Al Gore concedes presidential election | December 13, 2000

The event that introduced "hanging chads" to the American lexicon.

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

Vice President Al Gore concedes defeat to George W. Bush in his bid for the presidency, following weeks of legal battles over the recounting of votes in Florida, on December 13, 2000.

In a televised speech from his ceremonial office next to the White House, Gore said that while he was deeply disappointed and sharply disagreed with the Supreme Court verdict that ended his campaign, "partisan rancor must now be put aside."

"I accept the finality of the outcome, which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College" he said. "And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession."

Gore had won the national popular vote by more than 500,000 votes, but narrowly lost Florida, giving the Electoral College to Bush 271 to 266.

Gore said he had telephoned Bush to offer his congratulations, honoring him, for the first time, with the title "president-elect."

How the U.S. Supreme Court Decided the Presidential Election of 2000

Learn how Florida ended up determining whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would win the U.S. presidency in 2000. See how a vote recount in the state led to the U.S. Supreme Court giving the election to Bush and subsequently changed voting standards.

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"I promised that I wouldn't call him back this time" Gore said, referring to the moment on election night when he had called Bush to tell him he was going to concede, then called back a half hour later to retract that concession.

Gore only hinted at what he might do in the future. "I've seen America in this campaign and I like what I see. It's worth fighting for—and that's a fight I'll never stop."

Among the friends and family beside Gore were his wife, Tipper, and his running mate, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, and Lieberman's wife, Hadassah.

A little more than an hour later, Bush addressed the nation for the first time as president-elect, declaring that the "nation must rise above a house divided." Speaking from the podium of the Texas House of Representatives, Bush devoted his speech to themes of reconciliation following one of the closest and most disputed presidential elections in U.S. history. "I was not elected to serve one party, but to serve one nation," Bush said.

Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney, took office on January 20, 2001. They were re-elected in 2004 over Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards. Gore has since become a foremost climate advocate. He was the creator and subject of a 2006 Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, about the climate crisis. Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on December 13th

1577 - Explorer Francis Drake sets sail from England

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1776 - General Charles Lee captured at Widow White's Tavern

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1862 - Battle of Fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, involved nearly 200,000 combatants and is remembered as one of the most significant Confederate victories. The battle, which took place in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, involved the largest concentration of troops in any Civil War battle.

1916 - Soldiers perish in avalanche as World War I rages

A powerful avalanche kills hundreds of Austrian soldiers in a barracks near Italy's Mount Marmolada on December 13, 1916. Over a period of several days, avalanches in the Italian Alps killed an estimated 10,000 Austrian and Italian soldiers in mid-December. The avalanches occurred as the Austrians and Italians were fighting World War I and some […]

1918 - Woodrow Wilson arrives in France for peace talks

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1925 - Dick Van Dyke born

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1937 - The Rape of Nanking begins

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1942 - Joseph Goebbels complains of Italians' treatment of Jews

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2003 - Saddam Hussein captured

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