Sunday, May 10, 2009
Introduction
The assignment was to choose someone that "made a significant difference in helping, saving, recuing, or improving the lives of other people." For this reason I chose Al Gore. Though Al Gore has served for the United States on the House of Representatives, as the 45th vice president, and as a contender for president in 2000, his most notable actions are those that have to do with the environment. He has written books that show the effects of global warming and the climate changes on society (Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit and An Inconvenient Truth). Both of these books were bestsellers, and therefore through them Gore was able to teach the readers about the ongoing climate problems. When his book An Inconvenient Truth became an award-winning documentary, it only helped to reach more people and to inform them about the earth's condition. He utitilized the film's success and created The Climate Project (TCP), a nonprofit organization where Gore personally trains people about his slideshow featured in the film, and they then use this to present the slideshow to other people. Through all of these efforts, not to mention his constant fights while in office to warn America about the effects of global warming, Gore has managed to create a new understanding when it comes to the environment. When people would have otherwised been uneducated and unaware, a considerable number are just the opposite because of his efforts. Because of this knowledge, people will know to live in a way that is better for the earth, and to spread their knowledge to others. Without Gore, none of this would have been possible, and for that he has made a significant difference in the lives of humans.
Al Gore by Kelsey Tanner
When referenced in text, Albert Gore Jr. is probably best known for his position as the 45th Vice President of the United States. If one becomes Vice President, there is no other occupation (save actual presidency) that could redefine or replace what they are known for. However, throughout his life Al Gore has been part of the fight against global warming, and has possibly become the loudest and most informative voice regarding these issues. Gore’s contribution to spreading the knowledge about the environment has made an impact on the lives on everyone who has been listening, and even those who have not. By informing America about the issues around the environment today, he has made the country as a whole more aware, and therefore, has single-handedly taken great steps towards fixing the earth.
Albert Gore Jr. was born on March 31, 1948 in Washington, D.C. He was born to his father, Albert Gore Sr., a member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee, and his mother, Pauline Gore, who was
educated at the law school at Vanderbilt University. Gore spent most of his childhood in Washington because of his father’s job, but also spent a good deal of his youth in Carthage, Tennessee during the summer (Encyclopedia of World Biography). He attended St. Alban’s Episcopal School for Boys, where he met his current wife, Mary Elizabeth “Tipper” Aitcheson at a prom. Gore attended Harvard University, where he received a degree in government with honors in 1969. After graduation, Gore enlisted in the army despite his opposition of the United States’ role in the Vietnam War. While he was in the army, he and Aitcheson were married on May 19, 1970 (Al Gore Support Center). Since, they have had four children: Karenna, Kristin, Sarah, and Albert III. Also while in Vietnam, he served as an army reporter, and when he returned was hired as an investigative reporter with the Nashville Tennessean.
During this time Gore expressed interest in other areas, including philosophy and religion, and entered the Graduate School of Religion at Vanderbilt University in 1971. In 1974 he entered the University’s law school, however left in 1976 when he decided to run for a seat in the House of Representatives. Gore won the primary election against eight other candidates and then won the general election, running successfully in the following three. During his time in Congress, Gore was interested in several different topics, including “health related matters and on cleaning up the environment” (Encyclopedia of World Biography). In his first period, Gore fought against the legal disposal of toxic waste, and in turn Congress spent 1.6 billion dollars to remove the disposals (Al Gore Support Center).
Gore became interested in the 1988 Presidential Election, and decided to run. However, due to his lack of theme in his campaign, Gore suffered. Though he received “public support in the primaries… and won more votes than any other candidate in southern states,”
Gore did not get the votes from the other states and withdrew from the race in April (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Two years later Gore won re-election to Senate, and decided not to run for president in the 1992 election, as his son, Albert III, had recently been hit by a car and was in critical condition. This event inspired Gore to write his first book, Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. The book detailed the environmental crisis, and how it affects civilization and society as well as how he believes the current crisis to be the fault of the human race (Al Gore Support Center). In the book, Gore stated simply that “We must make the rescue of the environment the central organizing principle for civilization” (Encyclopedia of World Biography).
