10 Interesting Facts About Al Gore
Albert Arnold “Al” Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician and environmentalist who served as the 46th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1985, and in the U.S. Senate from 1985 to 1993. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 2000 but lost to George W. Bush after a controversial election recount in Florida.
10 Interesting Facts About Al Gore
Al Gore was born on March 31, 1948, in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Carthage, Tennessee.
During Al Gore’s time as Vice President of the United States, he served as a Senator from Tennessee and he also served as an environmentalist activist.
Gore is the only U.S. Vice President to appear on the cover of Time Magazine twice (1995 and 2007).
Gore also wrote two books about climate change: Earth in the Balance (1992) and An Inconvenient Truth (2006).
Gore has won numerous awards throughout his life including a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2007 for his efforts to raise awareness of global warming and its effects on human health and The Right Livelihood Award in 2006 for “promoting the vision of sustainable development.”
How Al Gore Became A Politician
Al Gore became a politician by accident. After graduating from Harvard, he enrolled at Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville to pursue his dream of becoming a trial lawyer. When the U.S. entered the Vietnam War in 1961, he volunteered for military duty and served as a Lieutenant in the United States Army Special Services. He left law school to work on the campaign staff of Senator Albert Gore Sr., and after his father lost re-election Al returned to Vanderbilt Law School to finish his degree.
Al Gore went on to win the election to represent Tennessee’s 5th congressional district in 1976 and was re-elected five times before being elected to represent Tennessee’s 6th congressional district in 1985. In 1986, he ran for Congress against Republican incumbent William Dannelly, winning by 1%. In 1988, Gore became Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Congressional Committee (now known as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee), positioning himself as a rising star in American politics.
In 1991, Gore resigned from Congress to work full time on environmental issues with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and co-founded The Alliance for Climate Protection which organized an international conference on global warming in September 1989 that helped establish awareness of global warming problems worldwide. By 1992, Al had become famous among environmentalists for his Earth in Balance speech which called for cuts across all areas of society – including energy use and emissions – to avert a potential global environmental disaster.
Al Gore’s Personal Life
Al Gore’s father, Al Gore Sr., was a prominent newsman in Nashville, Tennessee. He worked as an editor for The Tennessean newspaper.
Gore attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville and graduated from there with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1969.
A few years later after college, he moved to Washington, DC where he took up a position as a Congressional staffer working for Senator Howard Baker Jr.
In 1973, Gore married Pauline “Polly” Harris who is also a science teacher. The couple then had two children together: Karenna (born 1977) and Albert III (born 1980).
His first political office was as an elected official serving on the Hoke County Board of Education in North Carolina where he served from 1972 until 1974.
In 1976 he ran for Congress representing Tennessee’s 5th congressional district and won easily.
He became very popular among the environmentalist community after going on record stating his opposition to the proposed nuclear power plant being built near his house in Yorktown Heights, NY. That same year the House of Representatives created the office of the Ombudsman for Energy Organized around him and funded by taxpayers’ money which allowed him to continue to be involved with energy policy issues even after leaving Congress in 1985.
Al Gore’s Political Career
Al Gore first ran for Congress in 1976 when he was 30 years old. He was an underdog and won the seat representing Tennessee’s 5th district. After ten terms in office, he stepped down from Congress in 1985. In 1987, he became a co-owner with his wife Tipper of the Nashville-based cable TV station WNGC-TV (now WPTY-TV) and continued to work as a professor at Vanderbilt University.
Gore was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 where he served two terms until becoming Vice President in 1993, under President Bill Clinton. Gore ran unsuccessfully for president in 1988, but won the Democratic nomination in 1992 and 1996; both of which he lost to Republican opponents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush respectively, who were father and son respectively at the time of their respective elections.
After losing the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush, Al Gore retired from politics and devoted his time to environmental causes such as climate change activism and renewable energy advocacy through his non-profit organization The Alliance for Climate Protection, founded by Tipper Gore in 1989 with the help of her husband Al Gore Jr., who is also a leading advocate for intelligent design proponent Michael Behe’s ideas on irreducible complexity during his 2001 book “The End of Science”.
The Legacy of Al Gore in The United States
Al Gore’s legacy includes many accomplishments and contributions to society. One of the most notable is his leadership in environmental issues. He helped implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and that led to the Kyoto Protocol, a landmark international agreement on climate change. In 2000, Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ecology.
Additionally, Al Gore was instrumental in promoting improvements in education and communication technologies. One of the largest strides that he made during his time as Vice President was launching the National Digital Library project in 1997 which would eventually become one of the world’s largest digital libraries. This project allowed students and researchers access to information from many libraries across the country as well as worldwide resources through their internet connections.
Conclusion
After losing the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, Al Gore has since been focused on creating an environmentally conscious future. With a focus on fighting climate change, Gore has also helped to promote renewable energy and has been actively involved in spreading the word about global warming.
But what made Al Gore rise to the top? This is a man who continued to work tirelessly in his efforts to promote a better future even after he lost the presidency. His tenacity and perseverance are just a few of the traits that have led to him becoming one of the most influential people in the world today.
