What was Bush v. Gore?

Brut America

What happens if both candidates claim victory? It's happened before. This is the story of the most controversial election in U.S. history.

Transcript

00:00This is the story of how the Supreme Court decided the 2000 presidential election

00:05and effectively chose the 43rd president of the United States.

00:09All the votes are counted!

00:13What do we want?

00:14Count our votes!

00:15When do we want it?

00:16Now!

00:17Now the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken.

00:19I believe things happen for a reason.

00:22On December 12, 2000, the bitterly fought presidential election was finally settled

00:28when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush

00:33over his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore.

00:37So, how exactly did we get there?

00:40In Florida now.

00:41They order the recount.

00:42Recount after recount.

00:43Automatic recount.

00:45Manual recount.

00:46After a fierce campaign, it all came down to election night, November 7, 2000.

00:52Gore, as expected, carried the popular vote.

00:56But as we all know, it all comes down to getting those 270 electoral college votes.

01:01Just ask Hillary Clinton.

01:03By the end of the night, it all came down to just 25 electoral votes.

01:08They need Florida.

01:09Florida, Florida, Florida.

01:10News networks eventually called the Sunshine State for Gore, but then retracted the call.

01:16It would be something if the networks managed to blow it twice in one night.

01:20Well, the contest dragged on into the night, with supporters from both sides holding vigil

01:25until the results were clear.

01:27But then...

01:28Crowds in Texas erupt.

01:29At 2.17 a.m., Mr. Gore calls Governor Bush, concedes defeat, and promises, quote, to work

01:35with the president-elect.

01:37That should have been the end of it, right?

01:39Well, it wasn't.

01:41The vice president has recalled the governor and retracted his concession.

01:45The next day, the country woke up confused, with no solid answer on who would become the

01:51next president.

01:52Mr. Vice President, did you win the election?

01:53Mr. Vice President, did you win the election, sir?

01:56We're having a great run here.

01:59All right.

02:00Back in Florida, the votes were so close that an automatic machine recount was ordered.

02:05As of 5 p.m. today, the unofficial certified results of the recount are as follows.

02:12Governor George W. Bush, 2,909,661.

02:19Vice President Al Gore, 2,907,877, a difference of 1,784 votes.

02:31After the machine recount was complete, Bush's lead had dropped to just 327 votes.

02:38In Florida, and across the country, Americans gathered to show their support for one candidate

02:44or another, and to call for another recount, or for none at all.

02:49So the Democrats, as they keep touching the ballots, maybe like when Jesus broke the bread

02:53and fed 5,000, they'll touch the ballots and make more?

02:55I'm afraid of them people making more out of nothing.

02:58Gore's team then requested a hand recount in just four of Florida's 66 counties.

03:04All of them were, you guessed it, Democratic strongholds.

03:08Well, the matter at hand wasn't just about recounting votes.

03:12You see, some counties used butterfly ballots, leading to talks of the so-called hanging chats,

03:19where the punch hole wouldn't detach to register a choice for one candidate or the other.

03:25The concerned counties hurried to finish the manual recount before the deadline, but only one succeeded.

03:32Katherine Harris, Florida's Secretary of State, wanted to officially certify the results of the election

03:38on November 17th, without taking into account the results of the recount.

03:43But the Florida Supreme Court stopped her.

03:47In order to consider an appeal from the Gore campaign, it ultimately ruled to require a statewide manual recount.

03:55So, on November 26th, 19 days after the election, it seemed the country might finally have an answer.

04:03The election was close, but tonight after a count, a recount, and yet another manual recount,

04:11Secretary Cheney and I are honored and humbled to have won the state of Florida,

04:16which gives us the needed electoral votes to win the election.

04:20But George W. Bush, the candidate, seemed to have gotten a bit ahead of himself.

04:26His earlier appeal to block the Florida recount was taken up by the United States Supreme Court,

04:33which convened on December 1st, 2000, to hear his case.

04:37The country waited on pins and needles. Never before had the high court weighed in on the issue.

04:44We are very close to knowing who actually won Florida, and who therefore won the presidency.

04:51The same day, December 9th, 2000, responding to an emergency appeal by Bush,

04:57the Supreme Court officially ruled that the Florida recount be suspended.

05:03So, how did it all end? And how exactly did George W. Bush end up as the 43rd president?

05:10Well, on December 12th, 2000, the five-week battle for the White House came to a head,

05:16when the Supreme Court released two decisions.

05:19First, that the recount itself had been unconstitutional,

05:23as different standards were applied across Florida's counties,

05:27in violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

05:31Secondly...

05:32Could we impose a standard and have the entire state recounted in time for the electoral college to meet?

05:38They might have decided no.

05:39Finally, after five long weeks, court battles, and spirited protest, the recount was over.

05:47Just moments ago, I spoke with George W. Bush and congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president of the United States.

05:55And I promised him that I wouldn't call him back this time.

05:58Our nation must rise above a house divided.

06:02Americans share hopes and goals and values far more important than any political disagreements.

06:09Republicans want the best for our nation, and so do Democrats.

06:15Our votes may differ, but not our hopes.

06:19So there you have it.

06:20Hanging chads, butterfly ballots, Supreme Court protest, Team Bush, Team Gore.

06:26That's the story of the 2000 presidential election.

06:30Oh yeah, and recounts, recounts, recounts.

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