U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a former governor of Tennessee who resides in Walland, is seeking a second term as the Republican nominee.

Alexander, 68, is chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, which is the number three leadership position for GOP members.

Alexander was governor of Tennessee from 1979-1987, and chairman of the National Governors Association in 1986-87.

He was twice a candidate for president of the United States, in 1996 and 2000.

He and the former Honey Buhler were married in 1969. They have four children and two grandchildren.

Alexander is a law school graduate of Vanderbilt University. He worked as an attorney before entering politics.

After two terms as governor, he served as president of the University of Tennessee, and later as U.S. Secretary of Education.

He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church.

Honors Received

Alexander received the 2008 National Geographic Legislator Award and the "Esteemed Friend of Nurse Practitioners and Their Partners" award and the Champion of Science Award from the Science Coalition.

He received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Spirit of Enterprise Award in 2008, as he did in 2005 and 2006.

Alexander also received the 2008 Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association Gold Medallion Award for Excellence in Education Policy and the 2007 Champion for Charters Award, the 2007 March of Dimes Public Affairs Leadership Award, and the 2007 George E. Brown Jr. Science, Engineering and Technology Leadership Award.

Alexader received the National Parks Conservation Association William Penn Mott, Jr. Park Leadership Award in 2006.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has placed Alexander on its list of the "100 Most Influential Student-Athletes" in the NCAA's history.

He received the 2008 Hero of the Taxpayer designation from the Americans For Tax Reform, (also in 2005, 2004, and 2003), the Guardian of Seniors' Rights Award given by the 60 Plus Association, and the Guardian of Worker Freedom Award given by the Alliance for Worker Freedom, as well as the Friend of the Shareholder Award given by the American Shareholder Foundation and the Small Business Champion Award, given by the National Federation of Independent Business.

He also received the Friend of the Farm Bureau Award from the American Farm Bureau Association, the Guardian of Small Business Award from the National Federation of Independent Business, and the American Conservative Union's "Best & Brightest 2003" Award.

He also received the Family Research Council True Blue Award in 2008.

Sen. Alexander responded to the following questions asked him by The Greeneville Sun:

Why are you running for the Senate? When did you first think about a run?

"I am a candidate for re-election to the Senate because I believe the United States Senate needs more members who are experienced and willing to work across party lines to solve our most important challenges, including energy, terrorism, health insurance for every American, education quality, and keeping our country one nation instead of a little United Nations of balkanized territories."

What in your background would you most like voters to consider when making their choice in this election?

"I hope voters consider my willingness as governor and as senator to work across party lines to achieve results on important issues.

"For example: as governor, bringing the auto industry to Tennessee; helping Tennessee become the first state to pay teachers more for teaching well; and building the nation's best four-lane highway system; as senator, passing the America Competes Act so that we keep our competitiveness, establishing presidential academies for outstanding teachers of U.S. history, and passing an amendment that opened up more of the Gulf of Mexico for drilling for oil and gas but putting one-eighth of the revenues in the Land and Water Conservation Fund for city parks and greenways."

Gasoline prices and food prices have risen to levels that concern most Americans. What kinds of congressional actions, if any, would you support on these two apparently-related fronts?

"On May 9, I delivered an address in Oak Ridge proposing that the United States launch a New Manhattan Project: a five-year project to put America firmly on the path to clean energy independence.

"Instead of building a bomb to end a war as we did in World War II, the new project's goal will be clean energy independence -- so that we can deal with rising gasoline prices, clean air, climate change, and national security.

"The only way to lower the price of energy is to find more or use less. So, we should do what we already know how to do to find more American energy, starting with drilling for more oil and gas offshore and building more nuclear power plants for electricity.

"In order to use less oil, we should make plug-in electric cars and trucks commonplace. With 43 other senators I have introduced the Gas Price Reduction Act, which would implement these policies and, over time, cut our need for imported oil in half. This alone would stop sending $300 billion per year overseas and lower fuel prices.

