Photo courtesy of Alexander for President.
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March 10, 1999. Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, at the endorsement event, is a key player on Alexander's campaign team. |
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March 10, 1999. In Washington, DC the day after formally announcing his candidacy in Nashville, Lamar Alexander receives the endorsements of Senators Fred Thompson (at lectern) and Bill Frist (at the right), both of Tennessee. |
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Photo courtesy of Alexander for President. |
March 9, 1999--Nashville,
TN. In the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the Tennessee State Capitol,
Lamar Alexander launches his campaign for the presidency. "A new American
Century will require a moral foundation laid by a President who respects
both the office and the people who put him there; a president who knows
what it took to make this nation great and what it will take to keep it
that way," Alexander said. He said his campaign would focus on three
basic ideas. "They are," he said, "to fix public education; to improve
family incomes by lowering taxes and securing Social Security; and to strengthen
our national defense." More
Photos
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Jan. 23, 1999. Lamar Alexander addresses members of the Republican National Committee at the RNC Winter Meeting. In a speech he delivered two days earlier at CPAC, Alexander had described both the "practical idealism" of Vice President Gore and the "compassionate conservatism" of Gov. George W. Bush as "weasel words." The jibe at "compassionate conservatism" struck some RNC members as a violation of Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment ("Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican."), and before this audience Alexander limited his remarks to Gore's "practical idealism." However, when asked about his approach, Alexander stood his ground, declaring himself an idealist and a conservative. "I don't need to attach an adjective to these words," he said. Alexander urged RNC members "to keep the door open to the various candidacies." The Republican nomination "can't be inherited, [and] shouldn't be bought...[it] needs to be earned," he said. "There is no Bob Dole, there is no George Bush, there is no Ronald Reagan, there is no one whose turn it is," Alexander declared. |
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Sept. 24, 1998. Lamar Alexander does a brief interview after participating in CEO America/National Center for Policy Analysis' National School Choice Conference. |
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Speaking at the media availability prior to the Gala, Alexander proposed tripling the dependent child exemption for pre-school children from $2,650 to about $8,000. "Our government and our culture have been waging a war on parents for the last 30 years," he declared. Alexander said his proposal "would give parents at least more of a choice about whether to stay home with young children." He called for "a new tax code based on our values," including lowering taxes, ending the marriage penalty, keeping the mortgage deduction, and doubling the charitable deduction. |
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Handing out plaid passes to Iowa GOP activists arriving at the Campaign for a New American Century's "Taste of Tennessee" event. |
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Taste of Tennessee was one of the biggest events at the Gala. A crowd of 5-600 people chowed down on fried okra and other Tennessee food as an Elvis mannequin looked on. |
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Lamar Alexander addressed the crowd at the Taste of Tennessee. |
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Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, honorary chair of CNAC, joined Alexander at the Taste of Tennessee. Although Sen. Chuck Grassley has not aligned himself with any of the potential presidential candidates, he stopped in to say hello to Alexander and his supporters. |
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The morning after the Gala, Alexander and his wife Honey signed copies of Lamar Alexander's Little Plaid Book. Activists also picked up red "Send a Message: Vote Republican" mugs. |