Al Gore

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Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.
45th Vice President of the United States
In office January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Dan Quayle
Succeeded by	Dick Cheney
Democratic nominee for President of the United States
Election date November 7, 2000
Running mate	Joe Lieberman
Opponent(s)	George W. Bush (R) Ralph Nader (G)
Incumbent	Bill Clinton (D)
Preceded by	Bill Clinton
United States Senator from Tennessee
In office January 3, 1985 – January 2, 1993
Preceded by	Howard Baker
Succeeded by	Harlan Mathews
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	Robin Beard
Succeeded by	Bart Gordon
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 4th district
In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1983
Preceded by	Joe L. Evins
Succeeded by	Jim Cooper
Born	March 31, 1948 (1948-03-31) (age 60) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" A. Gore
Children	4
Alma mater	Harvard University, Vanderbilt University
Religion	Baptist (formerly Southern Baptist)
Signature
Website	algore.com
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1969 - c. 1970
Unit	20th Engineer Brigade
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. (born March 31, 1948) was the forty-fifth Vice President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore also served in the U. S. House of Representatives (1977–85) and the U. S. Senate (1985–93), representing Tennessee. Gore was the Democratic nominee for president in the 2000 election, in which he won the popular vote but ultimately lost to Republican candidate George W. Bush. A legal controversy over the Florida election recount was eventually settled in favor of Bush by the Supreme Court.^[1][2]

A prominent environmental activist, Gore was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (together with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) for the "efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."^[3] He also starred in the Academy Award-winning documentary on the topic of global warming, An Inconvenient Truth. In 2007, Gore helped to organize the July 7 benefit concert for global warming, Live Earth.

Gore is currently chairman of the Emmy Award - winning American television channel Current TV, chairman of Generation Investment Management, a director on the board of Apple Inc., an unofficial advisor to Google's senior management, chairman of the Alliance for Climate Protection,^[4] and a partner in the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, heading that firm's climate change solutions group.^[5][6]

Contents 1 Background 2 Vietnam war 3 Journalism and graduate study 4 Political career 4.1 Congressional service 4.2 1988 Presidential election 4.3 Vice Presidency (1993–2001) 4.4 2000 Presidential election 4.5 2004 Presidential election 4.6 2008 Presidential election 5 Environmental issues 6 Internet and technology 7 Private citizen 7.1 Teaching 7.2 Political activism 8 Selected honors and awards 9 Electoral history 10 Bibliography 11 See also 12 Notes 13 External links

Background

Albert Gore, Jr. was born in Washington, D.C., to Albert Gore, Sr., a U.S. Representative (1939–1944, 1945–1953) and Senator (1953–1971) from Tennessee and Pauline LaFon Gore, one of the first women to graduate from Vanderbilt University Law School. He divided his childhood between Washington and Carthage, Tennessee^[7] as a boy. During the school year, the family lived in a hotel in Washington but during summer vacations Gore worked on the family farm in Carthage, where the Gores grew hay and tobacco and raised cattle.^[8] He had an elder sister, Nancy Gore Hunger, who died of lung cancer in 1984.^[9]

Gore was an honors student at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.^[10] He attended Harvard University and graduated with a B.A. in government (cum laude) in June 1969.^[11]

Gore's senior thesis at Harvard explored the impact of television on the conduct of the presidency. This thesis essentially stated that television had an inherent bias towards individuals over institutions which would bring more attention to the president than the other branches of governments. The thesis furthermore argued that the ability to communicate well visually was becoming crucial to governing.^[12]

In 1970, Gore married Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson (known as Tipper), whom he had first met "at a party the night of his [high school] graduation."^[10] They have four children: Karenna (born 1973), married to Andrew "Drew" Schiff;^[13] Kristin (born 1977), married to Paul Cusack; Sarah (born January 7, 1979), married to Taiwanese-American businessman Bill Lee,^[14] (李君偉);^[15] and Albert III (born 1982). Al and Tipper have two grandchildren: Wyatt Gore Schiff (born 1999) and Anna Hunger Schiff (born 2001).^[16]

Vietnam war

Gore opposed the Vietnam War and could have avoided serving overseas by accepting a spot in the National Guard that a friend of his family had reserved for him, or by other means of avoiding the draft. Gore has stated that his sense of civic duty compelled him to serve in some capacity.^[17] He enlisted in the United States Army on August 7, 1969. After basic training at Fort Dix, Gore was assigned as a military journalist writing for The Army Flier, the base newspaper at Fort Rucker.^[18] With seven months remaining in his enlistment, Gore was shipped to Vietnam, arriving on January 2, 1971.^[18] He served with the 20th Engineer Brigade in Bien Hoa.^[19]