"I have consistently advocated and voted for finding ways to 'find more and use less' energy as a way of assuring adequate supply to keep our jobs and lower prices so we can balance the family budget.

"Unfortunately, too many senators are trying to repeal half of the law of supply and demand, and refuse to produce any more American energy. When I say 'offshore drilling,' they say, 'No we can't.'

"When I say 'more nuclear power, they say, 'No we can't.'

"When I say 'more clean coal,' they say, 'No we can't.'

"Of course, half the law of supply and demand is using less oil. That is why I voted to raise fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 -- the first increase in fuel-economy standards in over 30 years.

"According to a leading expert at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, raising fuel-economy standards is the single most important policy decision that Congress can take in the transportation sector for reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

"In my Oak Ridge address I listed seven grand challenges that should be our focus during a five-year effort to put America on the path to clean energy independence: plug-in electric cars and trucks, carbon capture, solar power, nuclear waste, advanced biofuels, green buildings, and fusion."

A financial crisis that apparently began with the "subprime mortgage" problem in this country has now spread to credit markets and to stock markets here and overseas. The current congress has passed a $700 billion bill variously described as a "rescue package" and a bailout. If you had been in congress this term, how would you have voted on the rescue/bailout? How serious is this situation, in your view? What other steps, if any, would you propose to deal with the financial crisis, if elected?

"I'm glad that Congress has worked together to approve this bipartisan bill that will allow the Treasury Secretary to begin cleaning up the wreck on the economic highway caused by bad mortgage loans. This should help get economic traffic moving again and restore confidence so that Americans can get auto, student, mortgage, business, and farm credit loans at reasonable prices. Since the Secretary will be buying troubled mortgage assets and then selling them, the cost to taxpayers should be limited, and any profits will go to reduce the federal debt."

Illegal immigration concerns many Americans. Please explain what guides your thinking on this subject. With an estimated 12 million illegals already in this country, what approach to the illegal immigration issue will you take if elected to Congress?

"The first thing we need to do is to create a secure work card. If everyone had a secure biometric Social Security work card, it would be much easier to enforce laws against illegal immigration, because finding work is the reason for most of the illegal entry.

"I voted against the 2006 Senate immigration bill -- it didn't do enough to secure our borders. I also voted, on three different occasions -- June 7, June 26, and June 28 -- against cutting off debate on the 2007 immigration bill.

"We must keep working on immigration reform for as long as it takes to get it right. We must first secure the border once and for all, verified by credible sources, without amnesty -- you are either here legally or you are not.

"We also must make it easier for the best and the brightest to come to America to create jobs, and expect and assist those here legally to become Americans by learning our language and appreciating our history and culture.

"And we should increase the opportunity for lower-skilled workers to come here when there are jobs to perform that Americans won't perform, especially in agriculture."

Do you believe that English should be the official language of the United States? Why or why not?

"Yes. When I was governor, Tennessee made English our state's official language. In 2006 the Senate passed my amendment making English America's national language. And twice the Senate and House have passed my legislation making it illegal for the federal government to sue employers who require their employees to speak English on the job -- but both times the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi -- stopped my legislation."

American troops are widely deployed around the world, and engaged in armed conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. Please explain your viewpoint on the "War on Terror" in general. Has the apparent success of the "surge" in Iraq affected your thinking on that front? Do you think U.S. policy on this subject is substantially correct at this time? If you think the U.S. should be doing something different from what we are doing, please explain what you think should be done at this time.

"Our goal in Iraq should be to help Iraqis stabilize their own region by getting American soldiers out of the combat business and into a support role, which is now happening in more than half of the provinces of Iraq. This will require a long-term but steadily diminishing U.S. presence in Iraq and stepped up diplomatic activity in the region, both of which are also now happening.

"These are the principal recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG) which I, along with Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo, and 16 other senators encouraged the president and the Congress to adopt. I have written legislation to enact the recommendations of the ISG report and make them official U.S. policy.

"I am proud of the Tennesseans who have served and are serving in Iraq. More than 14,000 reservists and national guardsmen from Tennessee have been there, most of them more than once."

