Al Gore

Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He ran for President in 2000 following Bill Clinton's two four-year terms, but was defeated by the Republican candidate George W. Bush in a bitterly contested election that included multiple recounts and a Supreme Court decision that effectively decided the election in favor of Bush. While Gore received the most popular votes, the states Bush won gave him a majority in the U.S. Electoral College and Bush was elected President. The election remains one of the most divisive and controversial topics in recent American politics.

Post vice-presidency

Private citizen

Following his election loss, a bearded Gore accepted visiting professorships at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, Middle Tennessee State University, University of California Los Angeles, and Fisk University. In late 2001, Al Gore became a Senior Advisor to Google and Vice Chairman of Los Angeles-based financial firm Metropolitan West Financial LLC.

Related Topics:
Professor - Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism - Middle Tennessee State University - University of California Los Angeles - Fisk University - Google - Los Angeles - Metropolitan West Financial LLC

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Following the November 5, 2002 midterm elections Gore re-emerged into the public eye with a 14-city book tour and a well-orchestrated "full Gore" media blitz which included a pair of policy speeches. On September 23, Gore delivered a speech on the impending War with Iraq and the War on Terrorism that generated a fair amount of commentary. Less than two weeks later, on October 2, he made a speech on Bush's handling of the economy to the Brookings Institution. Also, during this time period Gore guest starred on several programs such as The Late Show with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live, appearing much more relaxed and funnier as a private citizen than he did while holding public office.

Related Topics:
November 5 - 2002 - September 23 - War with Iraq - War on Terrorism - Brookings Institution - The Late Show with David Letterman - Saturday Night Live

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 2003 Gore joined the board of directors of Apple Computer. On the political front, Gore kept his promise of staying involved in public debate when he offered his criticism and advice to the Bush Administration on key topics such as the Occupation of Iraq, USA Patriot Act, and environmental issues, most notably global warming. Gore also continued to visit campuses across the nation lecturing on issues such as race, media, and democracy.

Related Topics:
2003 - Apple Computer - Bush Administration - Occupation of Iraq - USA Patriot Act - Environmental - Global warming - Race - Media - Democracy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On April 10, 2004, Gore met with the 9-11 Commission in private to give his testimony on what his administration did to prevent terror attacks. In a statement after the three-hour session, the commission said he was candid and forthcoming, and it thanked him for his "continued cooperation." http://asia.news.yahoo.com/040409/ap/d81rfbt80.html

Related Topics:
April 10 - 2004 - 9-11 Commission

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the summer of 2004, Gore teamed up with MoveOn.org, to promote the new scientific fiction film, The Day After Tomorrow. Although Gore said the movie was a far-fetched example of global warming, he said the movie would escalate public debate on the issue.

Related Topics:
MoveOn.org - ''The Day After Tomorrow''

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On April 27, 2005, Gore gave an hour long speech lambasting the GOP's effort to do away with the legislative filibuster. In response to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who for weeks has repeated threats to impose the "nuclear option" if Senate Democrats did not stop blocking judicial nominees via the filibuster, Gore said, "Their grand design is an all-powerful executive using a weakened legislature to fashion a compliant judiciary in its own image. The Senate has confirmed 205 or over 95 percent of President Bush's nominees. Democrats have held up only 10 nominees, less than 5 percent. Compare that with the 60 Clinton nominees who were blocked by Republican obstruction between 1995 and 2000. What is involved here is a power grab," Gore said. Gore also took aim at what he called "religious zealots" who claim special knowledge of God’s will in American politics. He went on to say, "They even claim that those of us who disagree with their point of view are waging war against ‘people of faith.’ How dare they!" This was Gore's first major policy speech of 2005 and also the first one since the defeat of Democratic hopeful John Kerry in late 2004.

Related Topics:
April 27 - Filibuster - Bill Frist - Nuclear option - Senate - Democrats - Legislature - God - American politics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In May 2005, Gore was awarded a lifetime achievement award for three decades of contributions to the Internet. The Webby Awards, which are widely hailed as the Oscars of the web, "wanted to set the record straight" about Al Gore and the Internet once and for all. Tiffany Shlain, the awards' founder and chairwoman said, "It's just one of those instances someone did amazing work for three decades as congressman, senator and vice president and it got spun around into this political mess," Shlain said. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-05-04-gore-webby_x.htm

Related Topics:
May 2005 - Webby Awards - Oscars - Tiffany Shlain

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In September 2005, Gore chartered two aircraft to evacuate 270 evacuees from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-katrina-gore,1,535141.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true He was highly critical of the government and federal response in the days after the hurricane.

Related Topics:
September 2005 - Hurricane Katrina

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Television network

On May 4, 2004, INdTV Holdings, a company co-founded by Gore and Joel Hyatt, purchased cable news channel NewsWorld International from Vivendi Universal. The new network will not have political leanings, Gore said, but will serve as an "independent voice" for a target audience of people between 18 and 34 "who want to learn about the world in a voice they recognize and a view they recognize as their own." The network was relaunched under the name Current on August 1, 2005.