Gore said in 1988 that his experience in Vietnam:

"...didn't change my conclusions about the war being a terrible mistake, but it struck me that opponents to the war, including myself, really did not take into account the fact that there were an awful lot of South Vietnamese who desperately wanted to hang on to what they called freedom. Coming face to face with those sentiments expressed by people who did the laundry and ran the restaurants and worked in the fields was something I was naively unprepared for."^[20]

Journalism and graduate study

Gore's father would later recall that, "the war, combined with his own campaign defeat and the Watergate scandals, turned his son temporarily against a political career."^[10] Thus, after returning from Vietnam (receiving a non-essential personnel honorable discharge two months early) Gore turned to journalism and divinity school at Vanderbilt University.^[10][21] He attended the program from 1971–1972 and his goal was to explore "the spiritual issues that were most important to me at the time."^[22] He also worked part time as a reporter for The Tennessean , a newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee on the night shift.^[22] He would eventually spend five years as a reporter for The Tennessean. His investigations of possible corruption among members of Nashville's Metro Council resulted in the arrest and prosecution of two councilmen for separate offenses.^[23] After completing the one year Rockefeller Foundation scholarship, he left the divinity school to focus on journalism full time.^[24] A few years later, he studied law at Vanderbilt. He attended law school from 1974–76 but "took away no degrees, deciding abruptly in 1976 to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives."^[22]

Political career

Congressional service

At the end of February 1976, 4th District congressman Joe L. Evins unexpectedly announced his retirement from the seat in which he had succeeded Albert Gore, Sr. in 1953. Within hours after Tennessean Publisher John Seigenthaler called him to tell him the announcement was forthcoming,^[25] Gore decided to quit law school and run for the United States House of Representatives:

Gore's abrupt decision to run for the open seat surprised even himself. 'I didn't realize myself I had been pulled back so much to it,' he later commented. The news came as a 'bombshell' to his wife. Tipper Gore held a job in the Tennessean's photo lab and was working on a master's degree in psychology, but she joined in her husband's campaign (with assurance that she could get her job at the Tennessean back if he lost). By contrast, Gore asked his father to stay out of his campaign. 'I must become my own man,' he explained. 'I must not be your candidate.'^[26]

Gore "narrowly won" the Democratic primary, then ran unopposed in the general election and was elected to his first Congressional post at the age of twenty-eight.^[26]

He was re-elected to the House three times, in 1978, 1980, and 1982. In 1984, Gore successfully ran for a seat in the United States Senate, which had been vacated by Republican Majority Leader Howard Baker. Gore served as a Senator from Tennessee until 1993, when he became Vice President.^[26] While in Congress, Gore was a member a number of committees including: Senate Armed Services, House Intelligence, Commerce, Science and Transportation, Rules and Administration, and Governmental Affairs.^[26] He was involved in passing a number of initiatives.^[27]

On March 19, 1979, Gore became the first person to appear on C-SPAN, making a speech in the House chambers.^[28] In the late 1980s, Gore introduced the Gore Bill, which was later passed as the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991. Leonard Kleinrock, a key player in the development of the ARPANET, considers the act to be a critical moment in Internet history.^[29]

Gore clarified his positions as a senator with regard to the Gulf War (particularly the events before and after it) during a speech he gave in 1992.^[30][31] In this speech, he stated that while a senator, he twice attempted to get the U.S. government to pull the plug on support to Saddam Hussein, citing Hussein's use of poison gas, support of terrorism, and his burgeoning nuclear program, but was opposed both times by the Reagan and Bush administrations.^[30]In the wake of the Al-Anfal Campaign, during which Hussein staged deadly mustard and nerve gas attacks on Kurdish Iraqis, Gore cosponsored the Prevention of Genocide Act of 1988, which would have cut all assistance to Iraq.^[30] The bill was defeated in part due to intense lobbying of Congress by the Reagan-Bush White House and a veto threat from President Reagan.^[30]

1988 Presidential election

Main article: Al Gore presidential campaign, 1988

Gore ran for President in the 1988 United States presidential election. He campaigned as a "Southern Centrist" whose main opposition was Jesse Jackson.^[32] On Super Tuesday he won Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Nevada, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.^[26][33] Gore eventually dropped out of the democratic race which went to Michael Dukakis.^[26]

Vice Presidency (1993–2001)

Main article: Vice Presidency of Al Gore

See also: Vice President Gore and the Information Superhighway

See also: Vice President Gore and the environment

Bill Clinton chose Gore to be his running mate for the 1992 United States presidential election on July 9, 1992.^[34] Gore accepted the position after previously choosing not to run for President. On April 3, 1989, his six-year-old son Albert III was nearly killed in an automobile accident while leaving the Baltimore Orioles' opening day game. Because of the resulting lengthy healing process, Gore chose to stay near him during the recovery instead of laying the foundation for a 1992 presidential primary campaign (it was during this time period that he wrote Earth in the Balance).^[26]

Gore was inaugurated as the 45th Vice President of the United States on January 20, 1993. Clinton and Gore were re-elected to a second term in the 1996 election.

