Vice Presidency of Al Gore
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- See also: Presidency of Bill Clinton
| Vice Presidency of Al Gore | |
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| In office January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 |
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| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Dan Quayle |
| Succeeded by | Dick Cheney |
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| In office January 3, 1985 – January 2, 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Howard Baker |
| Succeeded by | Harlan Mathews |
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| In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1985 |
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| Preceded by | Robin Beard |
| Succeeded by | Bart Gordon |
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| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1983 |
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| Preceded by | Joe L. Evins |
| Succeeded by | Jim Cooper |
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| Born | March 31, 1948 Washington, D.C. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" A. Gore |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Harvard University, Vanderbilt University |
| Religion | Baptist (formerly Southern Baptist) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | algore.com |
Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. was Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001, during the presidential administration of Bill Clinton.
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[edit] 1992 and 1996 elections
Bill Clinton chose Gore to be his running mate for the 1992 United States presidential election on July 9, 1992 because, he stated, he wanted someone "who really understood what had happened to ordinary Americans in the last 12 years" as well as someone who could both complement and add to his own experiences.[1] Gore accepted the position after previously choosing not to run for President. On April 3, 1989, his six-year-old son Albert was nearly killed in an automobile accident while leaving the Baltimore Orioles' opening day game. Because of the resulting lengthy healing process, Gore chose to stay near him during the recovery instead of laying the foundation for a 1992 presidential primary campaign (it was during this time period that he wrote Earth in the Balance).[2]In his vice-presidential nomination acceptance speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, Gore referred to these events.[3][4]
Gore was inaugurated as the 45th Vice President of the United States on January 20, 1993. Clinton and Gore were re-elected to a second term in the 1996 election.
[edit] Economy and information superhighway
As Vice President, Gore promoted the development of what he referred to as the Information Superhighway. This was discussed in detail a few days after winning the election in November 1992 in the The New York Times article "Clinton to Promote High Technology, With Gore in Charge."[5]They planned to finance research "that will flood the economy with innovative goods and services, lifting the general level of prosperity and strengthening American industry."[5] Specifically, they were aiming to fund the development of, "robotics, smart roads, biotechnology, machine tools, magnetic-levitation trains, fiber-optic communications and national computer networks. Also earmarked are a raft of basic technologies like digital imaging and data storage."[5] These initiatives were met with some skepticism from critics who claimed that, "the initiative is likely to backfire, bloating Congressional pork and creating whole new categories of Federal waste."[5] After becoming Vice President, Gore further developed these plans at the The Superhighway Summit held on 11 January 1994 at UCLA.
During the Clinton-Gore administration, the U.S. economy expanded according to David Greenberg (professor of history and media studies at Rutgers University) who argued that "by the end of the Clinton presidency, the numbers were uniformly impressive. Besides the record-high surpluses and the record-low poverty rates, the economy could boast the longest economic expansion in history; the lowest unemployment since the early 1970s; and the lowest poverty rates for single mothers, black Americans, and the aged."[6] The Clinton-Gore Administration website also offers an overview on the topic.[7] One factor was the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, for which Gore cast the tie-breaking vote. The Administration worked closely with the Republican-led House to slow federal spending and eventually balance the federal budget. One of Gore's major works as Vice President was the National Performance Review,[8] which pointed out waste, fraud, and other abuse in the federal government and stressed the need for cutting the size of the bureaucracy and the number of regulations. Gore stated that the National Performance Review later helped guide President Clinton when he down-sized the federal government.[9]
In 1993, Gore debated Ross Perot on CNN's Larry King Live on the issue of free trade, with Gore arguing for free trade and the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and Perot arguing against it. Public opinion polls taken after the debate showed that a majority of Americans thought Gore won the debate and now supported NAFTA.[10] The bill subsequently passed 234–200 in the House of Representatives.[11]
[edit] Environment
- See also: Vice President Gore and the environment
As Vice-President, Gore was involved in a number of initiatives related to the environment such as the GLOBE program on Earth Day 1994. [12] In the late 1990s, Gore strongly pushed for the passage of the Kyoto Protocol, which called for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.[13][14] During this time, he also became associated with Digital Earth.[15]
[edit] Marathon
In 1997, Gore became the highest elected official to have run a marathon while in office. He ran the 1997 Marine Corps Marathon in 4:54:25 (an 11:14 mile pace).[16]
[edit] Fund-raising
In 1996 Gore was criticized for attending an event at the Buddhist Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California. In an interview on NBC's Today the following year, he stated that, "I did not know that it was a fund-raiser. I knew it was a political event, and I knew there were finance people that were going to be present, and so that alone should have told me, 'This is inappropriate and this is a mistake; don't do this.' And I take responsibility for that. It was a mistake."[17]
The temple was later implicated in a campaign donation laundering scheme. In that scheme, donations nominally from Buddhist nuns in lawful amounts had actually been donated by wealthy monastics and devotees.
