In November 2010, the Tennessee Supreme Court stopped the executions of four death row inmates so a lower court could examine the constitutionality of Tennessee's new lethal injection procedure. The trial courts had 90 days to test whether a new step added during the lethal injection was constitutionally sound. Bredesen stood by Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol despite the Tennessee Supreme Court's decision. He said that he respected the high court’s decision but believed the state was already operating within all confines of the law.

“I’m confident that what we’re doing is humane and sensible and in the main stream, it is certainly what a great many other states do, and that in the end we’ll find that what we’re doing is consistent with the Constitution and the law and that Tennessee will be able to go ahead,” said the former governor.

Mayor of Nashville (1991-1999)

Bredesen was elected mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1991 and was re-elected in 1995.

Bredesen formally entered politics in 1987 as a candidate for mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. He finished second to 5th District Congressman Bill Boner.

Bredesen was elected governor on November 7, 2002, and was sworn into office on January 18, 2003. He served two terms, having won re-election on November 7, 2006. Bredesen was ineligible to run in 2010 due to term limits. He was succeeded by Bill Haslam, a Republican, on January 15, 2011.

As governor, Bredesen was a member of the National Governors Association, the Southern Governors' Association, and the Democratic Governors Association.

One of the themes of Bredesen's first term as governor was healthcare while his second term focused more on education. In addition, Bredesen was noted for his refusal to accept a salary during his two terms as the state's chief executive official. This was in part due to the wealth he had earned from the 1986 sale of his controlling interest in HealthAmerica, the healthcare management company he founded out of his small Nashville apartment early in his career.

Death penalty

In November 2010, the Tennessee Supreme Court stopped the executions of four death row inmates so a lower court could examine the constitutionality of Tennessee's new lethal injection procedure. The trial courts had 90 days to test whether a new step added during the lethal injection was constitutionally sound. Bredesen stood by Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol despite the Tennessee Supreme Court's decision. He said that he respected the high court’s decision but believed the state was already operating within all confines of the law.

“I’m confident that what we’re doing is humane and sensible and in the main stream, it is certainly what a great many other states do, and that in the end we’ll find that what we’re doing is consistent with the Constitution and the law and that Tennessee will be able to go ahead,” said the former governor.

Bredesen was elected mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1991 and was re-elected in 1995.

Bredesen formally entered politics in 1987 as a candidate for mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. He finished second to 5th District Congressman Bill Boner.