As Vice President, Gore promoted the development of what he referred to as the Information Superhighway.^[35] In addition, during the Clinton-Gore administration, the U.S. economy expanded according to David Greenberg (professor of history and media studies at Rutgers University) who argued that "by the end of the Clinton presidency, the numbers were uniformly impressive. Besides the record-high surpluses and the record-low poverty rates, the economy could boast the longest economic expansion in history; the lowest unemployment since the early 1970s; and the lowest poverty rates for single mothers, black Americans, and the aged."^[36]

In 1996 Gore was criticized for attending an event at the Buddhist Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California (see 1996 United States campaign finance controversy). In an interview on NBC's Today the following year, he stated that, "I did not know that it was a fund-raiser. I knew it was a political event, and I knew there were finance people that were going to be present, and so that alone should have told me, 'This is inappropriate and this is a mistake; don't do this.' And I take responsibility for that. It was a mistake."^[37] In March 1997, Vice President Gore also had to explain certain fund-raising calls he made to solicit funds for the Democratic Party for the 1996 election.^[38] In a news conference, Gore responded that, "all calls that I made were charged to the Democratic National Committee. I was advised there was nothing wrong with that. My counsel tells me there is no controlling legal authority that says that is any violation of any law."^[39]

2000 Presidential election

Main article: Al Gore presidential campaign, 2000

After two terms as Vice President, Gore ran for President in the 2000 United States Presidential election, selecting Senator Joe Lieberman to be his vice-presidential running mate. Gore's policies had changed substantially from his 1988 Presidential campaign when he ran as a Southern Centrist, reflecting his eight years as Vice President.^[40]

On election night, news networks first called Florida for Gore, later retracted the projection, and then called Florida for Bush, before finally retracting that projection as well.^[41] Florida's Republican Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, eventually certified Florida's vote count.^[42] This led to the Florida election recount, a move to further examine the Florida results. The Florida recount was stopped a few weeks later by the Supreme Court of the United States. In the ruling, Bush v. Gore, the Florida recount was called unconstitutional and that no constitutionally valid recount could be completed by the December 12 deadline, effectively ending the recounts. This 7-2 vote ruled that the standards the Florida Supreme Court provided for a recount as unconstitutional due to violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and further ruled 5-4 that no constitutionally valid recount could be completed by the December 12 deadline. This case ordered an end to recounting underway in selected Florida counties, effectively giving George W. Bush a 534 vote victory in Florida and consequently Florida's 25 electoral votes and the presidency.^[43] The results of the decision led to Gore winning the popular vote by approximately 500,000 votes nationwide, but receiving 266 electoral votes to Bush's 271 (1 DC Elector abstained).^[44] Gore strongly disagreed with the Court's decision, but decided "for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession."^[45]

The 2000 election is the subject of a 2008 made-for-TV movie directed by Jay Roach, produced by, and starring Kevin Spacey called Recount. It premiered on the HBO cable network on May 25, 2008.

2004 Presidential election

Initially, Al Gore was a potential candidate for the 2004 Presidential Election leading to the creation of the bumper sticker "Re-elect Gore in 2004!"^[46] On December 16, 2002, however, Gore announced that he would not run in 2004, stating, "I personally have the energy and drive and ambition to make another campaign, but I don't think it's the right thing for me to do [...] I think that a campaign that would be a rematch between myself and President Bush would inevitably involve a focus on the past that would in some measure distract from the focus on the future that I think all campaigns have to be about."^[47] Despite Gore taking himself out of the race, a handful of his supporters formed a national campaign to "draft" him into running.^[48]

The draft effort came to an end in December 2003 when Gore publicly endorsed Governor of Vermont Howard Dean (over his former running mate Lieberman) weeks before the first primary of the election cycle.^[49] Gore was harshly criticized for this endorsement by eight Democratic contenders including John Kerry.^[50][51] Dean's candidacy eventually failed and he left the race in February, 2004.^[52] On February 9, 2004, the eve of the Tennessee primary, Gore gave what some consider his harshest criticism of the president yet when he accused George W. Bush of betraying the country by using the 9/11 attacks as a justification for the invasion of Iraq. Gore also urged all Democrats to unite behind their eventual nominee proclaiming, "Any one of these candidates is far better than George W. Bush."^[53] In March 2004 Gore, along with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, united behind John Kerry as the presumptive Democratic nominee.^[54]

