Al and his roommate had been friends since they met on their first day of the fall semester at Harvard College in 1965. They spent most of their time shooting pool and watching Star Trek rather than studying for exams. Al occasionally challenged his roommate to shooting contests in which they would see who could shoot a tin can from the farthest distance. Al usually won. Al’s roommate’s parents lived overseas when he was in college, so Al’s roommate went with Al to his parent’s house in Carthage, Tennessee for the holidays and other school breaks. There, they went chasing after cows that got loose, canoeing, hunting, including coon hunting with coon dogs in the middle of the night. On one Thanksgiving, Al and his roommate had to stay in their dorm for the holiday. Wanting to keep with the holiday spirit, they decided to roast a turkey. They built a fire in the dorm’s central fireplace, wrapped a turkey in a couple of rolls of aluminum foil, and roasted the turkey. Al’s roommate said later that it was Al’s most ambitious attempt at cooking. Oh, the things we get up to when in college.

One day, Al and his Harvard College roommate asked two fellow students, who were also roommates, out for a double date. The girls accepted, but there was one problem. Al’s roommate had no car, no motorcycle, no mode of transportation. All Al had was a motorcycle. Had they spent what little money they had on a taxi, they would not have had enough money to spend on their dates. Al could have taken turns shuttling his roommate and their dates to their date spot, but they all wanted to ride together. So, they did the best they could with what they had. Al’s date, Tipper, rode on the handlebars, Al drove, Al’s roommate’s date sat behind Al, and Al’s roommate sat on the back of the motorcycle behind his date. The motorcycle, designed to carry two people at most, was overloaded. Riding on public roadways of Cambridge, Massachusetts with four people on a motorcycle was illegal. The foursome carefully started on their journey to the date spot. Almost as soon as they set off, they saw a policeman. Unfortunately, the policeman saw them, too. The officer’s eyes followed them in disbelief as they passed. The foursome on the motorcycle stared at the police officer in disbelief as well. The officer pulled out behind the overloaded motorcycle and turned on his emergency lights. It looked as if their date would be cut short.

Al had another idea. He told his passengers to “hold on!” Tipper gripped the handlebars even tighter. Al’s date locked her hands even tighter around Al’s abdomen. With a sly grin, Al’s roommate squeezed his date tighter. Al gunned the motorcycle. The policeman accelerated his patrol car and stayed right behind them. Al thought quickly and turned down an alleyway that was too narrow for a car to follow. After “ditching” the policeman, the foursome on the overloaded motorcycle continued driving to their date spot. Again, they saw a policeman and avoided being pulled over by going down a narrow alley. The foursome eventually made it to their date spot, enjoyed their evening, and headed back to campus, all the while “ditching” policemen in the same manner as before. A few years later, Al married his date. What became of Al’s roommate’s date remains a mystery.

35 years after they first met, Al Gore ran an unsuccessful campaign for President of the United States. At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, Al’s roommate nominated Al for president and delivered a convention speech in which he told of their college days and their lifelong friendship. In the speech, Al’s roommate said Al “has been one of my closest friends since the day we met.” Later in the speech, Al’s roommate said, “Al is the closest thing I’ve had to a brother.” While Al’s political career prospered, Al’s roommate’s acting career also flourished. Al’s roommate has been nominated for several Academy Awards and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Fugitive. He won a Golden Globe award for his performance in Coal Miner’s Daughter. Some of his other notable films include Men in Black, Batman Forever, Double Jeopardy, and Space Cowboys. Al’s roommate has appeared in at least 90 films. You know Al’s roommate and lifelong friend. His name is Tommy Lee Jones.