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Bredesen was elected Tennessee's governor in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. During his first year in office, Bredesen threw open the doors to administrative budget hearings, allowing taxpayers to see for the first time the decisions that are made on how their money is spent. He worked with the General Assembly to manage the state through a fiscal crisis without raising taxes or cutting funding for education. By Bredesen’s fourth year in office, Tennessee had passed four balanced budgets, received top rankings from national bond rating agencies and raised its Rainy Day Fund to a record high.

Bredesen set clear priorities for the state, beginning with Tennessee’s number one priority - education. He raised teacher pay above the Southeastern average and expanded the state’s pilot Pre-K initiative into a program for four-year-olds across the state. He also created the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation, a statewide expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library that offers children free books monthly in all 95 counties.

To recruit new industry and jobs, Bredesen led reform of Tennessee's workers' compensation system and invested in retraining programs to help laid-off employees develop new skills. Since he took office, 2,889 companies – including Nissan and International Paper- have expanded in or moved to Tennessee, bringing more than 104,000 jobs and $12.8 billion in new business investment to the state.

Bredesen launched the statewide war on methamphetamine abuse with the Governor’s Meth-Free Tennessee initiative, which resulted in a 50 percent decline in illegal and toxic meth labs. He also founded the Heritage Conservation Trust Fund, to increase the state’s land-buying power. Since the group’s creation, Tennessee has worked with public and private partners to preserve nearly 30,000 acres for the enjoyment of future generations.

In his second term, Bredesen will focus on raising high school and college graduation rates, boosting the economies of Tennessee’s smaller and mid-sized communities, strengthening public education at every level and promoting access to health care and healthier lifestyles for all citizens, especially young Tennesseans.

Bredesen and his wife Andrea Conte have one son.