Bedford Native Running For President

In 1974, when he was in sixth grade, Christopher Hill moved with his family to a home near the corner of Liberty Hill Road and Meetinghouse Road in Bedford.

He attended , where he first met his wife, and then graduated from Manchester West High School, where he played football and ran track.

While pursuing a degree at the University of New Hampshire, Hill joined the Air Force ROTC and made aggressive strides toward becoming a pilot.

He did just that, becoming an Air Force officer and serving in the Gulf War.

After six years, he left the military and returned to Bedford to focus on his family.

On Saturday, Sept. 17 at 5 p.m., Hill will stand on the steps of Bedford Town Hall and announce his run for the nation's highest office.

"I'm getting organized in terms of being the type of candidate that's truly grassroots," he said.

"Like a lot of Americans, I'm disappointed with politicians in both parties" added Hill, who admitted he's supported other candidates over the last 30 years, but has yet to see a U.S. President attempt to follow through with his promises since Ronald Reagan, whose campaign Hill worked for when he was 16 and 20 years old.

"As much as I love politics and think it can make a difference, I never wanted to be a politician," he said. "... but I always tell people, at 16 years old it didn't take me but a few months to understand the candidate I supported and was willing to stand out in the cold and hold a sign with, and I don't think it will take the people of New Hampshire that long either."

Though Hill has worked primarily as a United Parcel Service pilot for the last 17 years, he said he shares a message that resonates with everyone with whom he speaks.

In fact, Hill said he's been encouraged to run for public office for years by friends, family members, fellow pilots and even politicians.

Two years ago, he started a Facebook page titled Pilots and Patriots Defending the Constitution, which currently has 769 followers.

"We opened it up to everybody in America who is interested in saving this country," he said, "and our goal at the time was simply to identify candidates from around the country who took the Constitution more seriously than the political parties and the rhetoric you hear coming out of Washington, D.C."

Since that point, Hill said the group has endorsed several high-profile candidates, such as Lt. Col. Allen West, who last year won a Florida seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"That's where it all began. It all began in those local communities, and from that I had the opportunity to speak with a number of groups, and I've had a lot of people say to me, 'You know what, I'd vote for you,'" said Hill. "And I'd always say, 'I'm very flattered to hear that, but what I need to know, before I actually take the step toward something this high profile, is would you walk into a ballot area and look at a ballot that has high profile names with multi-million dollar people who are career politicians - like Mitt Romney, possibly Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul - and then get down to a guy named Christopher V. Hill and think to yourself, 'You know, he's the veteran, he actually served his country and fought in a war, I'm going with this guy for a change and mark the ballot that way?' And to a person, they all said 'We can, we will."

Though conventional wisdom says to become president, one must start from the bottom and work one's way up, Hill is confident in his strategy.

"In the office of the presidency, you can make a difference," he said. "In fact, you have to ask yourself, 'Why do senators, congressmen and governors all want to become president?' I think, to a large extent, they feel they've spent a lot of time in the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate casting votes, but not affecting the true direction of this country. As President of the United States, you have the opportunity to set the course for this country, and that gives people like me the opportunity to step up and speak to the entire country instead of carving out a little niche of power in a certain state."

Though he moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 2008 to be closer to UPS headquarters, Hill said he'll spend a significant amount of time staying with friends and family in the Granite State  over the next several months.

The Bedford native has created an interactive Web site that provides an in-depth look into his positions and his background, but he hopes by meeting locals face to face - maybe over coffee or ice cream at the Inside Scoop, or perhaps while watching a football game at Bedford High School - he'll be able to garner the grassroots support and create the buzz he'll need to be a serious player in the upcoming election.

Follow Hill's campaign each Friday as Bedford Patch reveals a little more on his background and some of his positions on important issues through a weekly series leading up to his big announcement on Sept. 17.