Please explain your viewpoint on abortion and how you would approach abortion-related issues, should they come before Congress.

"I am pro-life. I have a deep and abiding respect for life in all of its forms. During my time in the Senate, I have been proud to support numerous pro-life measures. In April 2004, I supported the Unborn Victims of Violence Act -- also known as Laci and Conner's Law -- which made it a criminal offense to injure or kill a fetus during the commission of a violent crime against a pregnant woman.

"In 2006, I co-sponsored the Child Custody Protection Act, which would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion if the intent is to circumvent a parental notification or consent statute in the state where the minor lives.

"I also co-sponsored the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 to end that horrible procedure. That law was challenged in federal courts, but in April 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court did the right thing by upholding the ban.

"I continue to believe that what women in crisis need most is our care and support. I support adoption as an alternative to abortion and encourage efforts to make adopting a child easier."

Recent judicial and administrative decisions have made same-sex marriage easier in California, New York and Nevada. What is your view regarding same-sex marriage? Many supporters of traditional marriage fear that the federal courts might overturn the Federal Defense of Marriage Act and similar laws at the state level. Would you support the adoption of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to limit marriage to one man and one woman? Why or why not?

"I have supported and voted for the Marriage Protection Amendment, which would amend the U.S. Constitution to preserve marriage between a man and a woman. I believe marriage is an institution that should always be between a man and a woman, and that the people, not the courts, should have the authority to preserve that definition.

"I understand and respect that, in this country, there are people with differing views and differing lifestyles, but to me protecting marriage between a man and a woman is a core value that must come first."

What is your view on proposals to make sexual orientation a protected status under federal law, similar to such categories as gender, race, age, religion, and national origin?

"In September 2007, the Senate debated a hate crimes amendment that was offered to the Defense Authorization bill for Fiscal Year 2008 by Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.

"The Kennedy amendment would increase the federal role in prosecuting hate crimes, and goes further than versions previously considered by the Senate. I voted against that amendment, but it cleared the Senate by a vote of 60-39.

"Tennessee already has its own state law allowing more severe sentencing for crimes committed based on a victim's race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry or gender.

"Therefore, I supported an alternative amendment offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, which passed the Senate 96-3. The Hatch amendment would provide federal assistance to state and local authorities to enforce their own laws while providing for a study to help determine what the proper federal role is in this area."

What is your position on the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007 (HR 980, SB 2123)? Backers say this act would give firefighters and police officers basic collective bargaining rights and establish federal minimum standards for state collective bargaining laws. Opponents say the bill would force municipalities and counties to negotiate the whole subject of merit-based pay, and force states and localities to recognize public sector unions as their employees' exclusive representatives. Please explain your position.

"The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act would impose on Tennessee communities federal mandates for unionization and collective bargaining by public safety employees. I believe it is inappropriate for Congress to overturn labor laws in Tennessee and more than 20 other states, effectively telling those states that Congress knows how to run their local communities better than they do.

"Every year that I was governor, and just about every year since, the State of Tennessee has considered whether or not it is in the public interest to force local communities to engage in collective bargaining with public employees. And the answer has consistently been 'no.' "

I think the people of this country should admire, respect, and honor our first responders. However, we should also admire, respect, and honor our Constitution and our federal system, and recognize that we may have varying opinions in different cities and states about what we should do."

What would be your view on reinstating the "fairness doctrine," which required broadcasters to provide equal time for opposing views on controversial issues. Opponents say this would have the practical effect of abolishing nearly all talk radio. Backers say it would make political commentary more balanced and fair.

"The idea that government should dictate what views are aired on radio or television stations is an affront to our country's centuries-old belief in the importance of a free and independent press.

"The so-called Fairness Doctrine is an unconstitutional infringement on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The Fairness Doctrine is an idea Washington has debated for far too long, and it's time we dispense with the concept once and for all."

Additional Comment

Sen. Alexander did not provide an additional comment.