On April 28, 2004, Gore announced that he would be donating $6 million to support Kerry and Democratic Party groups. Drawing from his funds left over from his 2000 campaign, Gore pledged to donate $4 million to the Democratic National Committee. The party's Senate and House committees would each get $1 million, and the party from Gore's home state of Tennessee would receive $250,000. In addition, Gore announced that all of the surplus funds in his "Recount Fund" from the 2000 election controversy that resulted in the Supreme Court halting the counting of the ballots, a total of $240,000, will be donated to the Florida Democratic Party.^[55]

In July 2004, Gore opened the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He stated, " let's make sure that this time every vote is counted. Let's make sure not only that the Supreme Court does not pick the next President, but also that this President is not the one who picks the next Supreme Court."^[56] In reference to third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Gore also stated, "I also ask tonight for the help of those who supported a third party candidate in 2000. I urge you to ask yourselves this question: do you still believe that there was no difference between the candidates?"^[56]

2008 Presidential election

Gore was not a declared candidate in the 2008 presidential election and frequently stated that he had "no plans to run."^[57] However, as he did not reject the possibility of future involvement in politics,^[58] the prospect of a Gore candidacy became the topic of public discussion and speculation from 2006 to early 2008.^[59][60]

Beginning in 2006, Gore's popularity increased. ^[61] Some credited the release of An Inconvenient Truth at that time.^[62] After An Inconvenient Truth was nominated for an Academy Award, Donna Brazile (Gore's campaign chairwoman from the 2000 campaign) speculated on the possibility that Gore might announce a possible presidential candidacy for the 2008 election. During a speech on January 31, 2007, at Moravian College, Brazile stated, "Wait till Oscar night, I tell people: 'I'm dating. I haven't fallen in love yet. On Oscar night, if Al Gore has slimmed down 25 or 30 pounds, Lord knows.'"^[63] During the award ceremony, Gore and actor Leonardo DiCaprio shared the stage to speak about the "greening" of the ceremony itself. Gore began to give a speech that appeared to be leading up to an announcement that he would run for president. However, background music drowned him out and he was escorted offstage, implying that it was a rehearsed gag,^[64][65] which he later acknowledged.^[66] Later that evening his film won the Academy Award and speculation increased about his possible run.^[67]

In addition, a nationwide Gallup poll of 485 Democrats and Democratic leaners in mid-November 2007 showed Gore receiving 17% of the votes in a hypothetical Democratic primary, second to Hillary Clinton, tied with Barack Obama, and ahead of John Edwards. A previous June 29, 2007 article in the The Guardian cited a poll conducted "in New Hampshire by 7News and Suffolk University" that found that if Gore "were to seek the Democratic nomination, 29% of Mrs. Clinton's backers would switch their support to him [...] when defections from other candidates are factored in, the man who controversially lost to Mr. Bush in the 2000 election takes command of the field, with 32% support."^[68] An even earlier April 2007 Quinnipiac University poll of 504 registered Democrats in New Jersey showed Gore receiving 12% of the votes in a hypothetical Democratic primary, in third place behind Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.^[69]

There were also grassroots draft campaigns including one group which considered a write-in campaign for the New Hampshire primary on January 8, 2008^[70] before it was halted. ^[71] Other grassroots groups in California^[72] and New York^[73] attempted to convince him to run as well as a number of web-based organizations.^{[74][75][76][77][78]}

In February 2008, Gore stated that he had no plans to endorse a candidate and that he expected a candidate to be named through the primary process.^[79] He repeated this statement throughout the primary season.^[80] Some interpreted his reticence as a sign that Gore would come out of a brokered 2008 Democratic National Convention as a "compromise candidate" (perhaps with Obama or Clinton as VP) if the party decided it could not nominate either of the candidates.^{[81][82][83][84][85]} Gore responded to this speculation in a March 30, 2008 interview with 60 Minutes in which he stated that he is maintaining a neutral position on the subject of the election and is "not applying for the job of broker."^[86][87] He reiterated these points in a May 6, 2008 interview with NPR.^[88][89]

While he did not release an official announcement, on 3 June 2008 Gore contacted Barack Obama to offer his congratulations for receiving the Democratic nomination for president. According to his spokeswoman, Kalee Kreider, Gore "does not want any position in a possible Obama administration." Kreider also noted in a written response that Gore has not yet "determined when he will announce his endorsement" and that he "has long since ruled out any possibility of serving in an administration."^[90]

