12/13/2020 (2) - On This Day: A Concession

 

12/13/2020 (2) - On This Day: A Concession

This will be the first, albeit brief post in a series of On This Day blogs in which we'll examine key moments in American history that occurred on the day of posting but years in the past. Given the current contested electoral prospects of 2020, it would deem prudent to dial the clock back twenty years to what is roughly considered one of the closest elections in American history.

On December 13, 2000; then Vice-President Al Gore formally conceded to then Governor of Texas George W. Bush in a bitter fight over the Presidency. While it was originally thought that Vice-President Gore would be the clear victor in the battle to lead the nation, further vote tallies showed an increasingly tightening race between both he and Governor Bush. This critical battle reached a precipice when it landed on the decisions made by the voters of Florida; the contest intensified by the need for a hard recount due to the slim margin of less than 600 votes between them in favor of Governor Bush.

When the ordered recount of the State's votes dragged on for too long, the partisan fight found itself at the footsteps of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). Both sides argued their merits before the nine justices of SCOTUS. In what was a determining moment of the Presidential Election, SCOTUS ruled 5-4 in favor of halting the recount altogether, denying Vice-President Gore a potential victory at the hands of the recount and granting Governor Bush the Presidency of the United States.

While far closer than the current electoral prospects, we felt that today was important to mention - as this was the moment that Vice-President Gore then conceded the Presidential Election of 2000 to Governor Bush, who went on to become the 43rd President of the United States.

By the People, for the People, of the People, for it is We the People.