Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist. He served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented Tennessee in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He first worked in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 to 1985, then served as a U.S. senator from 1985 to 1993. Gore was the Democratic nominee in the 2000 presidential election. He lost to George W. Bush even though he won more votes from the public.
Gore was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Tennessee and Washington, D.C. He graduated from Harvard University and served in the U.S. Army. After leaving law school, he ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee's 4th congressional district in 1976. He was re-elected three times before running for the U.S. Senate in 1984. He won re-election in 1990. Gore was considered a moderate and an "Atari Democrat." He served as vice president during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001. He defeated then-current leaders George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle in 1992, and Bob Dole and Jack Kemp in 1996. He was the first Democrat to serve two full terms as vice president since John Nance Garner. As of 2025, Gore's 1990 re-election remains the last time Democrats won a Senate election in Tennessee.
Gore was the Democratic presidential nominee in the 2000 election. He lost the U.S. Electoral College vote by five electoral votes to Republican nominee George W. Bush, even though he won the popular vote by 543,895 votes. The election ended after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in Bush v. Gore against a previous decision by the Supreme Court of Florida about a re-count. He is one of five presidential candidates in American history to lose a presidential election despite winning the popular vote.
After his vice presidency ended in 2001, Gore remained active as an author and environmental activist. His work on climate change earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, which he shared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Gore is the founder and chair of The Climate Reality Project. He also helped start and led Generation Investment Management. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Inc. and a senior adviser to Google. He is a partner in the investment company Kleiner Perkins, where he leads its climate change solutions group. Gore has taught as a visiting professor at several universities, including Middle Tennessee State University, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Fisk University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He also served on the Board of Directors of World Resources Institute.
Gore has received many awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize (shared with the IPCC, 2007), a Primetime Emmy Award for Current TV (2007), and a Webby Award (2005). He was the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth (2006) and its 2017 sequel, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. In 2007, he was named a runner-up for Time’s Person of the Year. In 2008, he won the Dan David Prize for Social Responsibility. In 2024, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.
Early life and education
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. was born on March 31, 1948, in Washington, D.C., as the second child of Albert Gore Sr., a U.S. Representative who later served as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee for 18 years, and Pauline LaFon Gore, one of the first women to graduate from Vanderbilt University Law School. Gore is a descendant of Scots Irish immigrants who moved to Virginia in the mid-1600s and later settled in Tennessee after the Revolutionary War. His older sister, Nancy LaFon Gore, died of lung cancer in 1984.
During the school year, Gore lived with his family at The Fairfax Hotel in the Embassy Row area of Washington, D.C. In the summer, he worked on the family farm in Carthage, Tennessee, where the Gores grew tobacco and hay and raised cattle.
Gore attended St. Albans School, a private school for boys in Washington, D.C., from 1956 to 1965. This school is known for helping students get into top universities. He was the captain of the football team, threw the discus in track and field, and played basketball. He also studied art and government. He graduated 25th in a class of 51, applied to one college, Harvard University, and was accepted.
Gore enrolled at Harvard College in 1965. He first planned to study English and write novels but later chose to study government. On his second day at Harvard, he began campaigning for the freshman student government council and was elected its president. He was roommates with future actor Tommy Lee Jones in Dunster House.
Gore loved reading and was interested in scientific and mathematical theories. However, he did not do well in science classes and avoided math. During his first two years at Harvard, his grades were in the bottom 20% of his class. During his second year, he spent much of his time watching television, playing pool, and occasionally using marijuana. In his junior and senior years, he focused more on his studies and earned mostly A and B grades. In his senior year, he took a class with oceanographer and global warming researcher Roger Revelle, who inspired Gore’s interest in environmental issues. Gore earned an A on his thesis, "The Impact of Television on the Conduct of the Presidency, 1947–1969," and graduated with an A.B. cum laude in June 1969.
