Clears it all up.... 
Good afternoon. I'm Al Gore, and I'd like to tell you about myself. 
 
I know a lot about hardship, because I came into this world as a poor 
black 
child in a tiny town in the backwoods of Tennessee. I was born in a log 
cabin that I built with my own hands. I taught myself to read by 
candlelight and helped support my 16 brothers and sisters by working 
summers 
as a deck hand on a Mississippi River steamboat. 
 
My mother taught me the value of education, so every day; I would walk 5 
miles to a one-room schoolhouse. I was a mischievous, fun-loving scamp, 
though I never dreamed that one-day, my youthful escapades would serve as 
the inspiration for "Huckleberry Finn." 
 
Back then, black folks in the south were second-class citizens. One day, 
a 
traveling minister came through town, and I asked him if anyone was ever 
going to do something to guarantee civil rights for all Americans. Well, I 
guess I made an impression. You see, the minister's name was Martin 
Luther 
King, Jr. 
 
My father was a United States Senator. He once perched me on his knee and 
said, "Son, if you work hard and listen to your mama, someday you can live 
in a hotel in Washington, D.C., and go to an exclusive prep school." 
 
But life of privilege was not for me. After getting my high school 
diploma, 
I took a job in a hot, dirty textile mill. I was so appalled at the 
treatment of the workers there that I organized a union. Later, that 
experience inspired a movie - which is why, to this day, my close friends 
at 
the AFL-CIO call me "Norma Rae." 
 
When word got out what an 18 year old factory worker had done, Harvard 
called and offered me a scholarship. I captained the hockey team to four 
consecutive national championships, but I also played football and was 
good 
enough to win the Heisman Trophy. During my college years, I lived in a 
housing project and moonlighted playing lead guitar for a little rock 
band. 
You may have heard of it - the Rolling Stones. 
 
But there was a war going on, and I felt I had to serve my country. So I 
enlisted in the U. S. Army and went to Vietnam. I was deeply opposed to 
the 
war, but I did my duty as a soldier and came back home with the Medal of 
Honor and the Croix de Guerre. 
 
When I got back, I took a long journey across this great land of ours. 
I've 
crossed the deserts bare, man, I've breathed the mountain air, man, I've 
traveled, I've done my share, man, I've been everywhere. And the people I 
met at truckstops and campgrounds and homeless shelters on that journey 
all 
said the same thing: "Al, we need you in Washington." 
 
I knew they were right, but first I had to take care of some other 
business---building the World Trade Center, founding the Audubon Society, 
doing the clinical research that proved smoking caused cancer, and coming 
up 
with the recipe for Mrs. Field's chocolate chip cookies. 
 
Finally, I deferred to the demands of the people of Tennessee and allowed 
them to elect me to the House of Representatives and the Senate, where I 
established the US Strategic Oil Reserve. And then one winter day nearly 
nine years ago, for no particular reason, I answered the call of the 
people 
once again and took the oath of office as Vice President of the United 
States. 
 
Since then, I've been part of the most successful administration in 
American 
history. And, in my spare time, I invented the Internet. Many times Bill 
Clinton has been pondering some grave decision and has asked me what to 
do. 
And when I would give him my thoughts, he would invariably say, "Of 
course. 
That's brilliant. Why didn't I think of that?" During the darkest days of 
the impeachment battle, the president told me he only wished he had 
listened 
when I told him to stay away from that dark-haired intern. 
 
So after I decided to run for president, I sat down with him and asked if 
he 
had any suggestions about how to conduct my campaign. And Bill Clinton 
gave 
me a few simple words of advice -- words I'll never forget. He looked me 
in the eye and he said, "Al, just tell the truth, it's always worked for 
me."