Politics

Gore Lays Low  For Now

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 25, 2001 / 2:20 PM EST / CBS

The public’s last image of former Vice President Al Gore is of him watching his general election opponent, George W. Bush, getting sworn in on Inauguration Day. Now, the 52-year-old Gore is expected to be much less visible – although he’s definitely not going into hiding.

First, Gore has lined up two part-time teaching gigs in his home state of Tennessee — one at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro and the other at Fisk University, a historically black college in Nashville.

Also, Columbia University announced Thursday that Gore will teach part-time at its Graduate School of Journalism in New York beginning in February.

"From his unique perspective, students will get to see how government and the press intersect," journalism dean Tom Goldstein said in a statement. Keep in mind, prior to his political career, Gore spent several years as a journalist at the Nashville Tennessean.

A Gore aide told CBSNews.com that he will write a book about families with his wife, Tipper, to be published in the fall of 2002. The book would be a mix of personal stories, history, psychology and policy.

Needless to say, he will be doing a lot of commuting in the near future, but he'll sill be based in the Washington, D.C. area, as he has been for the last 24 years. The Gores want to stay in Washington while their 17-year-old son, Albert III, is still a senior at Sidwell Friends School.

The family is currently residing in the Arlington, Virginia house that's been in Tipper’s family for years. This is the same house that they lived in during Gore’s tenure in the House and Senate.

A vice presidential transition office, which is federally funded for six months, has been set up in northern Virginia as well. However, according to Gore spokesperson Audrey Haines, it’s currently not ready for him to start working in.

Haines told CBSNews.com that the office had "no long distance" telephone service until Wednesday and they’re still "working out of boxes." She said they’ve asked Gore not to come into the office until Monday.

In the meantime, he’s been working out of a home office.

There’s some talk of the Gores returning to Tennessee after Albert III graduates and heads to Harvard University. They still own a farm in Carthage, where the former vice president’s 88-year-old mother, Pauline, lives.

There’s also speculation that before he gets back to Tennessee, Gore will begin to focus on his personal finances. According to an estimate by the nonpartisan National Taxpayers Union, Gore will receive a pension of around $95,000 a year. But he’s looking for a larger nest egg, according to his former chief of staff Charles Burson.

"I think that’s certainly one of the areas which he will pursue – strengthening and developing their financial resources," Burson said.

By no meas is Gore considered wealthy enough to retire at the age of 52, especially with a son about to enter college. On a financial disclosure report he filed in May 2000, he reported assets of $1-$2 million, which includes both the Arlington and Carthage homes.

Another natural avenue for him to pursue would be the speaking circuit. When asked whether Gore had signed on with a speakers’ bureau, Haines said, "That option’s definitely open."

Another option that he’ll probably keep open is running for president again in 2004. Most everybody agrees it’s too early to tell if he’ll do it, but that hasn’t stopped the Des Moines Register from conducting an early Democratic Caucus poll.

It showed Gore way ahead with 39 percent, Sen. Hillary Clinton with 12 percent and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt with 9 percent.

With numbers like that, it may be hard for Gore to continue to keep a low profile and forget about politics altogether.