CARTHAGE, Tenn. (AP) -- Former Sen. Albert Gore Sr., father of the vice president and a Southern liberal whose opposition to the Vietnam War ended his 32 years in Congress, died Saturday. He was 90.
Gore died of natural causes at his home, a statement from the vice president's office said. Al Gore Jr. and his wife, Tipper, were at his bedside."Albert Gore Sr. was the embodiment of everything public service ought to be," President Clinton said. "He was a teacher, he was a progressive, he helped to connect the South with the rest of America."
A leader among liberals in his years in the Senate, 1953-71, the elder Gore became known during his third term for his opposition to the Vietnam War. His son, meanwhile, served as an Army journalist in Vietnam.
Gore was defeated by Republican Bill Brock in 1970.
"You know, he might have been himself in national office if he hadn't been just a little too far ahead of his time," Clinton said, praising Gore's pro-integration stance on race and opposition to the war.
Gore retired from public life after his defeat, vowing, "The truth shall rise again."
Six years later, his son and namesake was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and then to the Senate in 1984. After a failed presidential try in 1988, the younger Gore was elected vice president as Clinton's running mate in 1992.
Commenting on his son's nomination, Gore said proudly: "I would never want to deny any man, when he holds his baby son for the first time, the right to look at him and think he might grow up to be president of the United States."
Gore himself was a vice presidential candidate during the 1956 Democratic convention. He withdrew in favor of fellow Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver, who won the nomination and lost as running mate to Adlai Stevenson.
When Gore was first elected to the Senate, in 1952, he had already served 14 years in the U.S. House, taking time out for Army service during World War II.