Dunster '69 Remembers Gore

When actor Tommy Lee Jones '69 thinks of his Harvard days with his roommate, Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Albert A. Gore, Jr. '69, he recalls an idyllic experience.

"There was lots of music and a wonderful library [in Dunster House]. We liked to shoot pool in the basement and play poker on the fifth floor," he says.

Although there were always "petitions to sign" in the dining hall, life in Dunster House, where Gore and his seven roommates lived after spending their first year together in Mower Hall, was "casual and informal," Jones says.

"It was a school boy's life," Jones says, who remembers cooking turkey in their Mower fireplace with Gore when they couldn't go home for Thanksgiving.

Keeping a low profile amidst the tumultuous political climate on campus during the late 1960's, playing intramural sports for Dunster House and eating burgers at the grill with his roommates while studying hard, characterized Gore's four years at Harvard.

Although Gore's addition to the Democratic presidential ticket last week is a centrist political strategist's dream come true, the Vice Presidential candidate's renowned moderation was not a particularly great asset in the radical political scene at Harvard during his undergraduateyears.

Despite an initial foray into undergraduatepolitics in his first year, when he was elected tothe Freshman Council, the future U.S. Senator and1988 presidential candidate was largely absentfrom campus political life.

"He was initially very active in studentpolitics...," class marshal William S. Robertson'69 says. "He was very high profile and then hebacked away."

Jones says that he doesn't know why Goreavoided Harvard political life after his firstyear. "I don't know why he didn't [participate inpolitics]. At that age [it was a] time toestablish independence."

"There were more interesting things to do thanpolitics," he says.

Then, "radical" left wing groups such asStudents for a Democratic Society (SDS) set thepolitical tone on campus.

The group's activism culminated in the springof Gore's senior year when SDS took overUniversity Hall to push for the removal of theReserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and theexpansion of Black Studies at Harvard, among otherissues. The students' confrontation with theadministration ended when then-President Nathan M.Pusey '28 had the police disband the protest byforce.

"Kids were walking up and down the streetbleeding," Jones says.

Although friends do not remember what Gorethought of the extraordinary events on campus,many assume that the future senator did notapprove.

"I can't imagine my friend Albert Goreendorsing Pusey's decision. Very few people in theHarvard community did," Jones says.

But Gore himself was "temperamentally" unsuitedto such demonstrations and radicalism, says RobertA. Somerby '69, another of Gore's roommates.

Unlike other '90s centrists, Gore is not areformed radical. Even in college, friends noticedhis temperate stands.

"I would say that he was probably in theamorphous middle ground," says Robert B. ShetterlyJr. '69, who was active in SDS demonstrations.

Shetterly says he met Gore on the first-yearbasketball team. "Both of us were of similarability and talents. We both spent a lot of timeon the bench," Shetterly says.

"I don't remember him being aggressively on thecutting edge of left wing action, butsympathetic," Richard Barnum '69 says.

Gore's dorm, Dunster House, in fact, was the"hotbed of radical politics," Robertson says."There was a lot of trouble fitting in, unless youwanted to overthrow the government and become partof the protest."

"People who were prominent in Dunster werepeople in radical politics," Robertson says.

While Gore was not very active in campuspolitics, national politics and the Vietnam Warwere dominant topics of discussion among thefuture senator and his roommates.

Jones says they discussed politics "all day,every day, Politics was a pervasive subject inthose days."

Gore's roommate Robert A. Somerby '69 remembersstaying up until 5 a.m. with Gore on the night ofthe 1968 presidential election when everyone elsehad given up on the posibility that HubertHumphrey would pull off an upset of Richard M.Nixon.

Still, his close friends say that Gore gavelittle indication that he was considering apolitical career.

"The thought never crossed my mind...[Gore'spolitical career] kind of surprises me inretrospect," Somerby says.

"He wasn't someone you'd think of as ambitiousby Harvard standards.

Despite an initial foray into undergraduatepolitics in his first year, when he was elected tothe Freshman Council, the future U.S. Senator and1988 presidential candidate was largely absentfrom campus political life.

"He was initially very active in studentpolitics...," class marshal William S. Robertson'69 says. "He was very high profile and then hebacked away."

Jones says that he doesn't know why Goreavoided Harvard political life after his firstyear. "I don't know why he didn't [participate inpolitics]. At that age [it was a] time toestablish independence."

"There were more interesting things to do thanpolitics," he says.

Then, "radical" left wing groups such asStudents for a Democratic Society (SDS) set thepolitical tone on campus.

The group's activism culminated in the springof Gore's senior year when SDS took overUniversity Hall to push for the removal of theReserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and theexpansion of Black Studies at Harvard, among otherissues. The students' confrontation with theadministration ended when then-President Nathan M.Pusey '28 had the police disband the protest byforce.

"Kids were walking up and down the streetbleeding," Jones says.

Although friends do not remember what Gorethought of the extraordinary events on campus,many assume that the future senator did notapprove.

"I can't imagine my friend Albert Goreendorsing Pusey's decision. Very few people in theHarvard community did," Jones says.

But Gore himself was "temperamentally" unsuitedto such demonstrations and radicalism, says RobertA. Somerby '69, another of Gore's roommates.

Unlike other '90s centrists, Gore is not areformed radical. Even in college, friends noticedhis temperate stands.

"I would say that he was probably in theamorphous middle ground," says Robert B. ShetterlyJr. '69, who was active in SDS demonstrations.

Shetterly says he met Gore on the first-yearbasketball team. "Both of us were of similarability and talents. We both spent a lot of timeon the bench," Shetterly says.

"I don't remember him being aggressively on thecutting edge of left wing action, butsympathetic," Richard Barnum '69 says.

Gore's dorm, Dunster House, in fact, was the"hotbed of radical politics," Robertson says."There was a lot of trouble fitting in, unless youwanted to overthrow the government and become partof the protest."

"People who were prominent in Dunster werepeople in radical politics," Robertson says.

While Gore was not very active in campuspolitics, national politics and the Vietnam Warwere dominant topics of discussion among thefuture senator and his roommates.

Jones says they discussed politics "all day,every day, Politics was a pervasive subject inthose days."

Gore's roommate Robert A. Somerby '69 remembersstaying up until 5 a.m. with Gore on the night ofthe 1968 presidential election when everyone elsehad given up on the posibility that HubertHumphrey would pull off an upset of Richard M.Nixon.

Still, his close friends say that Gore gavelittle indication that he was considering apolitical career.

"The thought never crossed my mind...[Gore'spolitical career] kind of surprises me inretrospect," Somerby says.

"He wasn't someone you'd think of as ambitiousby Harvard standards.