Environmental issues

Main article: Al Gore and the environment

According to The Concord Monitor, "Gore was one of the first politicians to grasp the seriousness of climate change and to call for a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. He held the first congressional hearings on the subject in the late 1970s."^[91] He also starred in the Academy Award - winning 2006 documentary film An Inconvenient Truth. The film documents the evidence for anthropogenic global warming and warns of dire environmental consequences if people and industries do not make immediate changes to their behavior. It is the fourth-highest-grossing documentary in U.S. history.^[92]

In February 2007, critics stated that "a report by the Nashville Electric Service revealed that Mr Gore's mansion in Nashville consumed between 12 and 20 times more electricity than the average family home and that his electricity consumption had risen since the film's release in 2005."^[93] WKRN-TV reported that the Gore family obtains their power from the Nashville Electric Service's "renewable energy initiative", The Green Power Switch program.^[94] The Detroit Free Press also noted that "Gore purchased 108 blocks of 'green power' for each of the past three months, according to a summary of the bills. That’s a total of $432 a month Gore paid extra for solar or other renewable energy sources.The green power Gore purchased is equivalent to recycling 2.48 million aluminum cans or 286,092 pounds of newspaper, according to comparison figures on NES’s Web site."^[95] The Associated Press reported on December 13, 2007 that Gore "has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy efficient, and a building-industry group has praised the house as one of the nation's most environmentally friendly [...] 'Short of tearing it down and starting anew, I don't know how it could have been rated any higher,' said Kim Shinn of the U.S. Green Building Council, which gave the house its second-highest rating for sustainable design."^[96]

Gore has been criticized by two bloggers who argue that he maintains carbon neutrality by purchasing carbon credits from Generation Investment Management, a company for which he serves as Chairman.^[97] In response to the bloggers´ accusation, a spokesman for Generation stated that "Gore is not profiting from his crusade against global warming" and that Gore does not purchase carbon credits from Generation. Instead, Generation purchases carbon credits from third party providers such as the Carbon Neutral Company to offset the personal emissions of all employees and their families, including Gore's. He also stated that Generation does not sell carbon credits, nor does it develop them--rather, they voluntarily purchase credits from others on behalf of employees.^[98][99] The conservative Capital Research Center has accused him of attempting to make a huge profit from his global warming activism.^[100] Gore denies money motivates him to fight global warming.^[101]

Gore was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, which was shared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, headed by Rajendra K. Pachauri (Delhi, India).^[102] The award was given "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change" on October 12, 2007.^[103] Gore and Pachauri accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 in Oslo, Norway on December 10, 2007.^{[104][105][106]}

Internet and technology

Main article: Al Gore and information technology

Gore has been involved with the development of the Internet since the 1970s, first as a Congressman and later as Senator and Vice-President. Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn stated in the 2000 article "Al Gore and the Internet", that Gore was "the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development."^[107] His High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991^[108] (often referred to as the Gore Bill) was passed on December 9, 1991 and led to the National Information Infrastructure (NII)^[109] which Gore referred to as the "information superhighway."

In a March 9, 1999 interview on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Gore stated, "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system."^[110] This statement was often misquoted by media outlets and led to the creation of a widely spread urban legend that Gore claimed to have "invented the Internet."^[111]

In response to the controversy, Cerf and Kahn argued that, "We don't think, as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he 'invented' the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving Internet."^[112]

Gore would later poke fun at the controversy on the The Late Show with David Letterman when he read Letterman's Top 10 List, which for this show was called, "Top Ten Rejected Gore - Lieberman Campaign Slogans." Number nine on the list was: "Remember, America, I gave you the Internet, and I can take it away!"^[113]

Gore has been a member of the board of directors of Apple Inc. since 2003 and serves as a Senior Advisor to Google Inc.^[114]

Gore's 2007 book, The Assault on Reason is an analysis of what he calls the "emptying out of the marketplace of ideas" in civic discourse, which, according to Gore, is due to the influence of electronic media, especially television, and which endangers American democracy; but he also expresses the belief that the Internet can revitalize and ultimately "redeem the integrity of representative democracy."^[115]

Private citizen

Teaching

Gore taught at four universities in 2001 as a visiting professor: Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism,^[116] Fisk University,^[117] Middle Tennessee State University,^[118] and UCLA.^[119]

Political activism

Gore was frequently critical of the Bush administration after the 2000 election. On September 23, 2002, in a speech before the Commonwealth Club of California, Gore criticized President George W. Bush and Congress for what he claimed was their rush to war prior to the outbreak of hostilities in Iraq.^[120] In it, Gore alleged that the war was a risk to America's reputation in the world, and questioned the legality of the Bush Doctrine.^[121] In September 2005, Gore chartered two planes in order to help 270 evacuees from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He was highly critical of the federal response during the time after the hurricane.^[122] On January 16, 2006, Gore delivered a speech criticizing President Bush's use of domestic wiretaps without a warrant.^[123] Also, on February 12, 2006 at the Jeddah Economic Forum, Gore argued that the US government had committed abuses against Arabs living in America after the 9/11 attacks "and that most Americans did not support such treatment."^[124]

