Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (born 1925) was one of America's most prominent literary figures on the basis of an enormous quantity of work, including novels, essays, plays, and short stories. He was also well known to the public through frequent appearances on television opinion programs.

Gore Vidal was born into a family long important in American politics on October 3, 1925, at West Point, New York. His maternal grandfather was Thomas P. Gore, senator from Oklahoma; his father, Eugene Luther Vidal, was director of air commerce under President Franklin D. Roosevelt; he was distantly related to Albert Gore, vice president of the United States in the administration of President Bill Clinton.

The importance of politics in his life is obvious from his statement, "The only thing I've ever really wanted in my life was to be president." But he did more than verbalize: he was the Democratic Party candidate for Congress...