29 Facts About Thomas Gore

Thomas Pryor Gore was an American politician who served as one of the first two United States senators from Oklahoma, from 1907 to 1921 and again from 1931 to 1937.

Thomas Gore first entered politics as an activist for the Populist Party, and continued this affiliation after he moved to Texas.

Thomas Gore was the maternal grandfather of noted author Gore Vidal.

The Gore family was one of the nineteen original families who owned farmlands in what later became the capital of the United States, the District of Columbia.

Thomas Gore went blind as a child through two separate accidents but did not give up his dream of becoming a senator.

Thomas Gore moved to Lebanon, Tennessee in 1891, and received a law degree from Cumberland University Law School in the following year.

Thomas Gore was admitted to the Mississippi Bar and joined his father's law firm in Mississippi.

The Thomas Gore family had been prominent members of the Southern Farmers' Alliance.

Young Thomas Gore was addressing Alliance meetings as early as 1888.

Thomas Gore campaigned vigorously from Utah to New York for William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic candidate for president in 1900.

Thomas Gore served as a delegate to the Populist convention that year, but in 1899, formally joined the Democratic Party.

Thomas Gore declined an opportunity to run as a territorial representative for the U S, Congress, but became an adviser to the 1907 Constitutional Convention, then was elected to the US Senate in 1907.

Thomas Gore was re-elected in 1908 and 1914 but lost his seat in 1920.

Thomas Gore was known as a member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, who supported many of Wilson's domestic programs, and worked well with Republicans such as Robert La Follette.

Thomas Gore 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 filibuster, Gore did not realize that the senator who was to take over speaking for him had left the room, and the filibuster failed because he did not continue to speak.

Thomas Gore was famous for turning the tables on these sharp dealers and tricking them into signing documents that they did not intend to sign.

In 1914, a woman stated that Thomas Gore had "taken advantage" of her in a hotel room.

Thomas Gore was a pacifist and an anti-interventionist who campaigned against militarism, and loudly and vociferously condemned the malefactors of wealth as being the impetus for pushing America towards war; though he was often referred to as an isolationist.

Thomas Gore voted against the Wilson Administration on most legislation pertaining to World War I However, a majority of Oklahoma voters favored helping the Allies fight Germany.

Not only did Thomas Gore alienate many previous supporters, but he lost his close relationship with Wilson.

Thomas Gore was a strong, early supporter of Woodrow Wilson's, indeed, one acknowledged as the very first major elected official to endorse Wilson's candidacy for president in 1911.

Yet Thomas Gore later opposed America's entry into the war even after American involvement began.

In 1935, Thomas Gore helped lead the charge against funding the Works Progress Administration.

Thomas Gore ran for re-election in 1936, but was overwhelmingly defeated in the Democratic primary.

Thomas Gore retired from the Senate in January 1937 and practiced law in Washington, DC, until his death in 1949.

Thomas Gore married Nina Belle Kay, a Texas plantation owner's daughter, on December 27,1900.

Thomas Gore died on March 16,1949; he was buried at Rosehill Cemetery, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but was later re-interred on July 19,1949, in Fairlawn Cemetery, in Oklahoma City.

Thomas Gore always said no to anyone who wanted government aid.

Thomas Gore was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1932.