Thomas Gore

Thomas Gore 1870 1949 was a Democratic politician. He was a U.S. Senator from Oklahoma from 1907 until 1921 and from 1931 until 1937. He is notable for being totally blind, and also for being the grandfather of Albert Gore, Sr and greatgrandfather of Al Gore. He became blind as a child, but did not give up his dream of becoming a senator. In 1907 he was elected to the Senate as one of the first two senators from the new state of Oklahoma. He was reelected in 1908 and 1914 but defeated in 1920. He was known as a member of the progressive wing of the democratic party, who worked with republicans such as Robert La Follette. He was to a large extent no different from any other politician because of his blindness, but there were problems, as La Follette recounts an example in his memoirs when, during a filabuster, Gore did not realize that the senator who was to take over speaking for him had left the room, and the filabuster failed because he did not continue to speak.

Gore was reelected in 1930 to the senate. When Franklin Roosevelt first took office as president, Gore at first supported his New Deal, but later feuded with him.