Al and Tipper Gore Announce Separation After 40 Years of Marriage

Former Vice President Al Gore, 62 and his wife Tipper, 61 have announced that they are separating after 40 years of marriage. The Gore's just celebrated their 40 year anniversary on May 19th, 2010.

In an e-mail sent to friends, the Gore's stated that it was "a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration". Kalee Kreider who is the spokeswoman for the Gore's confirmed that the statement did indeed come from the couple, but declined any further comments.

Friends say they were told by the Gore's that they had "grew apart" and there was no affair involved in the separation. One of the friends also stated that "their lives had gotten more and more separated".

Al and Tipper met in 1965 at a high school dance and married 5 years later at Washington's National Cathedral. Six months into their marriage, Gore deployed to Vietnam as an Army public information officer. After he got home he started working as a reporter for The Tennessean in Nashville and Tipper also worked there as a photographer.

In 1976 Al ran for Congress and won and this was the beginning of his 25 year political career. Tipper then quit graduate school and joined him in Washington. In 1992 he was elected vice president.

In 2002 Al and Tipper co-authored a book titled "Joined at the Heart: The Transformation of the American Family," in which they used anecdotes from their own marriage.

Al and Tipper own homes in Nashville and Carthage, Tennessee. This spring they purchased an $8.8 million, 6,500 sq. ft. ocean front villa in Montecito, California.

They have four grown children, Karenna Aitcheson Gore Schiff born in 1973, Kristin Carlson Gore born in 1977, Sarah LaFon Gore born in 1979 and Albert Gore III born in 1982. The Gore's have three grandchildren.

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