The story
On November 2, 2004, President George W. Bush won a second term over Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. Bush took 286 electoral votes and 50.7 percent of the popular vote to Kerry's 251 and 48.3 percent, the first time since 1988 that a winner took an outright majority. Ohio and its 20 electoral votes decided the race, with Bush carrying the state by about 2 points. One Minnesota elector cast a presidential vote for Kerry's running mate, John Edwards.
It was the first presidential election after the September 11 attacks, and security dominated. Bush argued he was a steady wartime leader against terrorism. Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, attacked the Iraq War after no weapons of mass destruction were found, though his explanation of his own votes on the war funding drew mockery as flip-flopping. A group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ran ads disputing his war record. Ballot measures banning same-sex marriage in 11 states helped draw conservative voters, and turnout reached its highest level since 1968.
Why it mattered
- Bush's second term saw the 2007 troop surge in Iraq and the response to Hurricane Katrina.
- Rising frustration with the Iraq War helped Democrats win Congress in 2006 and fed Barack Obama's 2008 campaign.
- The Swift Boat ads made 'swiftboating' a byword for attacks on a candidate's strongest credentials.
Sources
- 2004 Electoral College Results National Archives
- United States presidential election of 2004 Britannica
- The enduring mystery of America's last faithless elector MinnPost
Drafted by AI (Claude) from the sources above and checked against them by AI; no historian has reviewed this page. Spot a mistake? Suggest a correction. How pages are made
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