American democracy is predicated on a presidential election that takes place once every four years. Political candidates from the two major parties tune their messages through the primary process which culminates in the Democratic and Republican conventions with the nomination of each partyÆs candidate for our nationsÆ highest office. Each presidential election, while following the same general course, is strikingly unique. This paper will outline every presidential election since 1952, showing the candidates who participated in the election and the results. Then, we will analyze the presidential election of 2000. We will examine the primaries that culminated with the nominations of Al Gore and George W. Bush as the Presidential candidates for the Democratic and Republican parties respectively. We will scrutinize the main issues involved in the election and the political discourse that each candidate embarked on. Lastly, we will examine the unprecedented controversy that ensued on Election Day.
The following table shows the results of every presidential election since 1952. Included are the major candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties and the results of the popular vote and the electoral vote. Third party candidates are included only if they won Electoral College votes (unless the Elector was faithless) or if they won more than 10 percent of the popular vote:
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