Nashville now and then: Young Al's big decision

Eight leap-days ago, a surprise retirement announcement opened the way for Gore to begin his political career. (Audio of interview with the late Sen. Albert Gore Sr. included.)
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Email | Print By E. Thomas Wood

Just about everyone reading this column remembers how Al Gore's political career came to an end — or at least an extended pause — in the contested presidential vote-count of 2000. Fewer are likely to recall how it began, 32 years ago this week.

Both supporters and detractors of Gore can easily imagine his life as one continuous series of political decisions made by the ambitious son of an influential Tennessee senator. His choice to sign up for enlisted service in Vietnam, for instance, has been portrayed as a political calculation meant to aid him in future campaigns.

That much may be so, but the fact is that 28-year-old Albert Gore Jr. — a Vanderbilt law student on leave from the Nashville Tennessean after establishing himself as an accomplished journalist — had displayed little interest in a political career to those who knew him in the mid-1970s.

In interviews for a 1992 Nashville Scene feature on Gore's journalistic career, a number of Gore's associates from that era recalled their dealings with him.

When the Nashville area's congressional seat came open in August 1975, upon Congressman Richard Fulton's election as mayor of Nashville, some speculation had centered on Gore as a possible candidate. Nashville PR man Keel Hunt, who worked at the Tennessean for ten years, recalled that Gore scoffed at such talk.

"I remember that he would be asked about [his ambitions] from time to time, over lunch or after deadline when we would be sitting around the newsroom," Hunt said. "He would usually shrug it off."

John Seigenthaler, however, saw a glimmer of political ambition that others may have missed. "I can't remember when I knew his attitude about public service was changing, but I was aware of it," the longtime editor and publisher of the paper said.

On the afternoon of February 29, 1976, Gore got a call from Seigenthaler. Joe L. Evins, the veteran congressman who represented Tennessee's 4th district, was announcing his retirement, Seigenthaler said. The surprise resignation would become public the next day. The publisher just thought Gore would want to know.

Albert Gore Sr. was in California on the morning of March 1 when the telephone woke him at about 2:00 a.m. He picked up the phone and heard his son's voice. "Son! Are you hurt?" asked the Senator.

"No, no Dad. Nothing bad has happened. Congressman Joe Evins has just announced he will not seek re-election, and I'm running."

The father paused. "That sort of took my breath away," he recalls, "and I finally got around to saying, 'Well, son, I'll vote for you.' That's the extent of the conversation we had and the part I had in his decision to run for Congress."

Audio of the late senator's recollections about that moment is available by clicking the image below:

The senior Gore returned from his teaching assignment in California ready to plunge into the electoral fray on behalf of his son. But Al Gore Jr. stopped him in his tracks. Senator Gore recalls in the audio clip below that his son firmly instructed him not to get involved in his initial foray into politics:

The next day's Tennessean trumpeted Gore's announcement at the Smith County Courthouse on its front page, but its subsequent campaign coverage would be scrupulously balanced. The morning paper did endorse Gore, but the solidly right-wing Banner did so first. The latter was impressed by Gore's conservative stands, and many who remembered his liberal father were surprised by some of his views — for instance, his opposition to gun control and to the repeal of laws restricting what he termed the "abnormal" practice of homosexuality.

In a nine-candidate field, Gore won the August primary by a close margin and had only token opposition in the general election.

Gore would go on to distinguish himself as an arms-control policy wonk in the House of Representatives. Elected to the Senate in 1984, he surprised many of his friends again when he decided to enter the 1988 presidential campaign. He lost in the primaries. In 1992, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton chose Gore as his running mate.

After two terms as vice president, Gore became the Democratic nominee for president in 2000. He won the popular vote nationwide and would have defeated George W. Bush if only he had been able to win his own home state. The post-election dispute over the vote count divided the country at the time and still does today.

In recent years, Gore has become a globally recognized symbol of tremendous accomplishment and crushing failure. He is without doubt one of the most honored, most scorned, most adored and most reviled figures in American public life today.

Let's close out today with a trivia question. When Al Gore Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, he became the second former congressman from the 4th district of Tennessee to do so. Who was the other?

We'll post the answer in the comment section below on Monday if nobody beats us to it.

Birthdays of note this week:

• Barrett Johnston & Parsley attorney Ted Carey, Rodeo Sweetheart Janis Gill — March 1
  
• Gibson Guitar honcho Henry Juszkiewicz — March 3
  

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