In January 2008, Gore posted a video on the Current TV website, in support of same-sex marriage. He stated:^[125]

I think it's wrong for the government to discriminate against people because of that person’s sexual orientation. I think that gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women — to make contracts, to have hospital visiting rights, to join together in marriage, and I don’t understand why it is considered by some people to be a threat to heterosexual marriage to allow it by gays and lesbians. Shouldn’t we be promoting the kind of faithfulness and loyalty to one’s partner regardless of sexual orientation? Because if you don’t do that, then to that extent you’re promoting promiscuity, and you’re promoting all the problems that can result from promiscuity. The loyalty and love that two people feel for one another when they fall in love ought to be celebrated and encouraged and shouldn’t be prevented by any form of discrimination in the law.

In June 2008, Gore endorsed Al Franken for the 2008 Senate race calling him one of the "hardest working activists" in the party as well as someone with a "sharp wit and strong convictions."^[126]

Selected honors and awards

• 2008 Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters, Carnegie Mellon University^[127]
• 2008 Doctor honoris causa, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne^[128]
• 2008 Dan David Prize: "Social Responsibility with Particular Emphasis on the Environment"^[129]

• 2008 The Gore resolution (HJR712) passed by the Tennessee House of Representatives which honors Gore's "efforts to curb global warming"^[130]
• 2007 Gothenburg Prize for Sustainable Development^[131]
• 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (environment)
• 2007 Primetime Emmy Award: Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Television for Current TV (interactive technology)
• 2007 International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences: Founders Award for Current TV and for work in the area of global warming^[132]
• 2007 Quill Awards: History/current events/politics, The Assault on Reason
• 2007 Prince of Asturias Award in Spain (environment)^[133]
• 2007 The Sir David Attenborough Award for Excellence in Nature Filmmaking (environment)^[134]
• 2007 Honorary Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences^[135]
• 2007 Honorary Doctorate, Concordia University^[136]
• 2006 Quill Awards: History/current events/politics, An Inconvenient Truth
• 2005 Webby Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award (interactive technology)
• 1998 The Computerworld Honors Program Honoring Those Who Use Information Technology to Benefit Society: Toshiba America Leadership Award for Education^[137]
• 1993 First Annual Cisco Systems Circle Award: "In recognition of his visionary leadership in building global awareness of computer networking through the National Information Highway Initiative"^[138]

Electoral history

Main article: Electoral history of Al Gore

Gore has been involved in politics since the mid 1970s.

Bibliography

See also

• We Campaign

Notes

External links

• Official website
• Al's Journal

Find more information on Al Gore in Wikipedia's sister projects
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• Al Gore at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-01-15
• Al Gore at the Internet Movie Database Retrieved on 2008-01-15

Political offices
Preceded by Dan Quayle	Vice President of the United States January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001	Succeeded by Dick Cheney
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Joe L. Evins	Member from Tennessee's 4th congressional district 1977 – 1983	Succeeded by James H.S. Cooper
Preceded by Robin L. Beard	Member from Tennessee's 6th congressional district 1983 – 1985	Succeeded by Bart Gordon
United States Senate
Preceded by Howard H. Baker Jr.	Senator from Tennessee (Class 2) 1985 – 1993 Served alongside: James R. Sasser	Succeeded by Harlan Mathews
Party political offices
Preceded by Lloyd Bentsen	Democratic Party vice presidential candidate 1992, 1996	Succeeded by Joe Lieberman
Preceded by Bill Clinton	Democratic Party presidential candidate 2000	Succeeded by John Kerry
Order of precedence in the United States of America
Preceded by Dan Quayle	United States order of precedence Former Vice President of the United States	Succeeded by John Dingell

