It seemed to come as a shock to everyone this week when it was announced that former Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper are divorcing after 40 years together.
The couple told friends via email, “We are announcing today that after a great deal of thought and discussion, we have decided to separate. This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration. We ask for respect for our privacy and that of our family, and we do not intend to comment further.”
Gore met Mary Elizabeth “Tipper” Aitcheson while attending St. Albans, a college prep school in Washington, D.C. The two married on May 19, 1070 at the Washington national Cathedral. By then, young Gore had graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Harvard.
Their first child, Karenna, was born in 1973. She was followed by Kristin (1977), LaFon (1979) and Albert III (1982). But, what once seemed like a storybook romance (remember that passionate kiss at the 2000 Democratic Nation Convention?) has now come to an end.
What caused the separation? Of course, there is ridicule and speculation on the part of many. Some comedians have blamed it on global warming. Some think that the whole thing of Gore losing his presidency bid to Bush in 2000 that led to strain on the marriage. And some are saying Gore was having an affair.
What are people saying about the Gore split? Most are surprised. Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics tweeted, “Can you believe the Clinton’s marriage has lasted longer than the Gores?” A long time friend of Tipper’s, Chris Downey, said she was shocked and “this is the least likely course of events I could imagine.”
However, Sandra Sobieraj Westall of PEOPLE magazine felt we should have seen this coming. “The two of them have been living incredibly separate lives,” she said, pointing out that their schedules took them in “different directions.”
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