A Tip of the Hat to Tipper

Happy Birthday, Tipper Gore! The former Second Lady -- well known in her own right as an author, photographer, and activist -- turns 63 today. Her storybook marriage to high school sweetheart Al Gore was in stark contrast to the Clintons' marital scandals during the Clinton-Gore administration. But the Gores shocked the world in June of 2010, less than two weeks after their 40th wedding anniversary, by announcing their separation. Both insisted that infidelity wasn't involved. Friends speculated that certain blows the couple had been hit with over the years had simply taken their toll.

Here, Some Key Moments in Tipper's Life

A Tough-Minded Crusader In 1985, after hearing the explicit lyrics to a rock song she had bought for her then 11-year-old daughter, Tipper was enraged. As a mom of four, she became an outspoken opponent of pitching this kind of material to children. She co-founded a group called the Parents' Music Resource Center. Critics accused PMRC of promoting censorship but she held her ground and went on in 1988 to write a book called "Raising Kids in an X-Rated Society."

The White House Years Seen here with Al and the Clintons at the 1996 Democratic National Convention, Tipper served as the Mental Health Policy Advisor to the President. She had resigned from PMRC in 1992 when she became Second Lady, but she turned her advocacy efforts to taking the shame out of suffering from psychiatric disorders. Tipper was forthright about her own treatment for the depression she had suffered following a 1989 accident that nearly claimed the life of her son. A group called "Erasing the Stigma" would eventually honor her.

On the Campaign Trail When her husband threw his hat in the ring for the 2000 Presidential election, Tipper was a strong and vocal supporter who stumped with him on the campaign trail and charmed potential voters. The pair, who met at Al's prep-school senior prom, always projected an image of wholesome devotion.

The Legendary Lo-o-o-ng Kiss When Al accepted his party's nomination at the 2000 Democratic National convention, he planted the famously lingering kiss on his slightly startled wife. The media buzzed that the full-mouthed buss may have been a staged ploy to humanize the candidate's persona, but a day later daughter Karenna was quoted by reporter Chip Reid as saying that kind of smooching went on around the Gore house all the time.

A Crushing Defeat The highly contested 2000 election involving the infamous Florida "chad" issue and recount ended with Gore conceding to George W. Bush. In this photo, Al and Tipper are all smiles as they show grace under pressure. But those close to them say neither of them ever really recovered from the loss and that their relationship began to show cracks.

Happy Together Whether or not the Gores' marriage started privately crumbling after the 2000 debacle, they kept up a very public front as a happy couple. Together they penned two books in 2002, "Joined at the Heart" and "The Spirit of the Family," and they showed up as a beaming twosome at event after event such as this screening at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

An Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth" In 2007, director Davis Guggenheim's documentary about Gore's work to end the climate crisis won an Academy Award. Tipper was at Al's side on the red carpet, looking stunning in an off-one-shoulder gown. Gore, as he so often did, wrapped his around his wife in a show of closeness. But sources said the two of them had been spending less and less time together as he traveled to promote his global warming message and she re-upped her earlier career as a professional photographer.

On Her Own, a Successful Shutterbug Al and Tipper sent an email to friends on June 1st 2010, announcing their intention to separate, saying it was a mutual decision and ending with "We do not intend to comment further." They haven't. And they've been sighted together just once, at a book party for daughter Kristen in April of 2011. In the months since the estrangement, Tipper has been quietly pursuing her art and craft with the camera. Here, she poses with a display of her work at the opening of a Mitchell Gold & Bob Owens store. On her web site, a showcase for her photography, the opening screen displays a quote from her that closes with this mission: "I hope to bring an awareness of both the problems and the treasures in our world. Perhaps, in a small way, this can contribute to a greater understanding."