AL GORE: United States Vice President

It's hard not to like Al Gore -- he seems such a genuinely nice guy -- and this homage does nothing to sully his fine reputation. Burford (Chocolate by Hershey, not reviewed) paints Gore as a sensitive and caring family man; a man who went to law school to understand and combat injustice; a man who represents all the finest hopes of a new generation of politicians. The beloved only son of his political father, Albert Gore, Sr., Gore became disillusioned with politics when his father failed to win reelection to the Senate in 1970. Soon after, Gore went to Vietnam for his tour of duty. When he returned to the US, he became a reporter in Nashville. He then attended law school and finally reentered the political world, this time as a congressional hopeful himself. Gore won a place in the House in 1976 and, two terms later, in the Senate. In 1992, he became Vice President of the United States. Despite the clear bias in her subject's favor, Burford gives a fine account of the Vice President's career to date.