2004 United States Presidental Election

The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Democratic ticket of John Kerry, a United States senator from Massachusetts and his running mate John Edwards, a United States senator from North Carolina defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney. This was the fifth time a President lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. Previously, Bush lost the popular vote in the 2000 Presidental Election to Al Gore.

Bush and Cheney were renominated by their party with no difficulty. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean emerged as the early front-runner in the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries, but Kerry won the first set of primaries in January and clinched his party's nomination in March after a series of primary victories. Kerry chose Edwards, who had himself sought the party's 2004 presidential nomination, to be his running mate.

Bush's popularity had soared early in his first term after the September 11 attacks in 2001, but it had declined significantly by 2004. Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's handling of the War on Terror and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Kerry criticized Bush's conduct of the Iraq War, despite having voted for it himself. Domestic issues were debated as well, including the economy and jobs, health care, abortion, same-sex marriage and embryonic stem cell research.

Kerry won by a narrow margin of 5 electoral votes and took 49.8% of the popular vote. Although Bush swept the the South, the Midwest, and the Mountain States, the Election came down to the state of Ohio, and after numerous recounts Kerry won the state, giving him the 271 majority. The remaining 0.1% of the popular vote went to Pat Buchanan of the Reform Party.