Gore was in college during the time when many people protested against the Vietnam War. He opposed the war but believed the student protests were not effective and were not appropriate for a private university. He and his friends did not join Harvard demonstrations. John Tyson, a former roommate, said, "We distrusted these movements a lot… We were a pretty traditional bunch of guys, positive for civil rights and women’s rights but formal, transformed by the social revolution to some extent but not buying into something we considered detrimental to our country."
Gore and his sister, Nancy, went with their parents to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Because his father was a senator, the family had tickets to sit inside the convention hall at the International Amphitheatre. Gore helped write an anti-war speech that his father delivered to the convention. While at the convention, Gore saw some of the protests outside but stayed with his parents in their hotel room when violence happened during the protests.
Military service and early career (1969–1976)
When Gore graduated in 1969, he became qualified for the military draft. His father, who strongly opposed the Vietnam War, was running for re-election in 1970. Gore decided that joining the Army was the best choice for him, considering his duty to the country, his personal beliefs, and his interests. Most of his Harvard classmates avoided the draft and service in Vietnam, but Gore believed that if he found a way to avoid military service, it might help his father’s political opponent. According to Gore’s Senate biography, he wore a military uniform in his father’s campaign commercials. One commercial ended with his father saying, “Son, always love your country.” Despite this, Gore Sr. lost the election to an opponent who raised much more money. This opponent was later found by the Watergate commission to have accepted illegal money from Nixon’s supporters.
Gore said another reason he joined the Army was that he did not want someone with fewer choices to take his place. A former college friend, Tommy Lee Jones, recalled Gore saying, “If he found a way to avoid service, someone else would have to go instead.” His Harvard advisor, Richard Neustadt, noted that Gore decided to join the Army as an enlisted soldier because, in Tennessee, most people serve in that role. Michael Roche, Gore’s editor for The Castle Courier, stated that people who knew Gore in Vietnam knew he could have avoided service but chose not to.
After enlisting in August 1969, Gore returned to Harvard in his military uniform to say goodbye to his adviser. He was shouted at by students, who expressed strong disapproval. He later described the experience as feeling like he was being hated. Gore trained at Fort Dix from August to October 1969 and was later assigned to work as a journalist at Fort Rucker, Alabama. In April 1970, he was named “Soldier of the Month” at Fort Rucker.
His orders to be sent to Vietnam were delayed for some time. The Gore family believed this was because the Nixon administration feared that if something happened to Gore, his father might gain support from voters. Gore was finally sent to Vietnam on January 2, 1971, after his father lost his Senate seat in the 1970 election. He became one of about a dozen Harvard graduates from the Class of 1969 who served in Vietnam. He was stationed with the 20th Engineer Brigade in Biên Hòa and worked as a journalist for The Castle Courier. He received an honorable discharge from the Army in May 1971. Later, Gore said, “I didn’t do the most, or run the gravest danger. But I was proud to wear my country’s uniform.”
After returning from Vietnam, Gore felt discouraged. The Nashville Scene noted that his father’s defeat made his service in a war he opposed even more difficult for him to accept. He said his time in Vietnam was not deeply traumatic, as he did not see full-scale combat. However, he believed his participation in the war was wrong. Although his parents wanted him to go to law school, Gore first attended Vanderbilt University Divinity School (1971–1972) on a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship for people planning non-religious careers. He later said he went there to explore spiritual questions and to understand social injustices that challenged his religious beliefs.
In 1971, Gore began working the night shift for The Tennessean as an investigative reporter. His work exposed corruption among members of Nashville’s Metro Council, leading to the arrest and prosecution of two councilmen. In 1974, he took a leave of absence from The Tennessean to attend Vanderbilt University Law School. His decision to become a lawyer was partly influenced by his time as a journalist, as he realized he could expose corruption but not always change it. Gore did not finish law school. In 1976, he decided to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives after learning that his father’s former House seat was about to become vacant.
Congress (1977–1993)
Al Gore began working in the U.S. Congress when he was 28 years old. He stayed in Congress for 16 years, serving first in the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1985 and then in the Senate from 1985 to 1993. During this time, Gore often spent weekends in Tennessee to help the people who lived in his district.
In February 1976, U.S. Representative Joe L. Evins suddenly announced he would retire from Congress. This made the seat representing Tennessee’s 4th congressional district available. The seat had been held by Evins since 1953, when he took over from Albert Gore Sr. Soon after, John Seigenthaler Sr., the publisher of The Tennessean, called Gore to tell him about the news. Gore then decided to leave law school and run for the House of Representatives.
In 1976, Gore won the Democratic primary for the district with 32% of the vote, which was three percentage points more than his closest competitor. In the general election, he faced only an independent candidate and won 94% of the total votes. He won the next three elections in 1978, 1980, and 1982. In two of these elections, he had no opponents, and in the third, he received 79% of the vote. In 1984, Gore ran for a U.S. Senate seat that had become open after Republican Senator Howard Baker left. Gore won the Democratic primary without opposition and won the general election with strong support, even though Republican President Ronald Reagan won Tennessee in his 1984 reelection campaign. Gore defeated Republican candidate Victor Ashe, who later became mayor of Knoxville, and Ed McAteer, a Republican who later became independent and was involved in helping elect Reagan in 1980.
While in Congress, Gore was known as a moderate, meaning he often took a middle ground on issues. He opposed federal funding for abortion and supported a bill that allowed for a moment of silence in schools. He also voted against a ban on selling guns between states. In 1981, Gore said, “I think it is wrong” about homosexuality and described it as “not just another normal optional lifestyle.” In his 1984 Senate race, he repeated this view and said he would not accept money from gay rights groups. However, in 2008, Gore said he believed gay men and women should have the same rights as heterosexual people to marry. His views on many issues changed later in life after he became Vice President and ran for president in 2000.
During his time in the House, Gore supported the bill that made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a federal holiday. In 1988, he voted to override President Reagan’s veto of the Civil Rights Restoration Act. He also voted against the nominations of William Rehnquist, Robert Bork, and Clarence Thomas for the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the House, Gore worked on committees related to energy, commerce, science, and technology. He led a subcommittee on oversight and investigations for four years and served on the House Intelligence Committee. In 1982, he introduced the Gore Plan for arms control, which aimed to reduce the risk of a nuclear attack by limiting the number of warheads on missiles. In the Senate, he worked on committees related to homeland security, government affairs, and the military. In 1991, Gore supported the Gulf War alongside ten other Democrats.
Gore was known as an “Atari Democrat” because he focused on technology, including topics like genetic engineering and the environmental effects of the “greenhouse effect.” On March 19, 1979, he became the first member of Congress to appear on C-SPAN. He also co-chaired the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future with Newt Gingrich. Some described him as a “genuine nerd” who was passionate about technology long before it became popular.
Gore introduced the Supercomputer Network Study Act in 1986. He also held hearings on how technology could help government agencies respond to natural disasters. In the Senate, he worked on the High Performance Computing Act of 1991, which became known as “The Gore Bill.” This law led to the creation of the National Information Infrastructure, which Gore called the “information superhighway.” After joining the House, Gore held the first congressional hearings on climate change and supported discussions on toxic waste and global warming. He continued to speak about these issues throughout the 1980s. In 1990, Gore helped organize a three-day international conference with lawmakers from over 42 countries to create a Global Marshall Plan, which aimed to help developing nations grow economically while protecting the environment.
On April 3, 1989, Al Gore, his wife Tipper, and their six-year-old son Albert were leaving a baseball game. Albert ran across the street to see a friend and was hit by a car. He was thrown 30 feet and then rolled another 20 feet on the pavement. Gore later said, “I ran to his side and held him and called his name, but he was motionless, limp and still, without breath or pulse. His eyes were open with the nothingness stare of death, and we prayed, the two of us, there in the gutter, with only my voice.” Two nurses who were nearby helped Albert. The Gores spent the next month in the hospital with Albert. Gore said, “Our lives were consumed with the struggle to restore his body and spirit.” This event was a major turning point in his life, which he described as a “moment of personal rebirth.”
In August 1991, Gore announced that his son’s accident influenced his decision not to run for president in 1992. He said, “I would like to be President. But I am also a father, and I feel deeply about my responsibility to my children. I didn’t feel right about tearing myself away from my family to the extent that is necessary in a Presidential campaign.” During this time, Gore wrote Earth in the Balance, a book that became the first book written by a sitting U.S. Senator to appear on The New York Times Best Seller list since John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage.
First presidential run (1988)
In 1988, Al Gore tried to get the Democratic Party’s nomination for President of the United States. Gore won seven states during the primaries and finished third overall. Other candidates in the race included Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, Senator Joe Biden (who later became Vice President and then President), Gary Hart, Congressman Dick Gephardt, Paul Simon, and Jesse Jackson. Dukakis eventually won the Democratic nomination and lost the general election to George H. W. Bush by a large margin. Although Gore at first said he did not plan to run, people guessed he might be a candidate. Experts thought he might not win the nomination but could be a good running mate for another candidate. Gore was 39 years old at the time, making him the youngest serious presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy.
In 1988, for the first time, 12 Southern states held their primaries on the same day, called "Super Tuesday." Gore believed he would be the only major Southern candidate but did not expect Jesse Jackson to compete. Jackson won the South Carolina primary, getting more than half the votes, three times as many as Gore. On Super Tuesday, Jackson won Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia, while Gore won Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Nevada, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Gore later received support from New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who spoke in favor of Israel and against Jackson. These comments hurt Gore’s reputation, and he received only 10% of the vote in New York’s primary. Gore also lost support because of his criticisms of Jackson, Dukakis, and others. Eventually, Gore and Jackson resolved their differences. Jackson supported the Clinton-Gore ticket in 1992 and 1996 and campaigned for the Gore-Lieberman ticket in the 2000 presidential election. Gore’s policies changed greatly in 2000, reflecting his eight years as vice president.
1992 presidential election
Al Gore was at first unsure about being Bill Clinton’s running mate for the 1992 United States presidential election. After having disagreements with the George H. W. Bush administration about global warming, he decided to accept the position. Clinton said he chose Gore because of Gore’s experience in foreign policy, work on environmental issues, and dedication to his family. Clinton’s choice was seen as unusual because instead of selecting a running mate who would bring different perspectives, he picked another person from the South who shared his political views and was close in age to him. Paul West, the Washington Bureau Chief for The Baltimore Sun, later said, “Al Gore changed how vice presidents are chosen. When he joined Bill Clinton’s ticket, it broke old traditions. Regional diversity? Not with two Southerners from nearby states. Ideological balance? Two left-of-center moderates. … Yet, Gore is now seen by strategists from both political parties as the best vice presidential pick in at least 20 years.”
Clinton and Gore accepted their nomination at the Democratic National Convention on July 17, 1992. This ticket was called the “Baby Boomer Ticket” and the “Fortysomething Team.” The New York Times noted that if elected, Clinton and Gore, who were 46 and 44 years old, would be the “youngest presidential team in U.S. history.” Gore described the ticket as “a new generation of leadership.” The campaign gained popularity after Clinton and Gore traveled with their wives, Hillary and Tipper, on a six-day, 1,000-mile bus ride from New York to St. Louis. Gore participated in one vice-presidential debate against Vice President Dan Quayle and Admiral James Stockdale. This debate, as of 2023, was the only televised vice-presidential debate with more than two candidates. The Clinton-Gore ticket won the election with 43% of the popular vote, compared to 38% for the Bush-Quayle ticket and 19% for the Perot-Stockdale ticket. Clinton and Gore received 370 electoral votes, while the Bush-Quayle ticket got 168 and the Perot-Stockdale ticket received 0.
Vice presidency (1993–2001)
Al Gore served as vice president during the Clinton administration. Clinton and Gore were inaugurated on January 20, 1993. At the start of their first term, they created a "two-page agreement" that explained how they would work together. Clinton promised to have regular lunch meetings with Gore and recognized him as a main adviser on nominations. He also placed some of Gore’s top advisers in important White House positions. Clinton involved Gore in decision-making more than any other vice president before him. Through their weekly lunches and daily talks, Gore became the president’s "main adviser."
Gore had to compete with First Lady Hillary Clinton for influence over President Clinton. This began when Hillary was added to the health-care task force without Gore’s approval. A magazine called Vanity Fair noted that President Clinton’s "failure to confide in his vice president" showed who had more power in the administration. The magazine also reported that some of Hillary’s advisers "hoped Hillary, not Gore, would become president after Bill."
Gore focused on reducing "waste, fraud, and abuse" in the federal government and supported reducing the size of government and the number of rules. During the Clinton administration, the U.S. economy grew. A professor named David Greenberg said that by the end of Clinton’s presidency, the economy had "record-high surpluses," "record-low poverty rates," and the "longest economic expansion in history." He also noted "the lowest unemployment since the 1970s" and "lowest poverty rates for single mothers, Black Americans, and the elderly." Another writer, Leslie Budd, said the economy’s success was partly because Gore promoted the development of information technology, which helped create the dot-com boom (around 1995 to 2001).
Clinton and Gore planned to fund research that would "fill the economy with new goods and services" to improve prosperity and strengthen American industry. They aimed to support projects like robotics, smart roads, biotechnology, and fiber-optic communications. Critics argued that these efforts might lead to "waste" and "unnecessary government spending."
During his time as vice president, Gore helped popularize the term "Information Superhighway," which became a common name for the Internet. He also helped create the National Information Infrastructure. Gore first talked about his plans for information technology at a meeting in 1994 called the "Superhighway Summit." He later gave a speech at a university about how technology was changing government and management. He supported projects like NetDay '96 and 24 Hours in Cyberspace. The Clinton–Gore administration also launched the first official White House website in 1994 and updated it through 2000. In 1993 and 1994, Gore supported the Clipper Chip, a technology developed by the National Security Agency to help law enforcement access encrypted communications. However, the plan was stopped after objections from the public and experts.
Gore also worked on environmental projects. He started the GLOBE program in 1994, which used the Internet to teach students about the environment. In 1998, he promoted a NASA satellite called the Deep Space Climate Observatory, which would provide a constant view of Earth. This was the first time such a view had been available since a photo taken in 1972. During this time, he also worked on a project called Digital Earth.
Gore supported the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement to reduce greenhouse gases. However, he said the U.S. would not send the treaty to the Senate for approval unless it included "meaningful participation" from developing countries. The Senate had already passed a rule (called the Byrd–Hagel Resolution) that opposed any treaty limiting U.S. emissions without similar limits on countries like China. The Clinton administration left office three years later without submitting the treaty for approval.
In 1996, Gore became involved in a controversy called "Chinagate" over his attendance at an event at a Buddhist temple in California. In an interview, Gore said he did not know the event was a fundraiser and admitted it was a mistake. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation found evidence that Chinese agents tried to direct money from foreign sources to the Democratic National Committee before the 1996 election. The Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., was used to coordinate these contributions. FBI agents were not allowed to ask President Clinton or Vice President Gore questions during interviews in 1997 and 1998.
In March 1997, Gore had to explain phone calls he made to raise money for the Democratic Party during the 1996 election. He said all calls were charged to the Democratic National Committee and believed there was no law against it. A columnist criticized Gore’s use of the phrase "no controlling legal authority," calling it a "weasel word" that avoided responsibility. A Justice Department official investigated Gore’s fundraising issues but concluded that an independent investigator was not needed.
During the 1990s, Gore spoke on many issues. In a 1992 speech about the Gulf War, he said he tried twice to stop U.S. support for Saddam Hussein because of Hussein’s use of poison gas, support for terrorism, and nuclear program. Both times, he was opposed by the Reagan and Bush administrations. In 1998, at a meeting in Malaysia, Gore criticized the arrest of a Malaysian official named Anwar Ibrahim, a move that was not well received.
Second presidential run (2000)
On June 16, 1999, Al Gore gave a speech in Carthage, Tennessee, where he officially said he wanted to run for president. His main message was the importance of making American families stronger. His oldest daughter, Karenna Gore Schiff, introduced him during the speech. Gore also said he did not agree with Bill Clinton, who he claimed had lied to him. During the speech, people protesting about AIDS briefly interrupted Gore. They said Gore was working with drug companies to keep poor countries from getting cheap medicine. They shouted, "Gore's greed kills." Other speeches were also interrupted by these protesters. Gore responded by saying, "I love this country. I love the First Amendment… The AIDS crisis in Africa needs attention from people around the world." He also said he supported lowering the cost of AIDS drugs, as long as it followed international rules.
At the time, Bill Clinton had about 60% job approval, but people were tired of problems from his administration, including the Lewinsky scandal and his impeachment. Texas Governor George W. Bush, who was likely the Republican candidate, was leading Gore in polls, 54% to 41%. Gore’s advisers believed that Clinton’s past scandals, like his affairs, made it hard to win over independent voters, especially women who supported traditional values. Gore’s campaign struggled to balance distancing himself from Clinton’s record while also using the successes of the Clinton administration. Hillary Clinton’s run for a Senate seat in New York also caused problems. She took away support from Gore’s campaign by asking for donations from people who usually helped Gore. For example, Hillary asked for money at a fundraiser where she was not invited, which upset Gore’s supporters.
Gore faced early competition from Bill Bradley, a former senator from New Jersey. Bradley was the only candidate to oppose Gore and was seen as a fresh choice for president. Gore challenged Bradley to debates that were held like town hall meetings. Gore performed well in these debates, which hurt Bradley’s poll numbers. In Iowa, unions supported Gore even though Bradley spent a lot of money there. Bradley lost badly in Iowa, and later lost the New Hampshire primary 53% to 47%, which was a key state for him. Gore won all the primaries on Super Tuesday, while Bradley came in second in every state. After failing to win any of the first 20 contests, Bradley ended his campaign and supported Gore. Gore eventually won every primary and caucus, including the first Internet-based primary in Arizona. He became the Democratic nominee. As of 2023, Al Gore is the only presidential candidate in U.S. history who was not the current president to win all contests in his party’s primary.
On August 13, 2000, Gore chose Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut as his running mate. Lieberman was the first Jewish person to run for vice president. Many experts thought Gore’s choice of Lieberman helped him distance himself from the Clinton administration’s scandals. Gore’s daughter, Karenna, and his former Harvard friend Tommy Lee Jones officially nominated Gore at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Gore accepted the nomination and talked about his plans, including expanding Medicare to cover prescription drugs and creating a fair health-care system. After the convention, Gore and Lieberman began campaigning. Gore and Republican candidate George W. Bush were tied in polls. They had three televised debates, but neither side clearly won. Some people said Gore was too stiff or too aggressive compared to Bush.
Talk about Gore running for president in 2000 started as early as January 1998. In March 1999, Gore told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that Democrats should support him instead of Bill Bradley. Later, some articles in Wired News spread a false story that Gore claimed to have "invented the Internet," based on a comment he made during the interview. Experts and people who worked with Gore defended him, saying he did not claim to have invented the Internet but supported efforts to develop it. Internet pioneers like Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn said Gore’s work helped the Internet grow. Newt Gingrich, a former Republican leader, said Gore worked hard to make the Internet a reality. Wolf Blitzer later said he did not ask Gore about the Internet during the interview and did not realize the comment would cause so much controversy.
Gore joked about the Internet controversy in 2000 on The Late Show with David Letterman. He read a list of funny campaign slogans that were not used, including one that said, "I invented the Internet."
Post-vice presidency (2001–present)
Bill Clinton and Al Gore kept a public distance for eight years but reunited in August 2009 for media appearances. Clinton helped arrange the release of two female journalists held hostage in North Korea. The women worked for Gore’s Current TV. In May 2018, Gore joined an Indian government committee to plan celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birthday, which began in October 2019.
Starting in 2002, Gore publicly criticized the Bush administration. In a September 23 speech at the Commonwealth Club of California, Gore said the rush to war in Iraq in 2002 was different from the 1991 Persian Gulf War, where Iraq had invaded a neighboring country. He noted that in 2002, no such invasion had occurred.
During the 2004 presidential election, Gore accused George W. Bush of using the 9/11 attacks to justify the Iraq war. In 2005, Gore criticized the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina by helping evacuate 270 people from New Orleans. In 2006, he criticized the use of domestic wiretaps without a warrant and spoke about unfair treatment of Arabs in the U.S. after 9/11.
Gore’s 2007 book, The Assault on Reason, discussed how the Bush administration’s policies reduced public debate and how the Internet could help democracy. In 2008, he supported same-sex marriage rights on Current TV. In 2009, he compared his criticism of the Bush administration to his own past criticism of the Obama administration.
Gore did not publicly speak about his role in evacuating 270 patients from Charity Hospital in New Orleans in 2005. He used his influence to arrange flights and medical support for the evacuation.
Gore was considered a possible candidate for the 2004 presidential election, but he decided not to run in December 2002. His decision was influenced by the popularity of President Bush after the 9/11 attacks. Though some supporters tried to convince him to run, he refused.
Gore was again considered a candidate for the 2008 election after the release of the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which increased his popularity. However, he declined to run. Similar speculation arose for the 2016 election, but he did not declare a candidacy.
In March 2026, Gore mentioned on The Bulwark that he might run for president in 2028. He is 2 years younger than Donald Trump and younger than Joe Biden. However, he will be 80 years old in 2028.
After deciding not to run in 2004, Gore supported Vermont governor Howard Dean in December 2003. His endorsement was criticized by some Democratic candidates, including Joe Lieberman, whom Gore did not support due to Lieberman’s support for the Iraq War. Dean’s campaign eventually failed.
Personal life
Al Gore met Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Aitcheson at his St. Albans senior prom in 1965. Tipper attended the nearby St. Agnes School. She went to Boston with Gore to attend college, and they married at the Washington National Cathedral on May 19, 1970. They have four children: Karenna Gore (born 1973), Kristin Carlson Gore (born 1977), Sarah LaFon Gore (born 1979), and Albert Arnold Gore III (born 1982). In June 2010, the Gores sent an email to friends stating they had decided to separate after "long and careful consideration." In May 2012, it was reported that Gore began dating Elizabeth Keadle of Rancho Santa Fe, California.
Before his political career, Gore attended the New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Elmwood, Tennessee. In 1977, when he moved to Arlington County, Virginia, he attended the Mount Vernon Baptist Church. He and his wife were baptized in 1980 and became members of the church. In 2004, he announced he had left the Southern Baptist Convention but remained a Baptist. In 2007, he received Ethics Daily's "Baptist of the Year" award for his environmental activism. He was a keynote speaker at the 2008 New Baptist Covenant convention.
Awards and honors
Al Gore has received many awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize (along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in 2007, a Primetime Emmy Award from Current TV in 2007, a Webby Award in 2005, the Dan David Prize in 2008, and the Prince of Asturias Award in 2007 for International Cooperation. In 2008, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
He appeared in the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2007. He also wrote the book An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, which won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2009. In 2024, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.