Interview with Senator Albert Gore Sr. and Pauline Gore

Have dinner with a man think that helps. Well 18 are coming to the inauguration with the doctor on. I don't know I don't think I think it was just local people. I don't know who I know I don't know I don't think she's that interested in that. She had a boyfriend this summer and he didn't come here somehow. I don't know and I haven't heard anything of him since she went back to school in September. I think he's still there but I don't think she's that interested yet. And anybody. Yeah OK. Your son. Become the vice president. Gates is of course a great guy but it has made an impact on their lives. They tell us that every day there are

activities to your heart. This is war. Well we get more telephone calls and we get more visitors. But it's very nice it's it's nice to have him achieve this honor. And we are proud of it and enjoying it. Senator Gore you were very significant senator from the state county and I think one way your career. You were very close to becoming president or the vice president of the United States. I'm your son. I'm not sure I can adequately describe it. It's an enormous joy and thrill. That. My son has achieved this level of public service. I think there is another step I'd like to see him take some day and maybe I can live to see it.

There are people today Senator Ryan. Of course came from a political thing. She said Howard you're not going to get a lot of people here in the political arena that there is something wrong. What do you how do you feel about public service. You know what. Well that's. Position of trust. And honor. And responsibility. That's how I feel. I tried to honor all three of those conditions. In your career did a lot of things. One of the things I guess that I did not know that you were responsible for. Yes the interstate highway system. I come here I have a college education that my father worked construction and built a lot in our

states. How did you get the idea for this legislation. But how do you feel today when you're driving down highways. Well first I like to relate how I came up with. I was in. World War Two for a few months and. Went with the infantry on the attack in Germany. And. I saw. What the German the highway system the Autobahn meant militarily. For us. That of course even more for us for the Germans. Later on. After I was chairman of the highway committee back in there and the Congress like in the Senate. Dwight Eisenhower who was then general not president. And

I jointly address to. A convention then. And Washington. And then we walked across. The Park. Oh I guess. 300 yards. Had a little talk as we went and. When that was. Discussed the German Autobahn. And he expressed a view that the facility. Of this system a national system of highways and Germany had made it possible for Hitler for a long time to support war on both sides and. We agreed as we talk that our country needed it not only for our national defense but for the growing economy the need for rapid transportation. So anyway later on he recommended it and I introduced to

Bell and. Worked at it to. Revise the bill to meet the public needs. There requisites of the legislation. Finally. Got it passed into law. And now to answer your second question I just don't know what we would now do. It would affect it would be disastrous to our economy if the interstate system was suddenly not there and we were on the road with a lot of traffic lights. The largest. Fight I had. Was in the limitation of access. I had to be sold on it myself. But. I came to realize. That you could not have. A safe system of rapid transit highways

and leave it open for every landowner to sell a spot to garage and bargain joint or real estate office or whatever and back again and drive out on the highway anyplace. So we finally got along so that. Access would only be by these circle. Entrances and exits so the system is free of traffic lights. You can drive from. New York to Los Angeles and never be stopped by a traffic light and you can go on and off of it all in there. By the cloverleafs. This was the hardest fight landowners and business people wanted to have free access. The second. Hardest fight.

It was to make the right away. Wide enough. To keep it so I could be beautified. And. Then prevent. Billboards from in place that ever curve. To block. The view of the landscape. This was a hard one. Anyway we pass along we've got millions of miles. Built. And. But it still needs to be there still needs to be some more and it's every mile there's paid far before you drive on it. What are some other thing you owe. Your son. Yeah you do a lot. Well a lot of people think they're like oh well it takes time.

To solve any problem. And we have some great ones. I'd say health care right now. Is the greatest most pression. And we are plagued with. I think the worst. Plague that's hit him out of his sense of bubonic plague. The danger of AIDS. Is enormous. And enormous. We have no cure for art. And. It is deficit more devastating to people than no and that a lot. Of and. I don't know why. Probably partially because of the. Misunderstanding. Of how. It's acquired. That's

one. One reason I think but there are so many problems that share the importance of solving that health care in the age of the drugs jobs that they've got so much to start doing all at the same time and we got into this situation over a period of time and it's going to take a period of time to get out of it. You had your wife your wife I know you were like. You know well we don't give up very much privacy and some of it comes it comes in spurts but not very much. I feel proud that he has the opportunity. As well as the responsibility to try to help get us out of this and solve the problems that we. Need solving. And

what small amount of privacy we give up is certainly worth. The. Optin does that come to him. It's hard to. See. Well not any not any harder than it is anything else in life it's life is more difficult now we have more. It takes you longer to shop it takes you longer to. Do many things but then we have more opportunities and more pleasures than we did. When we had less. Access to. To. The things that we can have now. Have you feeling like.

