We spoke a few times during class this semester about historic fiction…What would have happened if the Japanese never bombed pearl harbor?, what would have happened had Rosa Parks gotten up from her seat? Now we can look at the Gore vs. Bush Presidential election of 2000 and say, what would have happened had Gore won? Would the country be in an economic crisis? Would we have a military presence in Iraq? Would the hunt for Osama Bin Laden even be conducted? These are all important questions because had Al Gore won the Presidential election in 2000, whether we want to believe it or not, our lives would have been impacted and things would have been different. Foner has to cover over 100+ years in his textbook so I have no “issue” with his lack of reporting and documentation of the Bush vs. Gore election, but I feel some more should be said on it.

Al Gore, the Vice President to Bill Clinton had the Democratic nomination for President in 2000, Governor George Bush of Texas, who was better known for being the son of former President George H.W Bush had the nomination for the Republican party. It was an extremely close race, one that may never come to that minimal of a margin. Florida was the deciding electoral vote and due to some technical difficulties with the ballots, it seemed that many people who wanted to vote for Al Gore, accidentally voted for both Gore and Bush voiding their ballot. It was a rare vote where Bush, the winner, had less popular votes than Gore, but had more electoral. A dramatic controversy ensued due to the fact that a recount had to be held and the Governor of Florida overseeing the recount was none other than Jeb Bush, brother to George. The decision was taken all the way to the Supreme Court and after many weeks of back and forth, it was ruled in favor of Bush, who became the President elect in mid December, only weeks away from inauguration.

The month or so from election day to December 12th was and will always be a huge part in Modern American History as it marked who the President would be for 4 (and subsequently 8) years.

Attached is Fox News coverage of the Supreme Court decision, clip taken from youtube