2000 Election and Bush Presidency Notes

2000 Presidential Election

The 2000 presidential election was between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush.
The election outcome was highly unusual, with the presidency ultimately decided by a Supreme Court ruling.

The election results were close and uncertain throughout the night.
The election's outcome hinged on the state of Florida due to the Electoral College system.
In the U.S., presidential elections are determined by the Electoral College, not the popular vote.
Each state is assigned a number of electoral votes based on its population.
California, a highly populated state, had 54 electoral votes, while Delaware had three.
A candidate who wins the popular vote in a state receives all of that state's electoral votes.
There are 538 total electoral votes, and 270 are needed to win the presidency.
Going into election night, Gore had 255 electoral votes, and Bush had 246.
Florida's 25 electoral votes would determine the winner.

The initial results in Florida were too close to call, triggering an automatic machine recount.
After the machine recount, Bush led by approximately 900 votes out of 6 million cast.
Gore requested a hand recount in four key counties due to the narrow margin.
The Florida Secretary of State, a Republican and Bush campaign worker, mandated the recount be completed by November 14.
The Gore campaign sought more time and petitioned the Florida Supreme Court.
The Florida Supreme Court extended the recount deadline to November 26.
Only two counties completed the recount by the extended deadline.
One county tried, and a fourth missed the deadline by two hours, so their tally was not accepted.
After the recount in just two counties, Bush's lead narrowed to about 500 votes.
The Florida Supreme Court granted Gore's request for a larger recount of 70,000 questionable ballots.

The recount revealed issues with balloting methods, particularly the use of punch card systems.
If a hole wasn't properly punched, the machine wouldn't count the vote.
In Palm Beach County, 29,000 ballots were spoiled or discarded because they were improperly punched or had votes for multiple candidates.
Al Gore argued that ignoring these votes was a denial of democracy.

Nineteen days after the election, the winner was still undecided.
The U.S. Supreme Court intervened and halted the recount by a 5-4 vote.
The Supreme Court argued that recounting only some ballots violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The variety of balloting systems made it impossible to count all votes by the same standard.
Technically, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Florida Supreme Court to have the final say, but little was left for that court to do.
Gore conceded, and Bush was awarded Florida's electoral votes and declared president.

The Supreme Court's ruling was seen by many as being split along partisan lines.
Critics claimed Gore lost the election by one vote in the Supreme Court.
Gore won the popular vote by almost 550,000 votes but lost the electoral vote, the first time this had happened in 112 years.
This situation occurred again in 2016 when Donald Trump won the electoral vote but lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.9 million votes.
Bush served two terms as president.
Gore became an advocate for climate change.
Americans continue to debate the efficacy of the U.S. electoral system and voting procedures.

The 2000 election was described as a "crazy time" due to the weeks-long uncertainty.
Florida gained a reputation for inconsistent handling of voting and ballot systems.
There are concerns about the different means of collecting ballots across states.
Punch card systems are no longer in use.

George W. Bush (often referred to as "W") became president.
The notes transition to discussing Bush's presidency and key events during his time in office.

On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a plane in Pennsylvania were attacked.
This led to a focus on getting Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
Later, it led to the "axis of evil" concept and the Iraq War.
Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba became a place where prisoners from Afghanistan were held and was criticized for its lack of civil liberties and human rights protections.
The notes discuss the war on terror, the idea of terrorism, and the recognition that the U.S. is not invulnerable to terroristic groups.
The discussion touches on the connection between the Persian Gulf War and the idea that the United States' involvement in other countries' affairs is a problem.

Clinton increased taxes, while Bush decreased taxes, reflecting a trend in taxation and political parties.
Bush enacted the largest tax cut in American history.
While Bush presented himself as more centrist, he leaned more Republican than anticipated.
He had a strong commitment to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and did not renew the assault weapons ban from the Clinton years.
This became a more talked-about topic as mass shootings began to occur in the 1990s.
Bush proposed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, which did not pass.

The class is working on assessing primary source documents to examine foreign policy decision making.

The purpose of Operation Desert Storm was removing Saddam hussein from Kuwait and restoring the countries legitimate government.

The purpose of the Kosovo intervention was to protect Human Rights and halt a genocide occurring, although not explicitly stated, intervention prevented any further genocide.

After an attack on American soil, United states had to be the first responder to keep the country safe. Bush invokes religion at one point to try and get his moral message across.