On July 8, 1992, Gore was notified that he Bill Clinton’s choice for running mate for the 1992 election. Gore accepted, and was favored over George Bush’s running mate, Dan Quale. On November 3, Clinton and Gore won the election at 43 percent of the votes. Thus, he became the 45th vice president of the United States on January 20, 1993. In the 1996 election, Clinton and Gore were elected once again. After their term ended, Gore announced that he would be running for presidency in the 2000 election. In August Gore revealed his choice of running mate, Joe Lieberman. In the election, it came down to Florida’s 25 electoral votes, and in the end Gore fell to Bush by a count of only 5 electoral votes, yet won by the popular vote by more than 500,000 (Encyclopedia of
World Biology).
In 2002, Gore became an adviser to Google, and in 2003 joined the board of directors for Apple Computer. Gore was also the author to An Inconvenient Truth, a book which he wrote after his loss in 2000. This book, and later film documentary, tells all about global warming, what it does to harm the earth, and what it will to do the earth over time (An Inconvenient Truth). The book became number one on the New York Times Best Sellers List, and the film proceeded to win two Acadamy Awards for Best Documentary
Feature and Best Original Song in 2007 (Al’s Bio). The same year, Gore won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the climate crisis. Gore also established The Climate Project (TCP) in June of 2006, which is a nonprofit organization founded by Gore in order to create awareness worldwide about the climate crisis. Gore trains people to give a version of his slideshow featured in An Inconvenient Truth, which they then use to educate others on the issue. The ultimate goal of TCP is that “by raising the awareness of our fellow citizens about this crisis and informing them about potential solutions, all of us, together, can preserve the climate balance on which humanity and our planet depend” (The Climate Project).
Al Gore has had many roles as a political figure. He has been in the Senate, served as vice president for two consecutive terms, and has run for president himself. Though all of these are notable positions in his career, the most incredible is his role as an environmentalist. In this role Al Gore has made so many new discoveries and educated so many people about them. Through his books Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit and An Inconvenient Truth, Gore explained the harmful effects of the constant climate change which helped to teach readers about this issue. In his award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, Gore describes these same topics, and uses the documentary to pass on his knowledge in his ongoing development, The Climate Project. Through these ways and many others, Gore has advanced Americans’ knowledge about the issues of climate change, which is something that is so important to know. Hopefully this can become what Al Gore is recognized for, because it is certainly the most important.
Albert Gore Jr. was born on March 31, 1948 in Washington, D.C. He was born to his father, Albert Gore Sr., a member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee, and his mother, Pauline Gore, who was
educated at the law school at Vanderbilt University. Gore spent most of his childhood in Washington because of his father’s job, but also spent a good deal of his youth in Carthage, Tennessee during the summer (Encyclopedia of World Biography). He attended St. Alban’s Episcopal School for Boys, where he met his current wife, Mary Elizabeth “Tipper” Aitcheson at a prom. Gore attended Harvard University, where he received a degree in government with honors in 1969. After graduation, Gore enlisted in the army despite his opposition of the United States’ role in the Vietnam War. While he was in the army, he and Aitcheson were married on May 19, 1970 (Al Gore Support Center). Since, they have had four children: Karenna, Kristin, Sarah, and Albert III. Also while in Vietnam, he served as an army reporter, and when he returned was hired as an investigative reporter with the Nashville Tennessean.During this time Gore expressed interest in other areas, including philosophy and religion, and entered the Graduate School of Religion at Vanderbilt University in 1971. In 1974 he entered the University’s law school, however left in 1976 when he decided to run for a seat in the House of Representatives. Gore won the primary election against eight other candidates and then won the general election, running successfully in the following three. During his time in Congress, Gore was interested in several different topics, including “health related matters and on cleaning up the environment” (Encyclopedia of World Biography). In his first period, Gore fought against the legal disposal of toxic waste, and in turn Congress spent 1.6 billion dollars to remove the disposals (Al Gore Support Center).
