Albert Gore, Sr.

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Sr. (December 26, 1907 – December 5, 1998) was an American politician, serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party from Tennessee.

Early years

Gore was born in Granville, Tennessee, the third of five children of Margie Bettie (Denny) and Allen Arnold Gore. Gore's ancestors include Scots-Irish immigrants who first settled in Virginia in the mid-18th century and moved to Tennessee after the Revolutionary War. Gore studied at Middle Tennessee State Teachers College and graduated from the Nashville Y.M.C.A. Night Law School, now the Nashville School of Law. He first sought elective public office at age 23, when he ran unsuccessfully for the job of superintendent of schools in Smith County, Tennessee. A year later he was appointed to the position after the man who had defeated him died.

Family

Gore and his wife Pauline LaFon Gore had two children: daughter Nancy LaFon Gore (born in 1938 and died of lung cancer in 1984) and son Albert Gore Jr. (born in 1948). Al Gore, Jr. would follow in his father's political footsteps in the Democratic Party representing Tennessee as a U.S. Representative and Senator, and later serving as Vice President of the United States.

Al Gore

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician and environmentalist who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Chosen as Clinton's running mate in their successful 1992 campaign, he was reelected in 1996. At the end of Clinton's second term, Gore was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in 2000. After leaving office, Gore remained prominent as an author and environmental activist, whose work in climate change activism earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Gore was an elected official for 24 years. He was a Congressman from Tennessee (1977–85) and from 1985 to 1993 served as one of the state's Senators. He served as Vice President during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001. In the 2000 presidential election, in what was one of the closest presidential races in history, Gore won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College to Republican George W. Bush. A controversial election dispute over a vote recount in Florida was settled by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled 5–4 in favor of Bush.