Here is a bar that there's no story that you know. That I didn't hear that and I don't. We don't listen. To the late night shows and many of the comedians It doesn't bother me. I would hope. That jokes made of environmental problems would cause more people to think about them and instead of. Disregard the problems that we face. Harry 0 0 0 8. Oh yes. Coming up on a farm I had a tremendous effect on him you know. To live in an environment where you try to

solve the. Problems on a farm you try to stop the. Washing gullies of the farm and you know the problems of pesticides and herbicides. Yes I think it had a big effect on him he grew up. In the period of Rachel Carson and knowing you know a lot of people have not known we faced a problem. And many of the things that have been done up to now. Have been done because they didn't know it. I just picked up. The Wall Street Journal came in the mail this water and there's a page one. Story. That. And the southern part of each other. The state of Pentagon Pentagon basis. The principal industry has been sheep.

Raising sheep. The sheep are going blind. Hole in the result and the ozone. I read a story just a few days ago. That in parts of Australia. That children can only go out. In the daytime if they have heavy dark light wear heavy dark glasses. The environmental. Threat. To mankind. And. To this earth. Is growing. It's dangerous. Twenty three years ago. When I wrote my last book. I had a whole chapter. On energy. Conservation and the environment. So I was thinking of it then. And. Al. Read my book and.

Commented on it and so on. So the subject is not new to him as Pauline said. He came up. With practice and conservation here on the farm. He came up with our our and their suffering environmental problems and now he's become a world authority on this subject. He has written a book as you know on the environment. Now my book sold. Well I believe it got up to 20000 and I was real real pleased with that. Well. The sale of al the book now in our own country. Is approaching 300000 copies and it's now printed in eight different languages. It's on the bestseller list in Germany for instance. So here is a young man who's. Lived and learned and prospered. In public service and then learned.

And. We're just so happy that he has this opportunity to help lead our country. I think one of the nicest things there is now the young people the school children I think that. I think the schools have done a marvelous job of. Calling attention to the environmental. Problems and the young people of the ones who coming on will have to solve it. And they are really. Onto it. And I know many parents who are in barest to do things around their children who want don't want them to see them because they're not in compliance with what they think the dire and mental environmental practices we can look forward to that education. Yes there are areas teachers are now becoming more responsible like that. Yes. What kind of Family Guy do you have. That makes you guys.

Well. When he was growing up I didn't think about what we were doing as a family values. Just use the. You know. I practiced love in the home for the children and responsibilities of what I called I thought of it as a responsibility to my children. And their responsibilities to us and their neighbors and to humanity. I can do better about what she did she go too far self either she was a loving mother she was a mother. She was also strict. She required her children to do their homework for school. She required them to. Practice habits of cleanliness of honor and of respect for every human being.

And that's what it's called I guess now family values that I love. Some people have a they didn't know she. Found their values. One reason that Pauline and I together campaigned in many states all across the United States or stood. Drive home the fact that we practiced. Family values is all the truth and not the bigoted kind of some one's particular notion of religion our. Ethics our politics. But the American way and she lived it. And helped her children live it. And your boat made against you. You know when you were serving here. Came your wife got a lot of time really. Yes. Really you're kind of right.

Oh yeah well you know I didn't get anybody around this area to say he didn't grow up here. He was here our summers. And vacations. Well of course. And watch you know he went to school there. But. As soon as school was out. He wanted to come home immediately. Nearly one. Well he had playmates here. He had a pony. He had a dog who had his. Frequent litter of puppies. And he had fish and rods and a lake in front of the house to facia and swim in. Where do you think. More 10 14 15 18 would prefer to live under conditions here as I've just described are on the eighth floor of a brick building with

concrete all around it. Oh yeah yeah yeah see that's day in and day and factor. On Christmas Day we were. Talking about this question this very question. I said well son. Your responsibility is going to be so great that it's nationwide and worldwide. I don't know how you're going to. How you are going to be in Tennessee very much. He said well I plan to spend some time with the children down there during the summers. So he still yearns to be here during the summer I have canoes and a motor boat. He has all of his children in the water ski he water skis and tempered. In fact I was daughter grand. I was granddaughter Khurrana was state women's champion of water

skiing. So. Yes I will be here for her class. Yeah yeah. Well. I have to keep him. I have asked to keep him straight. Well she won the she won and the female class of course she didn't ski like I would have if I could. I don't know out of it. Now I understand that your horse you're very beautiful you know great sure about. All the things I was going to start doing. He's got. That lead when he takes out all seven the responsibilities yes. And he will do his best to fulfill it. You know I live right. By. You John Kerry. Other presidents are very.

Busy right. Now. Watching Franklin Roosevelt. I think it already does. And I hope he'll manifest more. You know any final calmly. Oh. No. We just have a feeling of pride and hope. And I guess that sums up. We're proud that he's achieved this honor. And privilege. And then we have great hope that things will go well enough that they can and they can realize the things that they want to do for the people and for people and the country.

Yeah. Thank you. OK. Yes. OK.