Fred Dalton Thompson is an American politician, actor, attorney and lobbyist. He represented Tennessee as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 1994 through 2002 and was a candidate for the 2008 Republican nomination for President of the United States until he exited the race on January 22, 2008.

Thompson served as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board at the United States Department of State, is a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a Visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, specializing in national security and intelligence. He resides in McLean, Virginia, near Washington, D.C.