the issue of Communism in the film industry changed his mind.
He was elected Governor of California in 1966 and re-elected in 1970. Then, in 1980 he smashed Jimmy Carter in the electoral college, 489-49. The rest is history.
In 2008 there is a very real possibility that another actor could be President and this one has all Reagan had, and more. His name is Fred Dalton Thompson and he is arguably the only unbeatable “candidate”, quotation marks for the fact that he has yet to announce. Let’s keep our fingers crossed as we look at Thompson’s career:
Thompson did not come to politics from the fame of Hollywood. To the contrary, he made his way from politics to Hollywood. An Alabama native born in 1942 and, like Reagan, a product of the public school system, Thompson moved to Tennessee where he graduated from Memphis State University in 1964, received a J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1967 and was admitted to the Tennessee Bar Association in that same year. He was an assistant U.S. attorney (you know, the ones who suddenly should not be fired) from ’67-’72, served as minority counsel on the Senate Select “Watergate Committee”, ’73-’74 and as special counsel through most of Reagan’s term, for Tennessee Governeor Lamar Alexander in 1980 and on several Senate committees.
On November of 1994, Thompson won the special election for the Senate seat vacated by Al Gore as a result of his selection as Vice President. Thompson’s acting appears to be more of a “side job” than his actual vocation. Not that that will stop his opponents from using it as a tool against him. The leftist base will quiver with glee at the prospect of facing “another actor”, which will be their ultimate undoing.
I mentioned that Thompson has everything that Reagan had and more. While Reagan had a soothing quality to his oration, Thompson adds extra authority to the mix, along with credibilty. When he speaks, people just can’t help but to shut up and listen. He has that commanding aura coupled with a genuine likeabilty that, should he decide to toss his hat in the ring, I’d bet the ranch on him.
Oh yes, and should he enter the race, keep a keen eye on the reaction from the Middle East, particularly Iran. There may be more than few familiar reactions from that region.
-Woody.
