Thomas Gore

Thomas Pryor Gore (December 10, 1870 – March 16, 1949) 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. He first entered politics as an activist for the Populist Party, and continued this affiliation after he moved to Texas. In 1899, just before moving to Oklahoma Territory to practice law in Lawton, he formally joined the Democratic Party and campaigned for William Jennings Bryan. In the Senate, his anti-war beliefs caused him conflict with Democratic presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Gore lost his eyesight during his youth. He was the maternal grandfather of noted author Gore Vidal.

Early life Gore was born on December 10, 1870, near Embry, Mississippi in Webster County, (Webster County was then known as Sumner County.) 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. The Gores were Anglo-Irish from Donegal and arrived in North America at the end of the seventeenth century and tended to intermarry with other Anglo-Irish families, particularly in Virginia. Young Thomas and his family moved to Walthall, the county seat, when his father was elected Chancery Clerk of Sumner County. in 1920. Gore and William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray were co-leaders of Woodrow Wilson's Oklahoma campaign for the Presidency in 1912. though he was often referred to as an isolationist. He 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. After the war, he also opposed Wilson's plan to support a League of Nations. Not only did Gore alienate many previous supporters, but he also lost his close relationship with Wilson. Thus, he lost his bid for reelection in 1920. After leaving the Senate, he returned to his private law practice full-time in Washington D.C. Yet Gore later opposed America's entry into the war even after American involvement began. He unsuccessfully opposed providing manpower for the military by conscription, saying it would create "an army of conscripted slackers." He asked: "Why should we brand the American boy as a conscript without affording him the opportunity to earn the glory of an American volunteer?" This was the principal cause of Gore's defeat in the Democratic primary in 1920 by Congressman Scott Ferris, who was in turn defeated in the general election by Republican John W. Harreld. In addition to his opposition to the draft, Gore "was one of the earliest and most vigorous sponsors of a constitutional amendment to require a popular referendum on any congressional declaration of war." On domestic policy he was a supporter of the interests of farmers and Native Americans.

Gore was re-elected to the Senate in 1930. When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office as President, Gore at first supported his New Deal policies but later feuded with him. In 1935, Gore helped lead the charge against funding the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In written response to constituents who favored the WPA, he told them that their attitude "shows how the dole spoils the soul. Your telegram intimates that your votes are for sale. Much as I value votes I am not in the market. I cannot consent to buy votes with the people's money. I owe a debt to the taxpayer as well as to the unemployed." After dictating these words, the blind senator was led to the Senate floor to cast the lone vote against the WPA.

Gore ran for re-election in 1936, but was overwhelmingly defeated in the Democratic primary. He took 18% of the vote and ended up in fourth place, behind Congressman Joshua B. Lee, Governor E. W. Marland, and attorney Gomer Smith. Lee ultimately won the primary against Marland in a runoff.

Gore retired from the Senate in January 1937 and practiced law in Washington, D.C., until his death in 1949. and had a strong misanthropic streak: "He was a genuine populist; but he did not like people very much. He always said no to anyone who wanted government aid."

Descendants Through his daughter he was the grandfather of writer Gore Vidal (1925–2012), Nina Gore Auchincloss (born 1937), who was married to Newton Steers from 1957 to 1974, and then Michael Straight from 1974 to 1998, and Thomas Gore Auchincloss (born 1939) who married Diana "Didi" Lippert.

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

A major road artery in Lawton, Oklahoma, Gore Boulevard, is named after him, as is the eastern Oklahoma town of Gore.