Claim: George W. Bush was a president.

The United States presidential election of 2004 '' ' , the 55th quadrennial presidential election , was held on Tuesday , November 2 , 2004 . Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush won re-election , defeating Democratic Party candidate John Kerry , U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and eventual United States Secretary of State .  Bush and incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney were renominated by their party with no difficulty . Howard Dean , former Governor of Vermont , was initially the frontrunner for the Democratic Party 's nomination , but Kerry won nearly all of the primaries and caucuses . Kerry chose Senator John Edwards of North Carolina , who had himself sought that party 's 2004 presidential nomination , to be his running mate .   Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign , particularly Bush 's conduct of the War on Terrorism and the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq . Domestic issues were debated as well , including the economy and jobs , health care , and moral values .   Bush 's margin of victory in the popular vote was the smallest ever for an incumbent president , but marked the first time since his father 's victory 16 years prior that a candidate won an outright majority of the popular vote . As of 2017 , this was also the most recent election in which the Republican candidate won the popular vote . The electoral map closely resembled that of 2000 , with only three states changing sides : New Mexico and Iowa voted Republican in 2004 after having voted Democratic in 2000 , while New Hampshire voted Democratic in 2004 after previously voting Republican . In the Electoral College , Bush received 286 votes to Kerry 's 251 , while one faithless elector cast a ballot for John Edwards -LRB- even though he was not a presidential candidate -RRB- .