Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. was born in Washington, D.C., on March 31, 1948, into a political family. His father, Albert Gore, Sr., spent 32 years in Washington, D.C., as a representative and senator from Tennessee. After graduating from Harvard University in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in government, Gore enlisted in the U. S Army and served five months in Vietnam as a journalist. After an honorable discharge he entered divinity school at Vanderbilt University and also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Nashville Tennessean.

Gore served four terms (1977-1985) in the House of Representatives and was elected to the Senate in 1984. In 1987 Gore entered the race to seek the Democratic nomination for president; however, after finishing a distant third in the New York primary, Gore dropped out of the race. Gore refocused his attention on environmental issues and developed an interest in the emerging telecommunication technologies. In 1986 he introduced the Supercomputer Network Study act that eventually paved the way for the Internet.

In 1992 Gore accepted Arkansas’ governor Bill Clinton’s offer to become his vice presidential running mate and served two terms as Vice President of the United States. Gore announced his candidacy for president on June 15, 1999, and won the Democratic primary, defeating Bill Bradley. In August 2000 Gore selected Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut to be his vice presidential running mate. Al Gore’s December 13th presidential concession brings an end to one of the most eventful months in American electoral history. This concluded weeks of inconclusive Florida results triggered by weeks of ballot recounting, legal challenges and delays in the presidential transition process. Although Gore received the popular vote he lost the electoral vote.