Thompson is selling himself as the most devoted conservative in the Republican field

The calls flooding the Senate office of Fred Thompson in the winter of 1999 showed that his Tennessee constituents overwhelmingly favored removing President Bill Clinton from office. But as the historic impeachment trial neared, records show, Thompson agonized over what he saw as two "bad choices." Years before, as Republican counsel to the Senate Watergate committee, Thompson had witnessed the proceedings that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. He ordered up lengthy staff memorandums on what the founding fathers intended when they said a president could be removed for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Did the president's cover-up of an affair with a White House intern justify deposing him "against the will of the people," Thompson wondered. "His office is too high and the crimes too low," he mused. Today, Thompson is campaigning for president, selling himself as the most devoted conservative in the Republican field.