Thomas Gore
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| Thomas Pryor Gore | |
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| In office December 11, 1907 – March 3, 1921 |
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| Preceded by | None One of two first Oklahoma's senators due to Statehood |
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| Succeeded by | John W. Harreld |
| In office March 4, 1931 – January 3, 1937 |
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| Preceded by | William B. Pine |
| Succeeded by | Joshua B. Lee |
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| Born | December 10, 1870 Webster County, Mississippi |
| Died | March 16, 1949 (aged 78) Washington, D.C. |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Nina Belle Kay |
Thomas Pryor Gore (born Governor Thomas Pryor Gore on December 10, 1870 – March 16, 1949) was a Democratic politician. Born in Webster County, Mississippi, he moved to Oklahoma in 1901 and was a United States Senator from Oklahoma from 1907 until 1921 and from 1931 until 1937. He is notable for being totally blind as well as for being the maternal grandfather of author Gore Vidal. Although said to be distantly related to Albert Gore, Sr. and former vice-president Al Gore there is no proven connection; Al Gore descends from a John Gore who was in Virginia by 1653 while Thomas P. Gore descends from a James Gore who was born in England or Wales in 1662.
He became blind as a child through two separate accidents but did not give up his dream of becoming a senator. In 1907, he was elected to the Senate as one of the first two senators from the new state of Oklahoma. He was re-elected in 1908 and 1914 but defeated in 1920. He was known as a member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, who worked with Republicans such as Robert La Follette. He was to a large extent no different from any other politician because of his blindness, but there were problems, as La Follette recounts an example in his memoirs when, during a filibuster, Gore did not realize that the senator who was to take over speaking for him had left the room, and the filibuster failed because he did not continue to speak. Also, some of Gore's colleagues in the Senate would attempt to take advantage of Gore's blindness by tricking him into signing documents that it was not in his party's interest for him to sign. He was famous for turning the tables on these sharp dealers and tricking them into signing documents that they did not intend to sign. These exploits made him popular with the press who dubbed him "The Blind Cowboy."
He is also noted as being the author of a bill placed before the United States Senate during the early stages of World War I which encouraged American citizens not to travel aboard belligerent merchant vessels. The merchant vessels were under threat of attack by German U-boats, and the Senator felt the loss of American lives upon these boats threatened official American neutrality at the time. Though previously a strong supporter of President Woodrow Wilson, Gore opposed the United States entry into World War I even after American involvement began. This largely caused Gore to be defeated in the Democratic primary in 1920. On domestic policy he was a supporter of the interests of farmers and native americans.
Gore was re-elected in 1930 to the Senate. When Franklin D. Roosevelt first took office as President, Gore at first supported his New Deal but later feuded with him. After Gore retired from the US Senate in January, 1937, after losing the 1936 Democratic primary, he practiced law in Washington, D.C., until his death on March 16, 1949. Gore was initially buried at Rosehill Cemetery, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but was later reinterred on July 19, 1949, in Fairlawn Cemetery, also in Oklahoma City.
He married Nina Belle Kay (1877 - 1963), a Texas plantation owner's daughter, on December 27, 1900. They had two children, Nina S. Gore (1903 - 1978) (the mother of Gore Vidal) and Thomas Notley Gore (born 1910).
His grandson, Gore Vidal, who has made his own fame as an author, has stated that his grandfather was an atheist and had a strong misanthropic streak - a populist who didn't like people, as Vidal put it. During a speech to the National Press Club (November 4, 1994) Vidal claimed that Thomas Gore had said "If there was any race other than the human race, I'd go join it."
A major road artery in Lawton, Oklahoma, Gore Boulevard, is named after him, as is the eastern Oklahoma village of Gore.
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