Governor Phil Bredesen, left, with two other Tennesseans
PHOTO: State of Tennessee
PHIL BREDESEN

Phil Bredesen is the former mayor of Nashville and the current governor of Tennessee.

But, like many Tennesseans, he isn't from around here. Bredesen was raised in upstate New York, and first moved to Tennessee with his wife Andrea Conte in the mid-1970s. In 1980, largely based on research he did at the Nashville Public Library, he started a health care management company called HealthAmerica that did very well. Other successful business ventures followed, and eventually he set his sights on politics. In 1991 he was elected mayor of Nashville for the first of two terms.

Bredesen, who is a Democrat, accomplished a lot during his eight years as mayor of Nashville. It was during his tenure, for instance, that the city recruited big-time professional sports teams such as the Tennessee Titans. But he is especially proud of the fact that the city spent $500 million to build new schools and that it developed several new library buildings during his tenure. Today the downtown Nashville Public Library is by far the most beautiful public library building in the state, perhaps in the South.

The governor talks to reporters at the State Capitol
In November 2002, Bredesen defeated Republican Van Hilleary to become Tennessee's 48th governor. Since then he has proposed and signed into law several initiatives related to education, including a major expansion of the state's pre-kindergarten program.

Phil Bredesen loves to hunt, fish, and paint in his spare time.

For more on Governor Bredesen, click here.

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