TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Attendees at Credit Union 24's annual Executive Summit, held this year over April 25-26 near Orlando, Fla., may be among the first to hear from a presidential hopeful. Former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson has been selected to keynote Credit Union 24's Executive Summit in late April, the credit union-owned ATM and POS network has announced. Thompson, who represented Tennessee in the U.S. Senate as a Republican from 1994 until the term ending in 2002, has been the subject of rumors for some time about a possible bid for the White House. But Credit Union 24 spokesman Sean Dempsey said the possible aspirations for higher office played no role in his selection to keynote the meeting.

The network chose Thompson “because he was bright and interesting, had some great experiences to recount, and had broad appeal,” Dempsey said. “Who knew these presidential rumors would start?”

Thompson will be the first noted person with a political background to address the meeting, Dempsey added.