Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. (born March 31, 1948) served as the 43rd President of the United States (2001-05), preveously Vice President to Bill Clinton. Gore originally ran for the Democratic nomanation in 1988 but lost it to Michael Dukakis. Gore later went to become Vice President under Clinton. He won the 2000 election, defeting governer George W. Bush of Texas. Gore was critized for taking little action to respond to 9/11. Gore lost re-election to John McCain and governer Sarah Palin of Alaska.