Gore became interested in the 1988 Presidential Election, and decided to run. However, due to his lack of theme in his campaign, Gore suffered. Though he received “public support in the primaries… and won more votes than any other candidate in southern states,”
Gore did not get the votes from the other states and withdrew from the race in April (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Two years later Gore won re-election to Senate, and decided not to run for president in the 1992 election, as his son, Albert III, had recently been hit by a car and was in critical condition. This event inspired Gore to write his first book, Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. The book detailed the environmental crisis, and how it affects civilization and society as well as how he believes the current crisis to be the fault of the human race (Al Gore Support Center). In the book, Gore stated simply that “We must make the rescue of the environment the central organizing principle for civilization” (Encyclopedia of World Biography).On July 8, 1992, Gore was notified that he Bill Clinton’s choice for running mate for the 1992 election. Gore accepted, and was favored over George Bush’s running mate, Dan Quale. On November 3, Clinton and Gore won the election at 43 percent of the votes. Thus, he became the 45th vice president of the United States on January 20, 1993. In the 1996 election, Clinton and Gore were elected once again. After their term ended, Gore announced that he would be running for presidency in the 2000 election. In August Gore revealed his choice of running mate, Joe Lieberman. In the election, it came down to Florida’s 25 electoral votes, and in the end Gore fell to Bush by a count of only 5 electoral votes, yet won by the popular vote by more than 500,000 (Encyclopedia of
World Biology).In 2002, Gore became an adviser to Google, and in 2003 joined the board of directors for Apple Computer. Gore was also the author to An Inconvenient Truth, a book which he wrote after his loss in 2000. This book, and later film documentary, tells all about global warming, what it does to harm the earth, and what it will to do the earth over time (An Inconvenient Truth). The book became number one on the New York Times Best Sellers List, and the film proceeded to win two Acadamy Awards for Best Documentary
Feature and Best Original Song in 2007 (Al’s Bio). The same year, Gore won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the climate crisis. Gore also established The Climate Project (TCP) in June of 2006, which is a nonprofit organization founded by Gore in order to create awareness worldwide about the climate crisis. Gore trains people to give a version of his slideshow featured in An Inconvenient Truth, which they then use to educate others on the issue. The ultimate goal of TCP is that “by raising the awareness of our fellow citizens about this crisis and informing them about potential solutions, all of us, together, can preserve the climate balance on which humanity and our planet depend” (The Climate Project).Al Gore has had many roles as a political figure. He has been in the Senate, served as vice president for two consecutive terms, and has run for president himself. Though all of these are notable positions in his career, the most incredible is his role as an environmentalist. In this role Al Gore has made so many new discoveries and educated so many people about them. Through his books Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit and An Inconvenient Truth, Gore explained the harmful effects of the constant climate change which helped to teach readers about this issue. In his award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, Gore describes these same topics, and uses the documentary to pass on his knowledge in his ongoing development, The Climate Project. Through these ways and many others, Gore has advanced Americans’ knowledge about the issues of climate change, which is something that is so important to know. Hopefully this can become what Al Gore is recognized for, because it is certainly the most important.
works cited
Works Cited
"About Us." The Climate Project. 10 May 2009
http://www.theclimateproject.org/aboutus.php.
"About Vice President Al Gore." Al Gore Support Center. 10 May 2009
http://www.algoresupportcenter.com/aboutal.html.
"Al's Bio." Al Gore. 8 May 2009 http://www.algore.com/about.html.
"Albert Gore Jr."Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. 1998. Print.
Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth. New York City: 2006. Print.
11 May 2009 http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t025/T025888A.jpg.
11 May 2009 http://www.arthistoryclub.com/art_history/upload/c/c2/AlGoreFamily.jpg.
11 May 2009 http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2174/1557429013_6f48e702e0_o.jpg.
11 May 2009 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/An%20Inconvenient%20Truth%20for%20Kidz-thumb.JPG.
11 May 2009 http://www.cpi.cam.ac.uk/gore/images/climate%20project%20logov2.jpg.
"About Us." The Climate Project. 10 May 2009
http://www.theclimateproject.org/aboutus.php.
"About Vice President Al Gore." Al Gore Support Center. 10 May 2009
http://www.algoresupportcenter.com/aboutal.html.
"Al's Bio." Al Gore. 8 May 2009 http://www.algore.com/about.html.
"Albert Gore Jr."Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. 1998. Print.
Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth. New York City: 2006. Print.
11 May 2009 http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t025/T025888A.jpg.
11 May 2009 http://www.arthistoryclub.com/art_history/upload/c/c2/AlGoreFamily.jpg.
11 May 2009 http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2174/1557429013_6f48e702e0_o.jpg.
11 May 2009 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/An%20Inconvenient%20Truth%20for%20Kidz-thumb.JPG.
11 May 2009 http://www.cpi.cam.ac.uk/gore/images/climate%20project%20logov2.jpg.
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