The career paths of President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore have embodied the political process almost from the very beginning.

Graduating with a law degree from Yale in 1973, William Jefferson Clinton was elected Attorney General of Arkansas in 1976. Three years later, he was elected Governor of Arkansas and remained as such for four terms, one of the longest tenures of that office in the state’s history. His platform has been laced with economic reform ideas and the promotion of education.

Clinton is married to Hillary Rodham Clinton. The couple has one 16-year-old daughter, Chelsea.

Albert Gore, Jr., is the son of a former U.S. senator and followed in his father’s footsteps with a degree in government from Harvard University in 1969.

Gore served in Vietnam, while Clinton opted not to join the armed forces.

Returning to civilian life, Gore became an investigative reporter with The Tennessean in Nashville, Tenn. He then continued his education at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School and Vanderbilt Law School.

Gore began his political career in 1976 when his was elected to represent Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served as such until 1985, when he was elected to the Senate. Gore ran as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 1988.

Gore’s platform has included the environment as a whole, the GLOBE program to coordinate the work of children, educators, and scientists in monitoring the global environment and aid poverty-stricken inner cities and rural areas.

Gore and his wife Tipper have four children: Karenna, Kristin, Sarah and Albert III.

In 1992, Gore was chosen as Clinton’s running mate for the Presidential election.

— Information for this article was provided by the Clinton/Gore homepages found at http://www.cg96.org/new/bcag/ag/index.htm.