WASHINGTON – Former US vice president Al Gore and his wife Tipper have announced that they are separating after 40 years of marriage. The couple, who have four children, disclosed the news to a small circle of friends in an e-mail sent under both their names, according to a Gore spokeswoman.
“We are announcing today that, after a great deal of thought, we have decided to separate,” the Gores wrote.
“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.”
Mr Gore (62) was vice president in Bill Clinton’s administration and sought the presidency in 2000. He lost to Republican George W Bush in a disputed election in which Mr Gore won the popular vote and Mr Bush won the electoral college. After the election, Mr Gore focused his energies on raising public awareness of threats posed by climate change.
He was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
The couple met while each was in high school in the Washington area and married in May 1970.
They exchanged a much-publicised kiss at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles where Mr Gore was nominated for the presidency.
Ms Gore (61) was urged by some Democrats to run for the US Senate in 2002 from the couple’s home state of Tennessee. She decided to forego the race. Mr Gore had represented Tennessee in the US House from 1976. He was elected senator in 1984.
He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, but Mr Clinton selected him as his running mate four years later.
Ms Gore gained national attention in the mid-1980s for the concerns she expressed about violent or sexually explicit music lyrics.
She was a co-founder of the Parents Music Resource Center, which advocated warning labels on music.
In recent years, much of her work has involved mental illness prevention and treatment.
The Los Angeles Timesreported in April that the couple had bought a five-bedroom home near Santa Barbara, California. – (Bloomberg)