Pauline LaFon Gore
Encyclopedia
Pauline LaFon Gore was the mother of former United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

 Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

 and the wife of former US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Senator Al Gore, Sr.. She is credited with playing a significant role in both of their careers with Al Gore saying "there will never be a better campaigner than Pauline LaFon Gore". Her advice was an important factor in his refusal to sign the "Southern Manifesto
Southern Manifesto
The Southern Manifesto was a document written February–March 1956 by Adisen and Charles in the United States Congress opposed to racial integration in public places. The manifesto was signed by 101 politicians from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South...

" opposing desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...

 and his opposition to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 which were critical issues in his bid for re-election as a Senator in 1970. She came from a poor family in small business to become one of the first female lawyers to graduate from Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 and managed a Washington law firm in the 1970s.

From Belle to Barrister

She was born in Palmersville, Tennessee
Palmersville, Tennessee
Palmersville is a small unincorporated town in northwestern Weakley County, Tennessee, United States. Its ZIP code is 38241. The United States Census Bureau does not maintain demographic data for it....

 as one of six children. Her parents, Maude (née Gatlin) and Walter L. LaFon, ran a general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...

, When her father got injured, the family moved to Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...

 where her father worked for the Tennessee highway department.

Despite the fact that her family was struggling and it was the Great Depression, Pauline LaFon was determined to graduate from college and waited on tables in order to pay her way. From 1931 to 1933, she attended Union University
Union University
Union University is a private, evangelical Christian, liberal arts university located in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown, Tennessee, and Hendersonville, Tennessee...

, but did not earn a degree from that institution until nearly seven decades later where she was granted an honorary degree. In 1936, she became the 10th woman to graduate from Vanderbilt University Law School.

She met Albert Gore, Sr. while waiting tables at the Andrew Jackson Hotel while he was studying for a law degree as well as farming and acting as the Commissioner for Schools. They ended up studying together for the bar exam where Pauline LaFon obtained a higher mark than Albert Gore, Sr.

Following graduation from Vanderbilt, she practiced law in Texarkana, Arkansas
Texarkana, Arkansas
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,448 people, 10,384 households, and 7,040 families residing in the city. The population density was 830.5 people per square mile . There were 11,721 housing units at an average density of 368.1 per square mile...

 for a year before returning to Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 and married Albert Gore Sr on April 17, 1937. She practiced in oil and gas law and also divorce law, being one of the first women to practice law in those fields.

Political wife 1937–1970

Al Gore, Sr. was a rising man in the Tennessee political system when he married Pauline LaFon. He was appointed State Labor Commissioner later the same year and was elected to Congress a year later. The Gores eldest child Nancy LaFon Gore Hunger was born in 1938 as well.

When Al Gore, Sr. was elected to Congress in 1938, it was traditional for political wives to stay in the background and not play an active role in their husbands political lives. However, she took Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...

 as a role model and actively stumped for Gore's first campaign speaking at clubs and extensively canvassing in the rural parts of the electorate.

Pauline Gore would play an active role in all of her husband's campaigns as his closest adviser. In 1952, Albert Gore, Sr. ran for the Senate standing in the Democrat primary against Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth Douglas McKellar was an American politician from Tennessee who served as a United States Representative from 1911 until 1917 and as a United States Senator from 1917 until 1953...

, who was the powerful chair of the Senate Appropriarions Committee. Due to his position, McKellar was in a strong position to win funding for Tennessee. In order to remind voters of his access in Washington, McKellar used the slogan "The thinking fellar votes McKellar". In order to counter this slogan, Pauline Gore suggested placing signs with the slogan "Think some more and vote for Gore" close by McKellar's signs. Albert Gore, Sr. won the primary in what was an upset and the tactic played an important part in the victory.

The Gores second child Al Gore, Jr. was born on March 31 in 1948. During his childhood, the family would live in Washington for much of the year and return to the family home in Carthage, Tennessee
Carthage, Tennessee
Carthage is a town in Smith County, Tennessee, United States, and is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,251 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Smith County, and perhaps best known as the hometown of former Vice President Al Gore, and his father,...

 for the summer. Al Gore often referred to her as his "greatest teacher". Pauline Gore was influential in many committees of Senators wives when she was in Washington.

During Albert Gore Sr's career as a Senator, Pauline Gore was one of his closest advisers. Her views were influential in Al Gore's decision not to sign the "Southern Declaration on Integration" opposing desegregation issued in 1956 by all but three southern Senators. Al Gore, Sr. was briefly a candidate for the Democratic nomination as Vice-President but bowed out in favour of fellow Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver
Estes Kefauver
Carey Estes Kefauver July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S...

 who was nominated. Later on, she advised her husband to oppose the Vietnam War which was highly controversial in the electorate.

Lawyer, mother, and grandmother 1970–2004

After the defeat of her husband, Pauline Gore resumed her law career in Washington. Her husband joined with her in establishing a law firm together. She later became the managing partner of Peabody, Rivlin, Gore, Claudous and Brashares, a large law firm in Washington and became a mentor to young women starting their legal careers.

Al Gore ran for election to Congress in 1976 and Pauline Gore campaigned for him. She would help in most of his campaigns although she would not play as active a role in his political career as she did in her husband's career. She also offered counsel to Phil Bredesen
Phil Bredesen
Philip Norman "Phil" Bredesen Jr. was the 48th Governor of Tennessee, serving from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected Governor in 2002, and was re-elected in 2006. He previously served as the fourth mayor of Nashville and Davidson County from 1991 to...

, later mayor of Nashville.

She campaigned for Al Gore in 1988 in his unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic nominee for President. In 1992, she joined her husband in campaigning for the Clinton-Gore ticket on a seven week bus trip across the United States with many visits to senior citizens clubs.

She had a mild stroke in 1993 and had a heart attack in 1995. Albert Gore, Sr. died on December 5, 1998. After receiving a humanitarian award in 1998, she established a scholarship fund for residents of Smith County, Tennessee to enable poor people from that county to attend college. In 1999, the Vanderbilt University law school named her as its Distinguished Alumna for the year, the first woman to be so honored. She died in her sleep at her home in Carthage on December 15, 2004.

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