Pauline LaFon Gore
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Walter L. LaFon and Maude Gatlin
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Pauline LaFon Gore : Born In Palmersville
She was born in Palmersville, Tennessee as one of six
children. Her parents, Maude (née Gatlin) and Walter L. LaFon
ran a general
store, When her father got injured, the family moved to Jackson, Tennessee 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, 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 for a year before returning
to Tennessee
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 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 Democratic primary against Kenneth
McKellar, 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 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 who was nominated. Later on, she
advised her husband to oppose the Vietnam War which was highly controversial in
the electorate.
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, 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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