Tipper Gore | |
|---|---|
 Tipper Gore in 2009 | |
| Second Lady of the United States | |
| In role January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 | |
| Vice President | Al Gore |
| Preceded by | Marilyn Quayle |
| Succeeded by | Lynne Cheney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson (1948-08-19)August 19, 1948 (age 77) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | [1] |
| Children | 4, includingKarenna andKristin |
| Education | Garland Junior College Boston University (BA) Vanderbilt University (MA) |
Mary Elizabeth "Tipper"Gore (néeAitcheson; born August 19, 1948) is an American social issues advocate. She was thesecond lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 through her marriage to the 45thvice president,Al Gore in 1970, from whom she separated in 2010.
In 1985, Gore co-founded theParents Music Resource Center (PMRC), which advocated for labeling of record covers of releases featuring profane language or unacceptable themes, especially in theheavy metal,punk, andhip hop genres of music.[2] Throughout her decades of public life, she has advocated for placing advisory labels on music (leading critics to call her a censor),[3] and for mental health awareness, women's causes, children's causes,LGBT rights, and reducing homelessness.
Born Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson inWashington, D.C., Tipper Gore is the daughter of John Kenneth "Jack" Aitcheson Jr., a plumbing-supply entrepreneur and owner of J & H Aitcheson Plumbing Supply,[4] and his first wife, Margaret Ann (née Carlson) Odom (who lost her first husband duringWorld War II). She was given the nickname "Tipper" by her mother, from a lullaby her mother had heard. Gore grew up inArlington, Virginia. Her mother and grandmother raised her after her parents divorced.[5]
She attended St. Agnes (nowSt. Stephen's & St. Agnes School), a privateEpiscopal school inAlexandria, Virginia, where she played basketball, softball and field hockey, and played the drums for an all-female band called The Wildcats.[5]
She met Al Gore at his senior prom in 1965. Although she came to the prom with one of his classmates, Gore and Tipper began to date immediately afterwards.[6] When Al Gore began attendingHarvard University, she enrolled inGarland Junior College (now part ofSimmons College) and later transferred toBoston University, receiving her B.A. in psychology in 1970.[7][8] On May 19, 1970, she and Gore were married at theWashington National Cathedral.[9][10]
Gore pursued amaster's degree inpsychology fromVanderbilt University'sGeorge Peabody College, graduating in 1975.[11][12]
Gore worked part-time as a newspaper photographer forNashville'sThe Tennessean and continued as a freelance photographer in Washington after her husband was elected to theU.S. Congress in 1976.[5][12][13]
Gore took an active role in her husband's political pursuits starting with his first campaign for theUnited States House of Representatives from Tennessee in 1976.[14] Soon after her husband's election, Gore established a group to examine and write about social issues called the Congressional Wives Task Force.[15][16]
In 1984, Gore began volunteering in homeless shelters.[5][17] Homelessness became a major cause for Gore, and she formed a group called Families for the Homeless to raise funds and awareness for the issue.[5][18]
In 1985, Tipper Gore co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) with Sally Nevius, Pam Howar, and Susan Baker, wife of then–United States secretary of the treasuryJames Baker, because Gore heard her then 11-year-old daughterKarenna playing "Darling Nikki" byPrince.[19] The group's goal was to increase parental and consumer awareness of music that contained explicit content through voluntary labeling of albums withParental Advisory stickers.[5][20] Their coalition included theNational PTA and theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics.[20] The PMRC had no members, merely founders, and all of the founders were wives of prominent politicians.[21]
According to an article byNPR, Gore went "before Congress to urge warning labels for records marketed to children."[22] Gore explained that her purpose wasn't to put a "gag" on music, but to keep it safe for younger listeners by providing parents with information about the content of the songs.[22] A number of individuals includingGlenn Danzig ofDanzig/Misfits,[23]Dee Snider ofTwisted Sister,[24]Jello Biafra of theDead Kennedys,[25]John Denver,Joey Ramone, andFrank Zappa[22] criticized the group, arguing that it was a form of censorship. Gore's relationship with Snider was particularly antagonistic, with Snider accusing her of having a "dirty mind" for suggesting that his band's song "Under the Blade" containedsadomasochistic references, when the song in fact referred tomedical surgery instead.[26] In response to such criticism, NPR further stated that according to Gore, she "wasn't out to censor the objectionable material" and quoted her as stating that she is "a strong believer in the First Amendment" who is calling for greater "consumer information in the marketplace."[22]
The PMRC's efforts resulted in an agreement where recording labels voluntarily placed warning labels on music with violent or sexually explicit lyrics.[5][27]
