Tipper Gore

Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore (née Aitcheson; born August 19, 1948) is an American social issues advocate. She was the second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 through her marriage to 45th vice president Al Gore in 1970, although they separated in 2010. In 1985, Gore co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), which advocated for labeling of record covers of releases featuring profane language, especially in the heavy metal, punk, and hip hop genres of music. Throughout her decades of public life, she has advocated for placing advisory labels on music (leading critics to call her a censor), mental health awareness, women's causes, children's causes, LGBT rights, and reducing homelessness. Early life and education Born Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson in Washington, D.C., Tipper Gore is the daughter of John Kenneth "Jack" Aitcheson, Jr., a plumbing-supply entrepreneur and owner of J & H Aitcheson Plumbing Supply, and his first wife, Margaret Ann (née Carlson) Odom (who lost her first husband during World War II). She was given the nickname "Tipper" by her mother, from a lullaby her mother had heard. Gore grew up in Arlington, Virginia. Her mother and grandmother raised her after her parents divorced. She attended St. Agnes (now St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School), a private Episcopal school in Alexandria, Virginia, where she played basketball, softball and field hockey, and played the drums for an all-female band called The Wildcats.