2004 United States Presidential Election (Nixon Retires)

The **2004 United States presidential election** was the 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of Incumbent President Condoleezza Rice and Vice President George W. Bush defeated the Democratic ticket of Incumbent North Carolina John Edwards and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

The start of Rice's term was deemed dull by the public, but she quickly gained popularity as a unity figure after 9/11 and the start of the War on terror. It became clear Rice would be a difficult opponent for anyone on the democratic side to defeat.

Rice and Bush would easily be nominated by the Republicans, and both began promising for stronger military presence in the middle east with the military closing in on the Taliban.

For the Democrats, despite many deciding not to run in a movement similar to when George H. W. Bush won in 1988, John Edwards, a Senator from North Carolina, ran in and won the primaries, naming former Vermont Governor Howard Dean as his running mate.

Rice declared a switch in office would be dangerous with the war on terror gaining ground, while Edwards deemed Rice too far-right in a time like that.

Because of the popularity of Rice, she easily beat Edwards, contrast to her slim defeat against Vice President John Kerry in 2000.

The main issues of this election were the War on Terror, Abortion, and the Killian Documents on Vice President George W. Bush.

## Primaries:

### Republican Primaries:

Rice would face no opponent in the primaries, and she and Bush would easily be renominated to win the White House for 2004.

 Condoleezza Rice

### Democratic Primaries:

Despite many top-name Democrats not running because of Rice's popularity, North Carolina Senator John Edwards would run and win the nomination over former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, who Edwards named as his running mate.

 John Edwards

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election:

### Republican Campaign:

Rice focused her campaign on national security, presenting herself as a decisive leader and contrasted Edwards as a "flip-flopper." This strategy was designed to convey to American voters the idea that Rice could be trusted to be tough on terrorism while Edwards would be "uncertain in the face of danger."

### Democratic Campaign:

One of Edwards's slogans was "Stronger at home, respected in the world." This advanced the suggestion that Edwards would pay more attention to domestic concerns; it also encapsulated Edwards's contention that Rice had alienated American allies by her foreign policy.

### The War on Terror:

After the effects of 9/11, Rice had started the War on Terror, and also created the Department of Homeland Security. She then sent over 200, 000 troops to Afghanistan to launch an invasion of the Taliban government. Edwards accused Rice of sending soldiers to die in a war out of their control.

### Abortion:

Rice had frequently criticized abortion during her time as Governor and President, and after major wins for the GOP in 2002, would promote and pass the Heartbeat Bill, making it illegal to abort a baby after 6 weeks, where a heartbeat is usually detected. Edwards declared Rice was trying to take away the freedom of women who don't want children. Rice would respond, "Smile then Senator, your mother wanted you, and I can't see how."

### The Killian Documents:

George W. Bush was Vice President under Condoleezza Rice for her entire term. He was fairly popular for the work he did under Rice. Between August and September 2004, there was an intense focus on events that occurred in the late-1960s and early-1970s. Bush was accused of failing to fulfill his required service in the Texas Air National Guard. However, the focus quickly shifted to the conduct of CBS News after they aired a segment on *60 Minutes Wednesday*, introducing what became known as the Killian documents. Serious doubts about the documents' authenticity quickly emerged, leading CBS to appoint a review panel that eventually resulted in the firing of the news producer and other significant staffing changes. Edwards accused Rice of trying to let an AWALD soldier to leave a position. Rice would laugh at the statement, saying Bush was 8 years younger, so Edwards was going bogus, to quote her.

## Results and Aftermath:

Rice would win in a landslide, a complete contrast from her close victory over John Kerry in 2000, flipping the rust belt, along with Maine, New Jersey, and Illinois.

Rice's second term would start on January 20, 2005, whereas Edwards couldn't return to the senate as his term was up in 2004, and he didn't run.