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