and telecommunications. Gore was instrumental in
helping Clinton design a successful plan to cut the
federal deficit, which had skyrocketed under previ-
ous Republican administrations.
Clinton and Gore were reelected in 1996. Clin-
ton’s sexual involvement with a young female aide,
Monica Lewinsky, however, cast a dark shadow over
the rest of Clinton’s presidency and resulted in his
impeachment. Though Clinton remained in office
and enjoyed Gore’s loyal support, the scandal dam-
aged Gore’s chances of winning the presidency in
2000.
Impact Although Al Gore’s dream of becoming
president of the United States was not realized, his
achievements as vice president, environmentalist,
and technology proponent made significant contri-
butions to the United States and the world.
Further Reading
Gore, Albert.Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Hu-
man Spirit.Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992. A sci-
entific treatise, combined with sometimes emo-
tional narrative, on ecological problems. Gore
won the Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovern-
mental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 in part
for the content and impact of this book.
Maraniss, David, and Ellen Nakashima.The Prince of
Tennessee: The Rise of Al Gore.New York: Simon &
Schuster, 2000. Political biography spanning Al
Gore’s rise to national prominence. In-depth dis-
cussion of the impact of Gore’s family, especially
his father, Senator Albert Gore, Sr.
Turque, Bill.Inventing Al Gore. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 2000. Biography by a Washington, D.C.,
political correspondent forNewsweekmagazine.
Explores Gore’s personal and political history, as
well as his inner workings.
Twyla R. Wells
See also Balanced Budget Act of 1997; Campaign
finance scandal; Clinton, Bill; Clinton, Hillary Rod-
ham; Clinton’s impeachment; Clinton’s scandals;
Earth in the Balance; Educate America Act of 1994;
Elections in the United States, 1992; Elections in the
United States, 1996; Global warming debate; Inter-
net; Lewinsky scandal; World Wide Web.
Grafton, Sue
Identification American author of crime fiction
Born April 24, 1940; Louisville, Kentucky
Grafton became known primarily for her “alphabet series”
of detective novels featuring female private investigator
Kinsey Millhone, which began in the 1980’s and achieved
wide success during the 1990’s.
Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone is often cited as one
of the first “tough” female private investigators, and
the series adheres to many conventions of hard-
boiled detective fiction, which was popularized in
the first half of the century in the works of writers
such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and
Ross Macdonald.
Grafton’s detective, like those of her predeces-
sors, is unmarried and somewhat cynical. She does
not conduct her investigations from the sitting-
room setting of the classical sleuth (such as Sherlock
Holmes) but goes wherever her investigations take
her, often finding herself in violent confrontation
with criminals on the brink of being exposed. Pos-
sessing less of a dark side than some of her hard-
boiled predecessors (she does not, like Hammett’s
Continental Op, threaten to go “blood simple”),
Kinsey retains the tradition’s emphasis on wisecrack-
ing persistence, an alternately friendly and conten-
tious relationship with law enforcement, and a
frankness with regard to “the job.” Kinsey is not an
upper-class sleuth conducting investigations primar-
ily for intellectual pleasure. She is, like Chandler’s
Marlowe, a working detective with bills to pay. Also
like Marlowe, Kinsey is characterized as someone
who lands in the detective profession in part because
she possesses an independent streak that makes her
a poor fit for occupations requiring obedience to su-
periors and cooperation with colleagues. Kinsey’s
solitude is mitigated somewhat by the presence of
kindly friends and neighbors such as the affable
landlord Henry and brusquely maternal Rosie, pro-
prietor of Rosie’s Café. Entries in the series during
the 1990’s increased Kinsey’s social interconnected-
ness even further, with story lines focusing more on
Kinsey’s personal life, and with the introduction of
Kinsey’s estranged extended family.
The series began in 1982 withA Is for Alibiand has
continued through the alphabet with a new entry be-
ing added every one or two years. The chronology of
the story itself, however, progresses more slowly.The Nineties in America Grafton, Sue 379