Name: Albert A. Gore, Jr.

Age: 59

Country: U.S.

Category: Politics/ Environment

Calling: Statesman/ Environmental Activist

The Beginning

Born on 31^st March, 1948. His father was a U.S. representative and a senator from Tennessee. Al attended St Albans School and in 1965 got into Harvard, ironically the only college to which he had applied. Finding his curriculum- a major in English- too boring, he switched classes graduating with honors in Bachelor of Arts degree in government. During the Vietnam War, he served for four months with the 20th Engineer Brigade in Bien Hoa and for another month at the Army Engineer Command in Long Binh. After working as a reporter for the Tennessean for 5 years, Gore’s political career started.

Rise

After Joe EL. Levin’s retirement, Al decided to run for the United States House Of Representatives, in Tennessee’s fourth district. He defeated Stanley Rogers in the Democratic Primary, running unopposed in the general election and getting his first Congressional post. He was re-elected thrice after which he ran for the senator for Tennesse and served on the post till he became the Vice President. He ran for President in 1998 but failed to get a Democratic nomination. He skipped the 1992 presidential primary campaign to spend time with his son who nearly got killed in an automobile accident. On January 20, 1993, Gore was inaugurated as the 45^th Vice President of the country and served two terms under the Bill Clinton Administration. The economy flourished all eight years during the Clinton/Gore administration. In 2000, Gore ran for the President once again. The election was controversial- probably the most controversial- and it took over a month and a number of legal battles to decide the winner. Finally, Al had to settle for second-place after losing Florida by a narrow margin of 537 votes. After his two successful terms as Vice-President, Gore traveled all over the world speaking on issues related to global warming and climate change. In 2007, his devastating Documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ won the Oscar and, very recently he was chosen as a joint winner of the prestigious 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace.

Power-Play

Gore is a former (or maybe a future) high-powered politician with relatively less blood on his hands. He enjoys immense popularity, most of his speeches get a standing ovation, and he serves on the board of quite a few corporates and organizations.