# Fred Thompson: "Days of Thunder" thespian, Senator **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322 "2005-07-06T18:32:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/1 "2005-07-06T18:32:03Z")
Teeming Millions, So, upon reading that Fred Thompson will be overseeing the proceedings for nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor’s replacement, I found myself wondering: what kind of politics does this man espouse? Besides his hilarious cameo in Die Hard 2, I’m clueless. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/2 "2005-07-06T18:38:42Z")
He’s a conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/3 "2005-07-06T18:42:05Z")
Alright…there are many sorts though. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/4 "2005-07-06T18:44:18Z")
It was a real part, not a cameo. He’s a legitimate, and IMHO, good, actor. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/5 "2005-07-06T18:49:50Z")
Yeah, he’s got quite the resume in front of the camera. Conservative, too, in the political arena. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/6 "2005-07-06T18:51:23Z")
Love him as an actor. He’s a Republican, Tennessee I think. And I definitely recall seeing him in a photograph as a younger man, answering some questions before Congress during the Watergate investigation. “Dude, the commander from ‘Hunt for Red October’ is looking totally shifty.” I don’t recall to what degree he was mixed up in it, if at all. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/7 "2005-07-06T18:52:42Z")
He is a conservative, though I’ve never seen him lumped in with the far right group. From what I remember about him, he’s a fairly rational conservative, and I’m not upset at all that he’s been placed in charge of the confirmation process. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/8 "2005-07-06T19:01:09Z")
He’s currently the D.A. in Law & Order. He is quite a good actor ([IMDB entry](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000669/) ). He is conservative in his politics. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/9 "2005-07-06T19:12:51Z")
[Fametracker](http://www.fametracker.com/hey_its_that_guy/thompson_fred.shtml) has a fantastic “Hey, It’s That Guy!” entry on Thompson. [On the Issues](http://www.issues2000.org/Senate/Fred_Thompson.htm) has some detail on his political positions. My impression is that he’s fairly solidly conservative of the Orrin Hatch type. He has never struck me as among the rightest of the right in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/10 "2005-07-06T19:32:45Z")
The former Senator from Our Fair State (Tennessee) is considered moderately conservative. He was quite popular here before he left Congress and became the fictional DA of NYC on Law & Order. Is he going to oversee these proceedings in addition to his L&O gig? Or is he leaving that show? I didn’t watch it at all this past season. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/11 "2005-07-06T20:03:04Z")
Of course, the big twist will occur when the nominee is forced to step down because, to everyone’s surprise, she turns out to be a lesbian. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/12 "2005-07-06T20:52:01Z")
If you read that Fametracker bit on Thompson, you might be tempted to guess that the big twist will be that Thompson proposes himself as the nominee, and then gets to play himself as a member of the Supreme Court in a movie that is partly fictional and partly non-fictional. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-days-of-thunder-thespian-senator/311322/13 "2005-07-07T03:09:56Z")
Sen. Thompson (R-TN, ret.) was co-counsel to the special committee the Senate appointed to investigate Watergate. His research encouraged his mentor, Sen. Howard Baker (R-TN, ret.), to ask the famous question, “What did the President know, and when did he know it?” I’ve a lot of time for both men - principled, moderate conservatives.