Representatives to the 95th–102nd United States Congresses from Tennessee
95th	Senate: H. Baker, Jr. | J. Sasser	House: J. Quillen | J. Duncan, Sr. | E. Jones | R. Beard | H. Ford, Sr. | M. Lloyd | C. Allen | A. Gore, Jr.
96th	Senate: H. Baker, Jr. | J. Sasser	House: J. Quillen | J. Duncan, Sr. | E. Jones | R. Beard | H. Ford, Sr. | M. Lloyd | A. Gore, Jr. | B. Boner
97th	Senate: H. Baker, Jr. | J. Sasser	House: J. Quillen | J. Duncan, Sr. | E. Jones | R. Beard | H. Ford, Sr. | M. Lloyd | A. Gore, Jr. | B. Boner
98th	Senate: H. Baker, Jr. | J. Sasser	House: J. Quillen | J. Duncan, Sr. | E. Jones | H. Ford, Sr. | M. Lloyd | A. Gore, Jr. | B. Boner | J. Cooper | D. Sundquist
99th	Senate: J. Sasser | A. Gore, Jr.	House: J. Quillen | J. Duncan, Sr. | E. Jones | H. Ford, Sr. | M. Lloyd | B. Boner | J. Cooper | D. Sundquist | B. Gordon
100th	Senate: J. Sasser | A. Gore, Jr.	House: J. Quillen | J. Duncan, Sr. | E. Jones | H. Ford, Sr. | M. Lloyd | B. Boner | J. Cooper | D. Sundquist | B. Gordon
101st	Senate: J. Sasser | A. Gore, Jr.	House: J. Quillen | H. Ford, Sr. | M. Lloyd | J. Cooper | D. Sundquist | B. Gordon | B. Clement | J. Duncan, Jr. | J. Tanner
102nd	Senate: J. Sasser | A. Gore, Jr.	House: J. Quillen | H. Ford, Sr. | M. Lloyd | J. Cooper | D. Sundquist | B. Gordon | B. Clement | J. Duncan, Jr. | J. Tanner

v • d • e Al Gore Family Tipper Gore (spouse) · Karenna Gore Schiff (daughter) · Kristin Gore (daughter) · Albert Gore, Sr. (father) · Pauline LaFon Gore (mother) Political career Prevention of Genocide Act of 1988 · Vice Presidency  · 1988 presidential campaign · 2000 presidential campaign Elections Electoral history · United States Senate elections, 1984 · United States Senate elections, 1990 · United States presidential election, 2000 Global warming Global Marshall Plan · Environmental activism · Alliance for Climate Protection · An Inconvenient Truth · Connie Mae · Live Earth Pledge Technology Role in information technology · High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991 · National Information Infrastructure · 24 Hours in Cyberspace  · Digital Earth  · Current TV Books Earth in the Balance · Businesslike Government · Common Sense Government · From Red Tape to Results · The Spirit of Family · Joined at the Heart · An Inconvenient Truth : The Crisis of Global Warming · An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It · The Assault on Reason · The Path to Survival

v • d • e Apple Inc. Board of directors William Campbell · Millard Drexler · Al Gore · Steve Jobs · Andrea Jung · Arthur D. Levinson · Eric E. Schmidt · Jerry York Hardware products Apple TV · iPhone · iPod (classic, nano, shuffle, touch) · Mac (iMac, MacBook (Air, MacBook, Pro), mini, Pro, Xserve) Accessories AirPort · Cinema Display · Mighty Mouse · Time Capsule Software products Aperture · FileMaker Pro · Final Cut Studio · iLife · iTunes · iWork · Logic Studio · Mac OS X (Server) · QuickTime · Safari · Xsan Stores and services ADC · AppleCare · Apple Specialist · Apple Store (online) · Certifications · Genius Bar · iTunes Store · MobileMe (.Mac) · One to One · ProCare See also Advertising (Get a Mac, iPods, Slogans) · Braeburn Capital · FileMaker Inc. · History (Acquisitions, Discontinued products, Litigation, Typography) · Portal Annual revenue: US$24.01 billion (▲24.3% FY 2007) · Employees: 17,787 full-time; 2,399 temporary · Stock symbol: (NASDAQ: AAPL, LSE: ACP, FWB: APC) · Website: www.apple.com

v • d • e Cabinet of President Bill Clinton (1993-2001) Vice President Al Gore (1993-2001) Secretary of State Warren Christopher (1993 – 1997) • Madeleine Albright (1997 – 2001) Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen (1993 – 1994) • Robert Rubin (1995 – 1999) • Lawrence Summers (1999 – 2001) Secretary of Defense Les Aspin (1993 – 1994) • William Perry (1994 – 1997) • William Cohen (1997 – 2001) Attorney General Janet Reno (1993-2001) Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt (1993 – 2001) Secretary of the Agriculture Mike Espy (1993 – 1994) • Dan Glickman (1994 – 2001) Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown (1993 – 1996) • Mickey Kantor (1996 – 1997) • William M. Daley (1997 – 2000) • Norman Mineta (2000 – 2001) Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (1993 – 1997) • Alexis Herman (1997 – 2001) Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala (1993-2001) Secretary of Education Richard Riley (1993-2001) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros (1993 – 1997) • Andrew Cuomo (1997 – 2001) Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña (1993 – 1997) • Rodney E. Slater (1997 – 2001) Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O'Leary (1993 – 1997) • Federico Peña (1997 – 1998) • Bill Richardson (1998 – 2001) Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jesse Brown (1993 – 1997) • Togo D. West, Jr. (1998 – 2000) • Hershel W. Gober, act. (2000 – 2001)

