Al Gore: Address to the 1996 Democratic National Convention

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Dogged by the Whitewater scandal, an investigation into allegedly improper real estate dealings by the Clintons, as well as by a failed attempt at health care reform and by the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit against Bill Clinton, the Democrats suffered a historic defeat in the congressional election of 1994, losing control of both the House and the Senate. When President Clinton faced reelection in 1996 against the Republican contender Bob Dole, the incumbents appeared to have an uphill battle ahead of them; Clinton's and Gore's acceptance speeches at the Democratic National Convention would need to be memorable.

The vice presidential nominee typically delivers his acceptance speech before the presidential candidate does. In 1996 Gore was the keynote speaker on a separate evening, indicating that the party anticipated he would be a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000. Gore needed to establish himself as an independent man, capable of taking on the executive office but also supportive of President Clinton, who was under attack by the Republican Party.

Gore immediately addresses one of his primary weaknesses: his stiff demeanor in public. He jokes about his “reputation for excitement,” drawing laughter from the crowd. Gore then demonstrates his version of a popular dance at the time, the Macarena, at which point he stands absolutely rigid with a stony expression on his face, to the delight of the audience. Gore uses his ability to poke fun at himself in a masterful way to overcome a political obstacle to future higher office; he wins the audience over early in his speech by acknowledging his tendency to be uptight.

Gore then reviews the accomplishments of the Clinton administration, but emphasizes his own achievements. His list highlights improvements in the economy, technology, and the environment. Specifically, Gore mentions a “leaner re-invented government,” a reference to his National Performance Review report; the information superhighway, a direct result of his work on the High-Performance Computing Act as a senator; and his priority of ensuring a clean environment. He also mentions foreign affairs in which he was involved, including negotiations with the Ukraine to disarm its nuclear warheads and diplomatic efforts to oust the military leader Raoul Cedras as ruler of Haiti and to respond to the growing crisis in Bosnia. By noting these specific instances of the Clinton administration's foreign policy accomplishments, Gore also highlights his own unusually active role in international affairs.

Gore then takes on Clinton's opponent in the upcoming election, Bob Dole. As majority leader of the Senate, Dole was a key figure during the acrimonious budget debate between Clinton and Congress that led to the shutdown of the federal government in 1995. Dole was wounded while serving in World War II and had been a member of the Senate for over thirty years. Thus, while Gore gives Dole credit for serving his country, he dubs him a “bridge to the past.” By mentioning some specific policies Dole voted against, Gore makes the age difference between the candidates clear; Clinton would not yet have been twenty years old when Dole cast his vote against funding for the Apollo moon landing program.

Gore often refers to historical figures in his speeches and writings, and he does so in this speech to reinforce the dichotomy he is setting up between the past and the future. He mentions two American authors, Carl Sandburg and Ralph Waldo Emerson, both of whom are known for their poems and essays that portray America as a nation of optimism and progress. Gore dovetails the quotation from Emerson nicely into one about Clinton; Bill Clinton was born in Hope, Arkansas, and the phrase man from Hope had become a staple on the 1992 campaign trail.

Calling attention to the bipartisan tension of the time, Gore punctuates each of a string of charges against the Republican majority in Congress with the same words. This repetition serves as a rallying cry to the audience, and it also presents Gore as a leader; an important goal of this speech was to improve his image as a contender for the presidential nomination in 2000. Through his choice of words, Gore molds himself as the protector of Clinton's position, holding off the Republican threat.

The most controversial portion of this speech was Gore's emotional story about his sister, Nancy. According to his biographer Bill Turque, Gore wrestled with the text of this portion of the speech for days, inserting it at the last minute. Although some criticized him for exploiting his sister's death for political purposes and others took him to task for his own part in the tobacco industry (Gore received substantial campaign contributions from cigarette manufacturers and had long-standing ties to tobacco farmers in his home state), in using it Gore showed a more emotional side to the American public than he had before.

In this carefully crafted speech, Gore meets a number of political demands. He reminds the public of the administration's record, always calling attention to President Clinton's achievements but still making note of his own. He positions himself as a strong, capable leader, as presidential material in his own right; the rather angry partisan rhetoric is designed to counteract his image as a passive intellectual. Finally, through self-deprecating humor and the tragic example of his sister's death, Gore shows his emotional side to an American public that viewed him as too formal and guarded. No ordinary vice presidential nomination speech, Gore's 1996 address set the stage for his presidential run in 2000.