Tipper Gore

Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore (née Aitcheson; born August 19, 1948) is an American social issues advocate.

She met Al Gore at his senior prom in 1965.

Although she came to the prom with one of his classmates, Gore and Tipper began to date immediately afterwards.

When Al Gore began attending Harvard University, she enrolled in Garland Junior College (now part of Simmons College) and later transferred to Boston University receiving her B.A. in psychology in 1970.

On May 19, 1970, she and Gore were married at the Washington National Cathedral.

Gore pursued a master's degree in psychology from Vanderbilt University's George Peabody College, graduating in 1975.

Gore worked part-time as a newspaper photographer for Nashville's The Tennessean and continued as a freelance photographer in Washington after her husband was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1976.

Gore took an active role in her husband's political pursuits starting with his first campaign for the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee in 1976.

Soon after her husband's election, Gore established a group to examine and write about social issues called the Congressional Wives Task Force.

In 1984, Gore began volunteering in homeless shelters.

Homelessness became a major cause for Gore, and she formed a group called Families for the Homeless to raise funds and awareness for the issue.

In 1985, Gore co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), which advocated for labeling of record covers of releases featuring profane language, especially in the heavy metal, punk, and hip hop genres of music.

Throughout her decades of public life, she has advocated for placing advisory labels on music (leading critics to call her a censor), and for mental health awareness, women's causes, children's causes, LGBT rights, and reducing homelessness.

Born Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson in Washington, D.C., Tipper Gore is the daughter of John Kenneth "Jack" Aitcheson Jr., a plumbing-supply entrepreneur and owner of J & H Aitcheson Plumbing Supply, and his first wife, Margaret Ann (née Carlson) Odom (who lost her first husband during World War II).

She was given the nickname "Tipper" by her mother, from a lullaby her mother had heard.

Gore grew up in Arlington, Virginia.

Her mother and grandmother raised her after her parents divorced.

She attended St. Agnes (now St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School), a private Episcopal school in Alexandria, Virginia, where she played basketball, softball and field hockey, and played the drums for an all-female band called The Wildcats.

In 1985, Tipper Gore co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) with Sally Nevius, Pam Howar, and Susan Baker, wife of then–United States secretary of the treasury James Baker, because Gore heard her then 11-year-old daughter Karenna playing "Darling Nikki" by Prince.

The group's goal was to increase parental and consumer awareness of music that contained explicit content through voluntary labeling albums with Parental Advisory stickers.

Their coalition included the National PTA and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The PMRC had no members, merely founders, and all of the founders were wives of prominent politicians.

According to an article by NPR, Gore went "before Congress to urge warning labels for records marketed to children."

Gore explained that her purpose wasn't to put a "gag" on music, but to keep it safe for younger listeners by providing parents with information about the content of the songs.

A number of individuals including Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, John Denver, Joey Ramone, and Frank Zappa criticized the group, arguing that it was a form of censorship.

Gore's relationship with Snider was particularly antagonistic, with Snider accusing her of having a "dirty mind" for suggesting that his band's song "Under the Blade" contained sadomasochistic references, when the song in fact referred to medical surgery instead.

In response to such criticism, NPR further stated that according to Gore, she "wasn't out to censor the objectionable material" and quoted her as stating that she is "a strong believer in the First Amendment" who is calling for greater "consumer information in the marketplace."

The PMRC's efforts were successful and resulted in an agreement where recording labels voluntarily placed warning labels on music with violent or sexually explicit lyrics.

Gore campaigned during her husband's 1988 presidential bid and toured with him and Bill and Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign of 1992.

As second lady, Gore served as the mental health policy advisor to the president.

Her goals were to diminish the stigma surrounding mental illness and to bring awareness to the need for affordable mental health care.

In 1990, Gore founded the Tennessee Voices for Children to advance youth services for mental health and substance abuse.

Gore also co-chaired the National Mental Health Association's Child Mental Health Interest Group.

She was the second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 through her marriage to 45th vice president Al Gore in 1970, although they separated in 2010.

In 1994, Gore visited a refugee camp and an orphanage in Zaire on a personal trip to provide aid in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide.

In 1999, Gore hosted the first White House Conference on Mental Health.

That same year, she launched the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign (NMHAC) to encourage Americans to seek treatment for mental illness.

Gore has frequently spoken about her own experience with depression and treatment following the near-fatal injury of her son Albert.

Along with her work in mental health, Gore was a part of several other initiatives during her time as second lady.

She served as special advisor to the Interagency Council on the Homeless and as the national spokesperson for the "Back to Sleep" SIDS awareness campaign.