The information about the decision of the Supreme Court to choose George W. Bush as US President in 2000 has just been recently made public.
The Library of Congress made available documents from Justice John Paul Stevens’ archives on May 2nd, and among them are handwritten notes he made as the Justices considered the issue.
One of the most contentious elections in the past few years was the 2000 US Presidential election.
Republican George W. Bush, the son of former President George H.W. Bush, faced off against Democrat Al Gore in the debate. Gore won the Democratic nomination with great ease and had previously served as Bill Clinton’s vice president.
The election results were announced on election night, and the vote in Florida was so close that state law necessitated a recount. The Sunshine State was led by Jeb Bush, the brother of the Republican candidate.
Initially, Florida was declared for Bush, however, news outlets later withdrew their support and claimed Gore had won, before giving it back to Bush.
Bush led by 2,000 votes when all ballots were tallied, but a recount cut this lead to just over 300 votes. The number of overseas ballots raised it to a lead of over 900 and Gore immediately called for a second recount in four traditionally Democratic counties.
Florida was finally called for Bush on November 26th after the State Supreme Court intervened and established guidelines and timelines. The case was appealed by Gore to the US Supreme Court.
The Florida Court’s decision to authorize a recount was debated by the Court which was split 7-2, while the decision to stop further counts and put an end to the process was debated 5-4.
George W. Bush won the presidency as a result of the decision to exclude any additional counting.
Justice Stevens, along with David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer, had voted against giving Bush the Presidency.
Meanwhile, the conservative Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, and Sandra Day O’Connor all voted to stop the Florida recounts and give Bush the presidency.
