Senator Bill Frist announced that he would not seek the Presidency with this statement.
"I wanted you to hear from me directly, before you heard it on the news.
Twelve years ago, I pledged to the people of Tennessee that I would serve two terms in the Senate - to serve as a true citizen legislator - and then return home. I said I’d come to the Senate with 20 years experience in healing, spend 12 years serving in Washington, then go right back to Tennessee to live where I grew up. And I will do just that.
That decision to self-limit my term was grounded then, and rests now, on a firm belief that change in public service and politics is healthy. That it fundamentally forces a perspective of purpose and a sharp focus on service and results. It reminds all participants that they just occupy a position for a period of time. And it liberates one to concentrate every day on serving those who are represented, not to preserve one’s own station.
I’ve known everyday for the last 12 years that I would spend two terms and no more in the legislative branch. The time for Karyn and me to leave Washington has arrived and we do so with great respect for the institution of the Senate and my colleagues, for our government, for our President, for our democracy, and for the principles of freedom and liberty upon which our country was founded.
People ask about the future for Karyn and me. What is next?
We are ready to return to Nashville and private life. We will seek the best opportunity to serve mankind. We will stay actively involved in formulating innovative solutions to the seemingly insurmountable problems that face Americans every day -- high cost of health care, energy dependence, the threat of radical Islam.
I may return to what I’ve done for most of my adult life: heal through medicine (the way I saw my dad serve since I was a little boy riding around with him, his black doctor’s bag tucked between us, as he’d travel the neighborhood making house calls).
I, of course, will immediately resume my regular medical mission trips as a doctor around the world to serve those in poverty, in famine, and in civil war. That is where my centeredness is fueled.
Politics is a noble occupation. Healing is a noble profession. Service to others underlies both. Karyn and I, and our three boys, now three young men, thank you for our opportunity to serve.
I look forward to continue working with you through VOLPAC. At the beginning of next year, we'll launch a revamped website and internet operation that refocuses our efforts in support of Republican candidates and centers our ongoing discussion on the challenges facing our country.
To keep the discussion going, I will also launch a national summit or series of summits focusing on important issues such as America’s dangerous dependence on foreign sources of energy and the high cost of health care.
More details to follow on these ideas and the exciting changes VOLPAC will make in the days ahead..."
Bill Frist, M.D.
Senator Bill Frist M.D. issued this statement about his new health care website.
