Candidate Fred Thompson

On March 11, 2007, Thompson appeared on Fox News Sunday to discuss the possibility of a 2008 candidacy for president. The announcement spurred several grassroots draft movements, including a well-organized draft campaign started by Dean Rice, a former Thompson political aide, in Knoxville, Tennessee. While Thompson had not yet formally announced his intentions, he said he would "leave the door open."  Thompson has stated that he would not be interested in accepting a hypothetical nomination for vice president, explaining "I don't think I would ever want to do that and be in the second position."

Thompson's March 11 announcement spurred a flurry of conjecture, discussion and activity on the internet. In the wake of Thompson's announcement, grassroots organizations, "Draft Fred" websites and online forums began springing up all over the web. The DraftFredThompson.com forum site became a particularly popular online forum for supporters of Fred Thompson. One group of Fred Thompson supporters, many of whom call themselves "FredHeads," organized under the banner "FredHeadsUSA" with a plan to build a grassroots pro-Fred political movement in the physical world to expand on the vigorous pro-Fred activity already taking place in the virtual world.[citation needed]

On May 2, 2007, Thompson wrote an article critical of Cuba's government-run health care, and of filmmaker Michael Moore's visit to Cuba. Moore responded on May 15, 2007 with a challenge for a health care debate. Moore also cited the fact that Thompson was mentioned in an article to own several boxes of Cuban cigars, calling Thompson a hypocrite. Later that day, Thompson responded with a video, in which he declined to debate Moore and mentioned the case of Cuban filmmaker Nicolás Guillén, who was jailed by the Cuban government and subjected to electroconvulsive therapy.

On May 18, he continued his Internet campaign, posting a letter to Pajamas Media acknowledging his online supporters.  (Pajamas Media's straw poll was one of several Thompson had won in previous weeks.)

On May 30, The Weekly Standard reported[ that Thompson will set up a "testing-the-waters" committee that will begin accepting contributions on June 4. Also on May 30, The Politico reported that Thompson plans to enter the presidential race over the Independence Day weekend.  Thompson associate quoted in The Hillary Spot[36] said "there will not be a presidential announcement from Fred Thompson on July 4."

Thompson formed an exploratory committee on June 1.[ Thompson's first public appearance after this exploratory committee was June 2 at the Virginia Republicans annual fund-raising gala in Richmond, Virginia, according to the Virginia Daily Press.[

Political insiders in Tennessee expect the inner circle of a Thompson campaign to include, in addition to his politically experienced wife, a number of functionaries with whom Thompson has been associated in the past. Chief among them would be former Tennessee Senator Howard Baker, an elder statesman of the GOP. Another name mentioned is campaign advertising expert Ken Reitz. Also said to be likely senior advisers are former Republican National Committee chair Ed Gillespie, former tobacco company executive Tom Collamore, PR man Mark Corallo, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission Michael E. Toner, former U.S. Senate aide Tom Daffron, longtime Tennessee political fixer Tom Ingram and Congressman Zach Wamp.

On June 5th, 2007 Fred Thompson launched his website http://www.imwithfred.com. Also on June 5, 2007 there was a Republican Presidential Candidates debate with the current 10 candidates, from New Hampshire, broadcast on CNN. Fred Thompson was mentioned repeatedly as one of the poll front runners even though he did not participate. It was anticipated he would formally announce his candidacy in July. In a June 6, 2007 appearance on Hannity and Colmes, Republican pollster Frank Luntz described Fred Thompson as the "Six-million-pound gorilla" of the Republican primary race.

On June 12, 2007, Thompson appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He would not announce his candidacy, but referred to his "testing the waters" committee, which he stated yielded positive prospects. Leno, feeling that he was being coy and modest, pointed out that Thompson had risen to an impressive #2 in the polls (see below), and asked Thompson if he would at least state if he would like the job of President. Thompson responded that while he did not crave the job itself, that there are things he would like to do that he could only do by holding that office.[citation needed]

Thompson would be the tallest candidate running so far in the presidential race and if nominated would be the tallest nominee (Winfield Scott was 1" shorter at 6' 5"). If elected president, he would be the tallest president ever and the second president in U.S. history (after James Garfield) to belong to the Churches of Christ, a small, non-denominational Christian group that emerged from the American Restoration Movement in the 19th century,