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.

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

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|George W. Bush|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|Dick Cheney|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>**Republican Party Ticket, 2000**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFD0D7; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFD0D7; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|46th Governor of Texas <small>(1995–2000)</small>|17th U.S. Secretary of Defense <small>(1989–1993)</small>|||
|colspan=2|**Campaign**|||
|colspan=2||||

#### Nominees

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Al Gore|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Joe Lieberman|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**Democratic Party Ticket, 2000**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|45th Vice President of the United States <small>(1993–_2001_)</small>|U.S. Senator from Connecticut <small>(1989–_2013_)</small>|||
|colspan="2"|**Campaign**|||
|colspan="2"||||

#### Withdrawn candidate

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

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 2000 United States presidential election
- **country**: United States
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **previous election**: 1996 United States presidential election
- **previous year**: 1996
- **next election**: 2004 United States presidential election
- **next year**: 2004
- **election date**: November 7, 2000
- **votes for election**: 538 electoral votes of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College
- **needed votes**: 270 electoral
- **turnout**: 51.2%  2.2 percentage point, pp
- **image2**: Al Gore, Vice President of the United States, official portrait 1994 (3x4 close cropped).jpg
- **image2 size**: x200px
- **nominee2**: Al Gore
- **party2**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **home state2**: Tennessee
- **running mate2**: Joe Lieberman
- **electoral vote2**: 266
- **states carried2**: 20 + Washington, D.C., DC
- **popular vote2**: **50,999,897**
- **percentage2**: **48.4%**
- **image1**: GeorgeWBush (1).jpg
- **image1 size**: x200px
- **nominee1**: **George W. Bush**
- **party1**: Republican Party (United States)
- **home state1**: Texas
- **running mate1**: **Dick Cheney**
- **electoral vote1**: **271**
- **states carried1**: **30**
- **popular vote1**: 50,456,002
- **percentage1**: 47.9%
- **map image**: ElectoralCollege2000.svg
- **map size**: 350px
- **map caption**: Presidential election results map. <span style="color:#CC2200;">Red</span> denotes states won by Bush/Cheney(30), <span style="color:darkblue;">Blue</span> denotes those won by Gore/Lieberman(20+DC).
- **title**: President
- **before election**: Bill Clinton
- **before party**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **after election**: George W. Bush
- **after party**: Republican Party (United States)