2000 Presidential Election
2000 Candidates for President Overall people happy with the economy but
disappointed with Clinton’s personal behavior Republican nomination was between George
W. Bush & John McCain• Most Republican leaders supported Bush = popular
with conservative Republicans• Bush won the nomination & chose former defense
secretary Richard Cheney as his VP Democrats nominated Clinton’s Vice
President Al Gore & Joseph Lieberman• Lieberman was the 1st Jewish American ever to run for
VP on a major party ticket
2000 CampaignWhat do we do with surplus tax revenues?? Bush & Gore agreed that Social Security needed
reform but they disagreed on how to reform Both promised the following:
• to cut taxes (Bush’s tax cut was larger than Gore’s)• to improve public education• to support plans to help seniors pay for prescription drugs
Gore campaigned that he and Clinton brought back prosperity to the US• Many voters concerned with the decline in moral values• Bush promised to restore dignity to the White House
Ralph Nader entered as the nominee of the Green Party
2000 Election The 2000 election was one of the closest in American
history Gore narrowly won the popular vote with 48.4% and
Bush received 47.9% • Remember: Candidates need the majority of state electoral
votes, not overall popular vote Neither candidate had the 270 electoral votes needed
to win The election came down to the Florida vote—both
needed its 25 electoral votes• Results in FL were so close that state law required they recount
the ballots using vote-counting machines• Problem was that thousands of ballots were thrown out because
the counting machines couldn’t read a vote for president• Gore asked for a hand recount of ballots
Florida ballots required voters to punch a hole
The little piece of cardboard that is punched out of the ballot is called a chad
The problem for vote counters was how to count the ballot when the chad was still partially attached• On some, the chad was still in place and the
voter had left only a dimple on the surface of the ballot
When looking at the ballots, vote counters had to determine what the voter intended – and different counties used different standards
2000 Election Officials had to certify the results by a certain
date Not all of the recounts could be finished in time
• Gore went to court & the Florida Supreme Court set a new deadline
• Bush requested the US Supreme Court intervened to decide whether the Florida Supreme Court had acted unconstitutionally
Hand recounts continued Despite having more time, not all of the
counties were able to meet the new deadline • On November 26, Florida certified Bush the winner by
537 votes
Bush v. Gore The US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the
hand recounts in FL violated the Constitution• Because different vote counters used different
standards, the recount did not treat all voters equally• Both federal law & the Constitution require the
electoral votes for president be cast on a certain day• The Court ruled 5-4 that there was not enough time to
conduct a manual recount that would pass constitutional standards
The ruling left Bush as the certified winner in Florida
Bush Becomes President
On January 20, 2001, George W. Bush became the 43rd president of the United States.
Presidential Goals:
• improve the nation’s public schools
• cut taxes• reform Social
Security and Medicare
• build up the nation’s defenses.
Early Domestic & Foreign Policy
Domestic Policy: 1) Passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut to be phased in over 10
years• Put back about $40 billion into the economy to prevent a recession
2) Passed NCLB (No Child Left Behind)• Hold annual standardized tests in reading and math for grades 3-8• Wanted to allow parents to use federal funds to pay for private schools
if public schools were doing a poor job measure failed
Foreign Policy: 1) Wanted to increase military spending but with new
programs designed for the post-Cold War world 2) Military program strategic defense the effort to
develop missiles and other devices that could shoot down nuclear missiles• Needed because unfriendly nations were developing the technology to
build nuclear missiles