2000 United States presidential election

The 2000 United States presidential election happened on November 7, 2000. George W. Bush, the Republican candidate who was the Governor of Texas and the eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush, won the election. He defeated the Democratic candidate, Al Gore, who was the Vice President.

2000 United States presidential election

November 7, 2000
537 electoral votes (1 didn't vote) of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	51.2% Increase 2.2 pp
File:Al Gore, Vice President of the United States, official portrait 1994 (closeincrop3x4).jpg Nominee George W. Bush Al Gore Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Tennessee Running mate Dick Cheney Joe Lieberman Electoral vote 271 266 States carried 30 20 + DC Popular vote 50,456,002 50,999,897 Percentage 47.9% 48.4%
350px Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Bush/Cheney(30), Blue denotes those won by Gore/Lieberman(20+DC).
President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President George W. Bush Republican

Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton was not eligible to serve a third term, and Vice President Gore was able to secure the Democratic nomination. Bush was seen as the early favorite for the Republican nomination, and despite a contentious primary battle with Senator John McCain and other candidates, secured the nomination by Super Tuesday. Many third-party candidates also ran, most prominently Ralph Nader. Bush chose former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney as his running mate, and Gore chose Senator Joe Lieberman as his. Both candidates focused primarily on domestic issues, such as the budget, tax relief, and reforms for federal social insurance programs, though the foreign policy was not ignored. Clinton and Gore did not often campaign together, a deliberate decision resulting from the Lewinsky scandal two years prior.

Bush narrowly won the November 7 election, with 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266. There was a disagreement over who won Florida's 25 electoral votes because the way Florida voted was different from other states. A recount happened in the state and the uncommon event that the winner got fewer popular votes than the loser. The Court's decision in Bush v. Gore announced on December 12, 2000, this ended the recounts, effectively awarding Florida's votes to Bush and granting him the victory.

Background

Article Two of the United States Constitution says that for a person to be elected and serve as President of the United States, they must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for a period of no less than 14 years.

Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the various political parties of the United States, in which case each party devises a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf.

President Bill Clinton was unable to seek re-election for a third term because of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that a president may only serve up to two terms. His term as president ended at noon eastern standard time on January 20, 2001.

Nominees

Democratic Party Ticket, 2000
Al Gore	Joe Lieberman
for President	for Vice President
200x200px	File:Joe Lieberman official portrait 2 (cropped 2).jpg
45th Vice President of the United States (1993–2001)	U.S. Senator from Connecticut (1989–2013)
Campaign

Withdrawn candidates

• John McCain.jpg

  Senator
  John McCain
  from Arizona
  (1987–2018)
  (Withdrew on March 9, 2000)
• Alan Keyes.jpg

  Former Asst. Secretary of State
  Alan Keyes
  from Maryland
  (1985-1987)
  (Withdrew on July 25, 2000)
• Steve Forbes.jpg

  Businessman
  Steve Forbes
  from New Jersey
  (1990-present)
  (Withdrew on February 10, 2000)
• Orrin Hatch official photo.jpg

  Senator
  Orrin Hatch
  from Utah
  (1977–2019)
  (Withdrew on January 26, 2000)
• Elizabeth Dole official photo.jpg

  Former Secretary of Labor
  Elizabeth Dole
  from North Carolina
  (1987–2018)
  (Withdrew on October 20, 1999)
• Patrickjbuchanan.JPG

  Publisher and author Pat Buchanan of Virginia (Withdrew on October 25, 1999)

• Dan Quayle crop.jpg

  Former Vice President Dan Quayle of Indiana (Withdrew on September 27, 1999)

• Lamar Alexander black and white photo.jpg

  Former Governor Lamar Alexander of Tennessee (Withdrew on August 22, 1999)

• Robert C Smith.jpg

  Senator Robert C. Smith of New Hampshire (Withdrew in October 1999)

• John Kasich.jpg

  Representative John Kasich of Ohio (Withdrew in July 1999)

• Herman Cain by Gage Skidmore 4.jpg

  Businessman Herman Cain of Nebraska (Withdrew early in campaign)

Withdrawn candidate

• Bill Bradley, a former U.S. Senator from New Jersey withdrew on March 9, 2000 and endorsed Al Gore.

• Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ).jpg

  Former Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey (Withdrew on March 9, 2000)

2000 United States Presidential Election Media

• Gorelogo.svg

  Al Gore presidential campaign, 2000

• George W. Bush for President 2000.svg

  George W. Bush for president 2000

• Bush Cheney 2000 campaign logo.svg

  Logo for George W. Bush's presidential campaign in 2000

• McCain2 (1).jpg

  Senator John McCain

• Alan Keyes (1).jpg

  United States political activist and former diplomat, Dr. Alan Keyes (en)

• SteveForbesJun2009.jpg

  Steve Forbes at a Hudson Union Society event in June 2009.

• Barybauerconcord (2).jpg

  Photo by Craig Michaud.This is Gary in New Hampshire while running for Presidency of the US