Tipper Gore - Background

Background

Born Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson in Washington, D.C., Tipper Gore is the daughter of John Kenneth "Jack" Aitcheson, Jr., a plumbing-supply entrepreneur, and his first wife, Margaret Ann (née Carlson) Odom (who lost her first husband during World War II). Her nickname, Tipper, derives from the lullaby "Tippy, Tippy, Tin", originally sung in the 1940 Our Gang short "All About Hash" by child actress Janet Burston. Her ancestry includes English, Scottish, German, and Swedish. Gore grew up in Arlington, Virginia. Her parents divorced and she was raised by her mother and grandmother.

She attended St. Agnes (now St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School), a private Episcopal school in Alexandria, Virginia, where she excelled in athletics and played the drums for an all-girl band, The Wildcats.

She met Gore at his senior prom in 1965. Although she came to the prom with one of his classmates, Gore and Tipper began to date immediately afterwards. When Gore began attending Harvard University, she enrolled in Garland Junior College (now part of Simmons College) and later transferred to Boston University, receiving her B.A. in psychology in 1970. Gore pursued a master's degree in psychology from George Peabody College, graduating in 1975. She then worked part-time as a newspaper photographer until her husband was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1976. In 1982, she resumed her photography career, working part-time for Quarante Magazine (1982–1985) published by Kathleen Katz of Arlington.

On May 19, 1970, she and Gore were married at the Washington National Cathedral. She has four children: Karenna Aitcheson Gore Schiff (born on August 6, 1973), Kristin Carlson Gore (born on June 5, 1977), Sarah LaFon Gore (born on January 7, 1979), and Albert Gore III (born on October 19, 1982). A longtime family friend of Al and Tipper Gore confirmed on June 1, 2010, that the Gores had sent out an e-mail to family friends announcing that they had made a mutual decision to separate.

Gore was targeted by the rock group Warrant on their 1990 album Cherry Pie in the track Ode to Tipper Gore, which was basically a collection of swear words and sexual references, due to her involvement with the Parents Music Resource Center.