William S. Robertson '69, the class marshal for Gore's graduating class, told The Crimson in 1992 that after his first year, Gore "backed away" from politics.

But at Harvard in 1965, Gore couldn't be completely insular. It was difficult for any student to escape the daily barrage of national and international affairs. The war in Vietnam had just begun to receive intense, critical coverage in the national media.

Day after day, The Crimson printed Associated Press stories on troop deployments. Cambridge and Boston experienced racial and ethnic unrest. Not a week went without news of a new Vietnam protest in Cambridge or Boston by student groups.

By the end of his first year, Gore had decided upon government as a concentration, but he had left the council in favor of more studious pursuits.

The Life of the Mind

Gore's blocking group was slated to spend its remaining years at Harvard in Dunster House.

"That circle of friends that I was part of one the most intellectually and personally diverse and vibrant and challenging and upsetting and stimulating," blockmate Kapetan says. "I think that's why we selected one another."

The group never went to church, but debated religion vigorously.