In 1990, Gore founded the Tennessee Voices for Children to advance youth services for mental health and substance abuse.[28] Gore also co-chaired the National Mental Health Association's Child Mental Health Interest Group.[29]
Gore campaigned during her husband's1988 presidential bid[30] and toured with him andBill andHillary Clinton during thepresidential campaign of 1992.[27][31]
Assecond lady, Gore served as the mental health policy advisor to the president.[12] Her goals were to diminish the stigma surrounding mental illness and to bring awareness to the need for affordable mental health care.[17][29] In 1999, Gore hosted the first White House Conference on Mental Health.[17] That same year, she launched the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign (NMHAC) to encourage Americans to seek treatment for mental illness.[32] Gore has frequently spoken about her own experience with depression and treatment following the near-fatal injury of her son Albert.[14][27][33]
Along with her work in mental health, Gore was a part of several other initiatives during her time as second lady. She served as special advisor to the Interagency Council on the Homeless and as the national spokesperson for the "Back to Sleep"SIDS awareness campaign.[34] In 1994, Gore visited a refugee camp and an orphanage inZaire on a personal trip to provide aid in the aftermath of theRwandan genocide. She stayed in aUNICEF camp and assisted doctors and aid workers.[35][36][37] She made an official visit to Honduras in 1998 followingHurricane Mitch to volunteer, bring medical supplies, and survey the damage.[38][39]
Gore took part in campaigning for thereelection of President Clinton and Vice President Gore in 1996,[40][41] and she was actively involved in her husband's presidential campaign in 2000, making her own campaign stops and media appearances. She also acted as an advisor and was a part of decisions including the hiring ofTony Coelho as chairman of the campaign and moving its headquarters to Nashville.[12][14][27]
In2002, Gore was urged by her supporters to run for the vacant U.S. Senate seat her husband once held inTennessee, which was being vacated byFred Thompson; however, she declined.[42]
As of 2012, she served as co-chair of the advisory board of the Diana Basehart Foundation which assists homeless and low-income people with animal care.[43]
Gore has been a long-time advocate for theLGBT community.[27][44] She represented theClinton administration in theWashington, D.C.AIDS Walk in 1993 as one of the highest-ranking public officials ever to participate.[44] She has continued to participate in such walks and, in 2013 she was an honorary chair of the Nashville AIDS Walk & 5K Run.[45] She was a public opponent ofCalifornia's Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage in 2008.[46] In 2014, she created an exhibition of her photographs at the Wall Space Gallery to support the Pacific Pride Foundation that provides services to theHIV/AIDS and LGBTQ communities ofSanta Barbara, California.[47]
In high school, Gore was the drummer for an all-female band called the Wildcats.[14][27] She has played drums with members of theGrateful Dead; during the second night of the Spring 2009Dead tour, Tipper Gore sat in playing drums during the closing song "Sugar Magnolia".[27][48] In 2000, she appeared on stage at theEquality Rocks concert atRobert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium to play to a crowd of 45,000 prior to theMillennium March on Washington.[27][49] Later that year, she played withWillie Nelson during his set atFarm Aid.[50] She played withHerbie Hancock at the 25thThelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2012.[51]
A photographer since the 1970s, Gore has published several books of photography,[5] her photos have been included in exhibits,[52] and her prints have been sold by Mitchell Gold Co. stores.[53]
Gore has four children:Karenna Aitcheson Gore[54] (born August 6, 1973),Kristin Carlson Gore Kulash[55] (born June 5, 1977), Sarah LaFon Gore Maiani[55][56] (born January 7, 1979), and Albert Arnold Gore III (born October 19, 1982);[57] and several grandchildren.[58]
Tipper and Al Gore were baptized at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Arlington, Virginia, in 1980. Tipper Gore served as a deaconess at Mount Vernon.[59]
In June 2010, the Gores announced their marital separation, "a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration."[60] In August 2012,The New York Times reported that both Gores were dating other people and have no plans to resume marriage, but that their "bond endures" and their relationship is friendly. "The couple reunites a few times a year, most recently in June, for summer family vacations and Christmases in the Gore family seat ofCarthage, Tennessee," the newspaper reported. As of August 2012 she was dating Bill Allen, who is a former editor ofNational Geographic.[61]
Tipper Gore is the author of a number of books, including:
She has also contributed to the following books:
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| Preceded by | Second Lady of the United States 1993–2001 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded byas FormerVice President | Order of precedence of the United States as Former Second Lady | Succeeded byas FormerVice President |
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