Al Gore - Politician, Family and Facts

Albert Arnold “Al” Gore, Jr. was born on 31st March 1948, in Washington, D.C. His father Albert Gore Sr. served in the US senate. His mother Pauline LaFon Gore was one of the first women to graduate from Vanderbilt Law School.

Gore studied at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. He was proficient in sports, such as basketball and football, and also took a keen interest in art.

In 1965, he enrolled at Harvard College, from where he initially planned to major in English and become a novelist.

He enlisted in the army after graduating in 1969. Despite being opposed to the war, he felt it was a civic duty to serve in the army. Gore and his father also felt that this would improve the latter’s re-election prospects. However, Gore Sr. lost the election.

Al Gore started working as an investigative reporter for ‘The Tennessean,’ a newspaper based in Nashville, Tennessee. Meanwhile, he also studied law and philosophy at Vanderbilt University.

His time as a journalist led to his decision to become an attorney, as he felt that though he could expose corruption, he could do nothing to change the situation. However, he abruptly quit law school, and decided to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives.

In 1976, he won the election to the US House of Representatives and was re-elected three times before winning a seat in 1984. During his time in Congress, he was considered a ‘moderate’.

He opposed federal funding of abortion, voted in favor of a bill supporting a moment of silence in schools, and also voted against a ban on interstate sales of guns. Regarding homosexuality, he stated that although he didn’t think it was wrong, he also didn’t believe it was an acceptable alternative that the society should affirm to.

In 1988, he made a bid for the Democratic nomination for presidency but lost the nomination to Michael Dukakis. Later during the 1992 US Presidential elections, he became Bill Clinton’s running mate although he was initially hesitant.

According to Clinton, he chose Gore due to his foreign policy experience, work with the environment, as well as his commitment to his family.

After successfully defeating George W. Bush in the 1992 US Presidential elections, Bill Clinton became the 42nd President of the United States, with Al Gore as his vice president.

Gore is known for helping the Clinton administration secure congressional passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. He played an important part as an Atari Democrat, promoting the development of information technology. This led to the dot com boom from 1995 to 2001.

Gore popularized the term ‘Information Superhighway’ which became synonymous with the internet. He was also involved in the creation of the National Information Infrastructure. In January 1995, he discussed his plans to emphasize information technology. The official White House website was launched the same year.

He also became involved in several environmental activities. He launched the GLOBE program, which was an education and science activity, on Earth Day 1994. He also became associated with Digital Earth during this time.

In 1996, Gore and Clinton were re-elected to a second term, after they defeated the Republicans led by Bob Dole.

Al Gore announced in 1999 that he would run for the presidency of the United States in 2000. As a moderate Democrat, in his campaign, he focused on healthcare, the economy, and education.

He also campaigned for the Democratic Party’s previous tenets, supporting abortion rights as well as putting greater restrictions on guns. He supported strong measures to protect the environment. His ideas on this subject were published in the book ‘Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit’.

He won the Democratic presidential nomination quite easily, after defeating former Senator Bill Bradley. He chose Senator Joseph Lieberman as his presidential running mate. Eventually, Republican George W. Bush was declared the winner and the President of the US.

Al Gore has been involved with environmental issues since he was a freshman congressman in 1976. He held the first congressional hearings on climate change, global warming, and toxic waste.

He launched Generation Investment Management, in which he serves as the chairman, and founded The Alliance for Climate Protection. He also turned vegan due to environmental issues and has stated how the meat industry contributes to the global warming crisis.

In December 2007, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming. He said that China and the US were the biggest carbon emitters, and that they should make the boldest moves, or they would be held accountable throughout history for their failure to take action. He shared the prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

More recently, he met Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump to discuss issues related to the environment.

He has authored several books, some of them being ‘Earth in the Balance’ (1992), ‘Common Sense Government’ (1998), ‘The Spirit of Family’ (2002), ‘The Assault on Reason’ (2007) and ‘The Future’ (2013).

Al Gore has authored many books, one of the most significant ones being ‘Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit’. The book was published in June 1992, shortly before he became the Vice President of the US. The book talks about the world’s predicament, and describes a range of policies to deal with the most pressing problems.

Another important book by Al Gore is ‘An Inconvenient Truth: The Planet Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It’ (2006). It was released together with the film of the same name. The book was based on Gore’s lecture tours on the topic of global warming. An audiobook version of the album was released after three years, which won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 (jointly with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). The same year, he also won an Emmy Award as a shareholder of Current TV, for his work in the area of global warming.

He starred in the documentary film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ which won the Oscar for ‘Best Documentary’. The audiobook version of the book of the same name also won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

The other awards won by him include the 1969 National Defense Service Medal, the Prince of Asturias Award (2007) and the Sir David Attenborough Award (2007). He has also received honorary doctorates from numerous universities.

Al Gore married Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson in 1970. She had attended college together with Gore. Their wedding took place at the Washington National Cathedral. They have four children: Karenna Gore, born in 1973; Kristin Gore, born in 1977; Sarah LaFon Gore, born in 1979; and Albert Arnold Gore III, born in 1982. After 40 years of marriage, the couple separated in 2010.

In 2012, Al Gore was reported to be dating Elizabeth Keadle.