v • d • e Nobel Peace Prize laureates Kofi Annan / United Nations (2001) · Jimmy Carter (2002) · Shirin Ebadi (2003) · Wangari Maathai (2004) · International Atomic Energy Agency / Mohamed ElBaradei (2005) · Grameen Bank / Muhammad Yunus (2006) · Al Gore / Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) Complete roster: 1901–1925 · 1926–1950 · 1951–1975 · 1976–2000 · 2001–present

v • d • e United States Democratic Party Presidential Nominees Andrew Jackson · Martin Van Buren · James K. Polk · Lewis Cass · Franklin Pierce · James Buchanan · Stephen A. Douglas/John C. Breckinridge (SD) · George B. McClellan · Horatio Seymour · Horace Greeley · Samuel J. Tilden · Winfield Scott Hancock · Grover Cleveland · William Jennings Bryan · William Jennings Bryan · Alton B. Parker · William Jennings Bryan · Woodrow Wilson · James M. Cox · John W. Davis · Al Smith · Franklin D. Roosevelt · Harry S. Truman · Adlai Stevenson · John F. Kennedy · Lyndon B. Johnson · Hubert Humphrey · George McGovern · Jimmy Carter · Walter Mondale · Michael Dukakis · Bill Clinton · Al Gore · John Kerry · Barack Obama (presumptive)

v • d • e United States Democratic Party Vice Presidential Nominees John C. Calhoun · Martin Van Buren · Richard Mentor Johnson · George M. Dallas · William Orlando Butler · William R. King · John C. Breckinridge · H. Johnson/Lane (SD), George H. Pendleton · Francis Preston Blair, Jr. · B. Gratz Brown · Thomas A. Hendricks · William Hayden English · Thomas A. Hendricks · Allen G. Thurman · Adlai E. Stevenson I · Arthur Sewall · Adlai E. Stevenson I · Henry G. Davis · John W. Kern · Thomas R. Marshall · Franklin D. Roosevelt · Charles W. Bryan · Joseph Taylor Robinson · John Nance Garner · Henry A. Wallace · Harry S. Truman · Alben W. Barkley · John Sparkman · Estes Kefauver · Lyndon B. Johnson · Hubert Humphrey · Edmund Muskie · Thomas Eagleton/Sargent Shriver · Walter Mondale · Geraldine Ferraro · Lloyd Bentsen · Al Gore · Joe Lieberman · John Edwards

v • d • e United States Senators from Tennessee Class 1 Cocke · A. Jackson · Smith · J. Anderson · Campbell · Eaton · Grundy · Foster · Grundy · Nicholson · Foster · Turney · Jones · Johnson · Patterson · Brownlow · Johnson · Key · Bailey · H. Jackson · Whitthorne · Bate · Frazier · Lea · McKellar · Gore, Sr. · Brock III · Sasser · Frist · Corker Class 2 Blount · J. Anderson · Cocke · Smith · Whiteside · Campbell · Wharton · Williams · A. Jackson · White · A. Anderson · Jarnagin · Bell · Nicholson · Fowler · Cooper · Harris · Turley · Carmack · Taylor · Sanders · Webb · Shields · Tyson · Brock I · Hull · Bachman · Berry · Stewart · Kefauver · Walters · Bass · Baker · Gore, Jr. · Mathews · Thompson · Alexander

v • d • e Vice President of the United States John Adams · Thomas Jefferson · Aaron Burr · George Clinton · Elbridge Gerry · Daniel D. Tompkins · John C. Calhoun · Martin Van Buren · Richard Mentor Johnson · John Tyler · George M. Dallas · Millard Fillmore · William R. King · John C. Breckinridge · Hannibal Hamlin · Andrew Johnson · Schuyler Colfax · Henry Wilson · William A. Wheeler · Chester A. Arthur · Thomas A. Hendricks · Levi P. Morton · Adlai E. Stevenson I · Garret Hobart · Theodore Roosevelt · Charles W. Fairbanks · James S. Sherman · Thomas R. Marshall · Calvin Coolidge · Charles G. Dawes · Charles Curtis · John Nance Garner · Henry A. Wallace · Harry S. Truman · Alben W. Barkley · Richard Nixon · Lyndon B. Johnson · Hubert Humphrey · Spiro Agnew · Gerald Ford · Nelson Rockefeller · Walter Mondale · George H. W. Bush · Dan Quayle · Al Gore · Dick Cheney

Persondata
NAME	Gore, Albert Arnold Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Al Gore
SHORT DESCRIPTION	45th Vice President of the United States
DATE OF BIRTH	March 31, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH	Washington, D.C. U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH