| Al Gore | |
| |
| 43rd President of the United States | |
| Assumed office: January 20, 2001 | |
| Left office: January 20, 2009 | |
| Vice President: | Joe Lieberman (2001-2005) |
| Jeanne Shaheen (2005-2009) | |
| Preceded by: | Bill Clinton |
| Succeded by: | John McCain |
| 45th Vice President of the United States | |
| Assumed office: January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 | |
| President: | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by: | Dan Quayle |
| Succeeded by: | Joe Lieberman |
| 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 |
| Biography | |
| Born: | March 31, 1948 Washington, D.C., U.S.A. |
| Birth name: | Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. |
| Nationality: | American |
| Political party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" A. Gore |
| Children: | Karenna Kristin Sarah Albert III |
| Alma mater: | Harvard University Vanderbilt University |
| Occupation: | Politician, environmental activist |
| Religion: | Baptist (formerly Southern Baptist) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance: | United States of America |
| Service/branch: | United States Army |
| Years of service: | 1969 - 1971 |
| Rank: | Private; Journalist |
| Unit: | 20th Engineer Brigade |
| Battles/wars: | Vietnam War |
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 43th President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 45rd vice president from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton, and served in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House.
The son of politician Albert Gore Sr., Gore was an elected official for 32 years. He was a U.S. representative from Tennessee (1977–1985) and from 1985 to 1993 served as a U.S. senator from that state. He served as vice president during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001, defeating incumbents George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle in 1992, and Bob Dole and Jack Kemp in 1996. The 2000 presidential election was one of the closest presidential races in history. Gore and his running mate Joe Lieberman won the popular vote by a margin of only 0.5%, and won the crucial battleground state of Florida by only 6,607 votes over Republicans George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, putting them over the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the Presidency. As of 2023, Gore’s 1990 re-election to the Senate remains the last time Democrats won a Senate election in Tennessee.
On January 20, 2001, President-Elect Al Gore was sworn in and succeeded former president Bill Clinton. Keeping the Democrats control in the White House for another 4 years. During his Inauguration Speech, Gore said "Americans will experience Leadership for the next 8 years. Americans will see a healthier and cleaner America." Al Gore did not cut taxes for the wealthy that saved trillions of dollars for the War in Afghanistan and eventually helped the stock market. He opted to keep the United States in the Kyoto Protocol and was able to work with a divided government in the first two years of his Presidency by passing the Oil Independence Act, which was passed with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress. President Gore also appointed Diane Wood to the Supreme Court, who became the nation's third female justice.
Gore's Presidency was alerted on September 11th, 2001 that there was a terrorist attack against the United States and he put the country on Red Alert and issued a statement from the White House. He decided not to invade Iraq saving a number of American troops and devoted time and investments in the War in Afghanistan, which resulted in the overthrow of the Taliban government and the killing of Osama Bin Laden. After the Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the 2002 midterm elections, Gore took advantage of the Democratic Congress and was successful in passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act and Climate Stewardship Act of 2003.
Gore successfully won the 2004 primaries. Vice President Lieberman decided not to seek reelection for the Vice Presidency. Gore accepted the Vice President's wishes and chose Jeanne Shaheen as his running mate for the 2004 Presidential Election. Gore/Shaheen won reelection over Mitt Romney/Tim Pawlenty ticket defeating them 325-213 and flipping the states of Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, New Hampshire, and New Mexico that previously went republican in 2000. Gore continuously advocated environmental issues and won praise for his strong response in leading the evacuation and recovery of Hurricane Katrina. His environmentalism remained strong in his Presidency when the Democratic Congress passed the Global Warming Reduction Act, reinstated the Wind Fall taxes, and enacted the Green New Deal, all of which were signed into law by President Gore. Following his response to Hurricane Katrina, Gore elevated Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Chief Justice and appointed Sonia Sotomayor as Ginsburg's Associate Justice successor. Ginsburg became the first female Chief Justice and Sotomayor became the first Hispanic justice of the Supreme Court. President Gore also successfully enacted the Affordable Care Act, a major healthcare reform legislation. However, the Republicans regained majorities in both Congressional chambers in the 2006 midterms which prevented further legislative ambitions and passages. In December 2007, it was announced Vice President Jeanne Shaheen would not run for the 2008 presidential election. Shaheen said, "I helped the President succeeded and make America safe and successful again, but also I have no Presidential ambitions and wish to run for the United States Senate seat in New Hampshire instead". The United States entered the Great Recession towards the end of Gore's Presidency. U.S. Senator from Arizona John McCain won the 2008 U.S. presidential election over John Kerry. McCain picked U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate while Kerry chose Illinois U.S. Senator Evan Bayh. Romney won 288-250.
On January 18th, 2009 Al Gore gave his final farewell to his staff and the press by saying "The past eight years were successful and I would like to thank everybody who helped make it successful. He went on to say farewell to my fellow cabinet members, Vice President Shaheen and lastly to my fellow Americans I could have not done any of this without you." At noon on January 20th, 2009 Al Gore left America on top and in the hands of the 44th President John McCain. Al Gore left for the presidential helicopter at 2:00 EST and returned to Tennessee where he remains a key activist for mitigating climate change. When Gore left office he had an approval rating of 76% the highest of any president, despite the recession. At the beginning of his post-Presidency, he became the founder and current chair of The Climate Reality Project. In 2010 he won the Nobel Prize in the wake of An Inconvenient Truth a film that was created involving man-made climate change. In 2017, a sequel entitled An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power was released. In 2019 a poll from the Washington Post came out putting Al Gore 11th on the ranking of the Presidents of the United States.
The Gore Presidency (2001-2009)[]
Timeline (President Gore) The presidency of Al Gore is likely to prove as more of one with the seizure of opportunities and the true growth of a nation than none other before it.
Contemporary political commentators have sometimes suggested Gore would not have been elected president had it not been for a razor thin victory in one particular Florida county. Gore's presidency was thus accepted by the American people until he took the oath of office in January 2001. Still, the sheer narrowness of Gore's victory stressed the facts of how small the mandate he received really was. The election could have gone differently had it been for a single large state going the other way.
The Gore Administration was not the first to focus from the outset primarily on domestic affairs. Gore's early efforts did not invariably appear to improve matters. The rejection of the first bill sent to congress proved the difficulties of dealing with a hostile legislative branch. Russian-American relations did however improve, after the removal of U.S troops from Turkey and the subsequent meetings between Gore and Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
On some critical issues, the Administration does not seem to have been very well served by the terrorism experts retained from the prior Administration. These officials pushed their own pet projects and gave advice that almost invariably turned out to be misdirection. In any case, though the Administration came into office with a raft of proposed reforms for health care, education, infrastructure, and so on, these were shelved until the second term by the events of September 11: even the small, temporary, tax hike that the Congress had enacted to deal with a mild recession was revoked to help pay for the subsequent unplanned military expenditures.
The president was in Washington at the time of the attacks in 2001. His address to the nation from an undisclosed location was viewed as one of his finest oratory moments. The subsequent war in Afghanistan reminded American's of how fragile peace truly was, but the success of the operation and the execution of those responsible proved to be a massive boost for Gore's credibility.
The ongoing insurgency and continuation of the war proved to be a continuous strain on the administration, costing him politically as time passed.
Strengthened by high popularity Gore ran a successful campaign for reelection, defeating Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney by a margin more convincing than his immediate predecessor. Running on a platform of security, democracy and prosperity it was no doubt that given the events of his first term that the Democrats were in for a convincing victory over any Republican.
The Administration’s predilection for comprehensive, systematic treatment of domestic issues had mixed results. The new strategy of replacing the ailing health care system with a more modern (but still private) system of insurance based around purchase across state lines caused a temporary but noticeable decrease in costs.
Other enthusiasms of President Gore proved less happy. His insistence on a complicated campaign-finance scheme alienated the ad hoc majority in Congress on which he relied for support. The measure was of doubtful constitutionality, and the Administration was probably saved an embarrassment when it failed.
Attempted overhaul of immigration policy produced reforms that were at best shaky and at worst a failure. The inability of the federal government to secure its own borders, ports and airports showed the inability of Gore to compromise with an increasingly hawkish and conservative congress.
Gore's response to Hurricane Katrina proved to be something that greatly improved his popularity in times of deep crisis. The acceptance of the facts behind the disaster occurring within the city showed his excellent crisis management skills and stood to solidify his image as a true leader aware of the dangers of federal ineptness.
Following Democratic defeats in the House and Senate in 2006 it became apparent that fifth term of Democratic control on the White House was unlikely. With the G.O.P resurgent and Democratic support waning Gore launched a campaign to complete a final overhaul of American climate policy. Though the bill faced harsh Republican criticisms it eventually paced both the house and senate, being signed into law on March 1, 2008. The landmark bill became Gore's farewell to the nation, displaying the ability of America to control it's own destiny and truly lead in the throughout a new era.
As the nation bid farewell to Gore with the election of John McCain in 2008, the general consensus was that America had received fair leadership in the first decade of the twenty-first century.
Presidents of the United States (President Gore)