Fred Thompson (1942-2015) was a wonderful example of what it truly means to be an American. Something that, sadly, Barack Obama and his fellow malcontents will never understand or aspire to.
 
Knowing him mostly as an ally of the Tea Party for the last several years, I hadn’t realized the extent of his accomplishments in several different fields. John Fund provides a nice tribute at National Review ~

Fred Thompson had a humble background as the grandson of a sharecropper and son of a used-car salesman in Tennessee but succeeded in four different careers: law, politics, lobbying, and acting […]
 
In or out of office, Fred Thompson stayed true to the conservative principles he believed had made America great. He always thought a major reason Republicans lost the presidency in 2008 was that they had aided and abetted runaway government spending. Republicans had to commit themselves to smaller government, he contended, because Democrats are incapable of following through on ever being fiscally prudent.
 
Fred Thompson never made it to the White House, but he nonetheless showed a strength of character and a grounded belief in common sense that left his country a better place.

 
He was a true patriot ~