Scenes from the Marriage of Al and Tipper Gore

In 1973 the Gores had their first child, Karenna, center, while they were working at the Tennessean newspaper. Three years later, Gore would run for his father's former seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he would serve until 1984. While in Congress, Tipper would give birth to their three other children: Kristin, Sarah and Albert III.

Then Vice President George Bush swears in Senator Al Gore in 1985. Shortly after Al moved to the Senate, Tipper Gore co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center and penned and published her first book, Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society.

In 1988 Al Gore, with Tipper at his side, ran for the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States.

This photo was taken shortly after Super Tuesday 1988, when Gore won Democratic primaries in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Nevada, Tennessee and Oklahoma. Later, after a poor showing in the New York primary, he would drop out of the race.

In 1992 Bill Clinton chose Gore as his running mate in the presidential election. They would claim the White House and win re-election in 1996.

During the second term of Gore's vice presidency, the Gores' daughter Karenna got married at Washington National Cathedral in Washington. Al and Tipper escorted their daughter up the church stairs before the beginning of the ceremony, above.

The Gores were well known in D.C. circles for their Halloween costumes. In 1999 Al dressed as the cartoon character Underdog; Tipper went as Polly Purebred, a character from the same 1960s animated television program.

In 2000 Gore chose to once again seek the presidency. After he accepted the Democratic National Committee nomination, he embraced his wife in a long and memorable, much remarked-upon nationally televised kiss.

During the 2002 midterm elections, the Gores went to bat for Democratic candidates. On election night, Al and Tipper Gore called winners and losers to offer congratulations and condolences.

Also in 2002, the couple co-authored Joined at the Heart: The Transformation of the American Family, a book on traditional and nontraditional relationships. In this photo, the pair embraces in the freight elevator of a Barnes & Noble in New York during a book-signing event.

In an e-mail to friends and family, the Gores gave no reason for their separation. "This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration," the e-mail read. "We ask for respect for our privacy and that of our family, and we do not intend to comment further."