The Ship of State

The Oldest and Largest examines the governor's love of the nautical metaphor in its look-back piece: "It's like becoming captain of a ship," the term-limited Democrat told The Associated Press in a recent exit interview. "Your first responsibility is to run the ship."

Bredesen said that instead of plowing ahead with an ambitious set of initiatives and policies when he came into office in 2003, his agenda was "first of all: Let's sail the ship, let's keep it upright and move it forward." An exhaustive list of the Gov's maritime-themed turns of phrase is right here.