Robert Conrad, Jr., then head of a Justice Department task force appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate the fund-raising controversies, called on Reno in Spring 2000 to appoint an independent counsel to look into the fund-raising practices of Vice President Gore. Reno on 3 September 1997, ordered a review of Gore's fund-raising and associated statements. Based on the investigation, she judged that appointment of an independent counsel was unwarranted. [18]
Later in 1997, Gore also had to explain certain fund-raising calls he made to solicit funds for the Democratic Party for the 1996 election.[19] In a news conference, Gore responded that, "all calls that I made were charged to the Democratic National Committee. I was advised there was nothing wrong with that. My counsel tells me there is no controlling legal authority that says that is any violation of any law."[20] The phrase "no controlling legal authority" was severely criticized by some commentators, such as Charles Krauthammer, who wrote that "Whatever other legacies Al Gore leaves behind between now and retirement, he forever bequeaths this newest weasel word to the lexicon of American political corruption."[21] On the other hand, Robert L. Weinberg argued in The Nation in 2000 that Gore actually had the U.S. Constitution in his favor on this, although he did concede that Gore's "use of the phrase was judged by many commentators to have been a political mistake of the first order" and noted that it was used often in stump speeches by George W. Bush when Bush was campaigning against Gore in that year's presidential race.[22]
[edit] Threat of trade sanctions
In 1999, Gore became the subject of criticism by AIDS activists. According to a June 18, 1999 article in the Washington Post the activists said that "Gore, in talks with South African President Thabo Mbeki, has threatened trade sanctions if South Africa permits the widespread sale of cheaper, generic drugs that would cut into U.S. companies' sales." Gore responded by stating, "I love this country. I love the First Amendment [...] Let me say in response to those who may have chosen an inappropriate way to make their point, that actually the crisis of AIDS in Africa is one that should command the attention of people in the United States and around the world."[23]
[edit] Notes
- ^ THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Their Own Words; Excerpts From Clinton's and Gore's Remarks on the Ticket, New York Times, July 10, 1992, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE4DC103EF933A25754C0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all>
- ^ Albert A. Gore, Jr., 45th Vice President (1993-2001)
- ^ Albert A. Gore, Jr., 45th Vice President (1993-2001)
- ^ "Acceptance speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention"
- ^ a b c d Broad, William (November 10, 1992), Clinton to Promote High Technology, With Gore in Charge, New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5DD1130F933A25752C1A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print>
- ^ Memo to Obama Fans: Clinton's presidency was not a failure.. Slate. Retrieved on 2005-02-13.
- ^ The Clinton-Gore Economic Record. United States Executive. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
- ^ Announcement of National Performance Review
- ^ Speech by Vice President Gore: International Reinventing Government Conference. January 14, 1999"
- ^ Wall Street Journal, November 11, 1993, page A14;
- ^ Vice President's Reinvention Initiatives. United States Executive. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
- ^ "Gore really does get the web". Forbes. September 21, 2006.
- ^ "Remarks By Al Gore, Climate Change Conference". Retrieved on 2006-09-01.
- ^ "Vice President Gore: Strong Environmental Leadership for the New Millennium". Retrieved on 2006-09-01.
- ^ Digital Earth History. The 5th International Symposium on Digital Earth.
- ^ Faces. Arlington Unwired. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ "Gore Admits Temple Fund-Raiser Was A 'Mistake'", CNN.com, Jan. 24, 1997
- ^ Fund-raising Investigation Discussion, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, transcript, PBS, June 23, 2000, Retrieved: April 14, 2006
- ^ "Fund-Raising Questions Focus On Gore", CNN "AllPolitics," March 2, 1997, Retrieved: October 15, 2007
- ^ As quoted in "The Money Trail", NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, transcript, PBS, March 6, 1997, Retrieved: October 15, 2007
- ^ Charles Krauthammer, "Gore's Meltdown", Washington Post, March 7, 1997, Retrieved: October 15, 2007
- ^ Robert L. Weinberg, "Controlling Authority", The Nation, October 16, 2000, Retrieved: October 15, 2007
- ^ AIDS Activists Badger Gore Again. Washington Post.
[edit] External links
- Official VP website with initiatives
- Albert A. Gore, Jr., 45th Vice President (1993-2001)
- Biography of the Honorable Al Gore
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Gore, Albert Arnold Jr. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Al Gore |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | 45th Vice President of the United States |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 31, 1948 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Washington, D.C. U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