Related Topics:
May 4 - 2004 - INdTV - Joel Hyatt - NewsWorld International - Vivendi Universal - Current - August 1 - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Investment firm

In late 2004, it was announced that Al Gore had launched and will chair an investment firm to seek out companies taking a responsible view on big global issues like climate change.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gore's group, Generation Investment Management, was created to assist the growing demand for an investment style which can bring returns by blending traditional equity research with a focus on more intangible non-financial factors such as social and environmental responsibility and corporate governance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2004 presidential election

Initially, Al Gore was touted as a logical opponent of George W. Bush in the 2004 United States Presidential Election. "Re-elect Gore!" was a common slogan among many Democrats who felt the former Vice President had been unfairly cheated out of the presidency, on the grounds that he had won the popular vote and (in the opinion of many) should have won the Electoral College vote. On December 16, 2002 however, Gore announced that he would not run in 2004, saying that it was time for "fresh faces" and "new ideas" to emerge from the Democrats. When he appeared on a 60 Minutes interview, Gore said that he felt if he had run, the focus of the election would be the rematch rather than the issues. Gore's former running mate, Joe Lieberman quickly announced his own candidacy for the presidency, which he had vowed he would not do if Gore ran.

Related Topics:
2004 United States Presidential Election - December 16 - 2002 - 60 Minutes

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Despite Gore taking himself out of the race, a handful of his supporters formed a national campaign to "draft" him into running. However, that effort largely came to an end when Gore publicly endorsed Vermont Governor Howard Dean (over his former running mate Joe Lieberman) weeks before the first primary of the election cycle. There was still some effort to encourage write-in votes for Gore in the primaries by a different group of Gore supporters who were separate from the draft movement. Although Gore did receive a small number of votes in New Hampshire and New Mexico, that effort was halted when John Kerry pulled into the lead for the nomination. Gore's endorsement of Dean was helpful to the latter in legitimizing him in the eyes of the establishment faction of the Democratic Party, but it also led the media to dub Dean as the clear front-runner, with the result that his opponents devoted more of their emphasis to opposing him.

Related Topics:
Draft - Vermont Governor - Howard Dean - Joe Lieberman - John Kerry

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On January 15, 2004, Al Gore gave a major policy address in New York City on climate change and the Bush administration's approach to the environment. Accompanied by slides and projector, Gore slammed the Bush administration's attitude towards global warming saying, "There are many who still do not believe that global warming is a problem at all. And it's no wonder: because they are the targets of a massive and well-organized campaign of disinformation lavishly funded by polluters who are determined to prevent any action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, out of a fear that their profits might be affected if they had to stop dumping so much pollution into the atmosphere." (However, that day happened to be the coldest day in New York City history. The cold weather in New York helped make this speech especially controversial.)

Related Topics:
January 15 - 2004 - New York City - Climate change - Greenhouse gas - Emissions - Controversial

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On February 9, 2004, on the eve of the Tennessee primary, Gore gave what many consider his harshest criticism of the president yet when he accused George W. Bush of betraying the country by using the 9/11 attacks as a justification for the invasion of Iraq. "He betrayed this country!" Mr. Gore shouted into the microphone. "He played on our fears. He took America on an ill-conceived foreign adventure dangerous to our troops, an adventure preordained and planned before 9/11 ever took place." Gore also urged all Democrats to unite behind their eventual nominee proclaiming, "any one of these candidates is far better than George W. Bush." In March 2004 Gore, along with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, united behind Kerry as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Related Topics:
February 9 - 2004 - Tennessee - George W. Bush - March 2004 - Bill Clinton - Jimmy Carter

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On April 28, 2004, Gore announced that he would be donating $6 million to various Democratic Party groups. Drawing from his funds left over from his 2000 presidential campaign, Gore pledged to donate $4 million to the Democratic National Committee. The party's Senate and House committees would each get $1 million, and the party from Gore's home state of Tennessee would receive $250,000. In addition, Gore announced that all of the surplus funds in his "Recount Fund" from the 2000 election controversy that resulted in the Supreme Court halting the counting of the ballots, a total of $240,000, will be donated to the Florida Democratic Party.

Related Topics:
April 28 - 2004 - 2000 presidential campaign - Democratic National Committee - Tennessee - Florida

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In his speech, Gore stressed the importance of voting and having every vote counted, a point that foreshadowed the 2004 U.S. election voting controversies.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On May 26, 2004, Gore gave a highly critical speech on the Iraq crisis and the Bush Administration. In the speech, Gore demanded Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, and Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone all resign for encouraging policies that led to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners and fanned hatred of Americans abroad. During the fiery speech, which lasted more than an hour, Gore called the Bush administration's Iraq war plan "incompetent" and called George W. Bush the most dishonest president since Richard Nixon, who resigned the office of the presidency in 1974 following the Watergate scandal.

Related Topics:
May 26 - 2004 - Bush Administration - Secretary of Defense - Donald Rumsfeld - National Security Advisor - Condoleezza Rice - Director of Central Intelligence - George Tenet - Deputy Secretary of Defense - Paul Wolfowitz - Undersecretary of Defense for Policy - Douglas Feith - Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence - Stephen Cambone - Richard Nixon - 1974 - Watergate

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gore also decried the abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq, saying, "what happened at that prison, it is now clear, is not the result of random acts of a few bad apples. It was the natural consequence of the Bush Administration policy."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the first major speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Gore held himself out as a living reminder that every vote counts. "Let's make sure not only that the Supreme Court does not pick the next president, but also that this president is not the one who picks the next Supreme Court," said Gore. Gore directed remarks to supporters of third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who abandoned the Democratic Party four years ago, asking them, "Do you still believe that there was no difference between the candidates?"

Related Topics:
2004 Democratic National Convention - Ralph Nader

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On October 18, 2004, Al Gore delivered his final major policy speech of the 2004 political season. In an hour long presentation, Gore concluded that, "I'm convinced that most of the president's frequent departures from fact-based analysis have much more to do with right-wing political and economic ideology than with the Bible."

Related Topics:
October 18 - Ideology - Bible

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~