The 2004 presidential campaign of George W. Bush, the
43rd president of the United States, announced his candidacy for re-election as president on May 16, 2003. On September 2, 2004, he again became the nominee of the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
for the
2004 presidential election. Along with his running mate, Vice President
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
,
George W. Bush was opposed in the general election by
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
John Kerry of
Massachusetts, minor candidates from
other parties. The
election took place on Tuesday, November 2, 2004.
George W. Bush's chief political strategist was
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August 3 ...
, who had the title Senior Advisor to the President.
Mark McKinnon was the chief communications strategist. He was later joined in August 2004 by
Karen Hughes, a former Bush advisor who returned after some time away. His campaign manager was
Ken Mehlman.
2004 primary campaign
President Bush formally filed with the FEC on May 16, 2003. As he was virtually unopposed, he did no campaigning during the primary season.
On March 10, 2004, Bush clinched the number of delegates require for the nomination, 1608 Delegates 168 Super delegates.
Vice Presidential choices
In May 2003, Vice President
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
told reporters that "The president has asked me if I would serve again as his running mate. I've agreed to do that."
In early 2004, with Bush expected to face a difficult re-election campaign, political commentators openly discussed the possibility that Cheney might be dropped from the ticket due to his "personal baggage".
[ ] Such concern derived particularly from allegations that Cheney had promoted a false narrative about
the rationale for the
Iraq War, and that his former company
Halliburton had profited inappropriately from that war.
Some analysts even floated the idea that Cheney – who had previously suffered four heart attacks – might step down on his own for health reasons.
Among those viewed as strong contenders for his replacement were:
Bill Frist, the
Senate Majority Leader;
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
, the former
Mayor of New York City
The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
;
George Pataki, the
Governor of New York
The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...
;
Rob Portman
Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...
, congressman of
Ohio;
Bill Owens, the
Governor of Colorado; and
Tom Ridge, the
Secretary of Homeland Security.
In July, former Senator
Al D'Amato, Republican of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, publicly stated that Bush should replace Cheney, and suggested
Secretary of State Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...
or
Arizona Senator
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
as potential choices. Going into the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
at the end of August, many delegates still entertained the notion of a new Vice President, with Powell and Giuliani leading in a preference poll. Despite the speculation, Bush publicly maintained his support for Cheney,
who accepted the party's formal nomination on September 1.
Convention and nomination
Bush gave many promises during his acceptance speech to the
2004 Republican National Convention
The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of historic quadrennial meetings at which the Republican candidates fo ...
. At the end of his speech, he encouraged listeners to view his website in order to learn more about his agenda if he wins his next presidential term. His speech promises include the following which his campaign is called "A Plan for A Safer World & More Hopeful America":
*Rewrite and simplification of Tax Code
*Creation of "Opportunity zones" to encourage companies to move into areas where companies closed
*Allowing and encouraging small businesses to join together to negotiate for health care
*Establishment of health centers in every poor or rural county in the country that does not have one
*Promoting flexible schedules to make companies family friendly
*More funding for local and
community colleges
*Creating personal social security account options to allow social security to be self managed for younger workers
As a result of Bush's speech in NYC, the incumbent President was able to get a significant bounce in the polls. The day after the convention was finished, the polls showed Bush with a double-digit lead over John Kerry, although when the poll asked about the economy both candidates were still in a dead heat.
Issue stances
Abortion
Bush expressed opinions in agreement with the "pro-life" movement.
Community aid
Bush established the
White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives
The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President ...
, which allowed the federal government to fund community aid programs that were provided by a religious institution. He proposed a youth mentoring program for disadvantaged students and children of prisoners.
Economy
Bush supported making the
tax cuts passed during his first term permanent; he maintained that the tax cuts made the recent recession shallower and shorter than it would otherwise have been.
He supported job creation, by tax loopholes to invest in more higher job creation to "state and local control" than the federal government.
Health care
Bush's proposals for expanding health care coverage were more modest than those advanced by Senator Kerry. Several estimates were made comparing the cost and impact of the Bush and Kerry proposals. While the estimates varied, they all indicated that the increase in coverage and the funding requirements of the Bush plan would both be lower than those of the more comprehensive Kerry plan.
Education
Bush signed the ''
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...
'', which requires mandatory standardized testing, forces schools that do not meet standards to provide alternate options for students, and stated the aim of closing the race and
gender gap in schools. His
FY 2005 budget proposed a 1% increase in elementary and secondary education compared to the FY 2001 budget.
Environment
Bush's
Clear Skies Act
The Clear Skies Act of 2003 was a proposed federal law of the United States. The official title as introduced is "a bill to amend the Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution through expansion of cap-and-trade programs, to provide an alternative re ...
repealed or reduced
air pollution controls, including environmental protections of the
Clean Air Act. His FY 2005 budget provided $4.4 billion for conservation programs. He signed legislation pushing for the cleanup of abandoned industrial sites (also known as
brownfields) and keeping forest fires at bay. He fell under criticism for rejecting the
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...
which would commit the United States to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions which are believed by much of the relevant science community to cause
global warming. The Bush administration stated that this would cost the economy up to ?.
Homeland security
After the
September 11 attacks in 2001, Bush signed the
USA PATRIOT Act and created the
Department of Homeland Security. He also created the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC) and the
Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). He then promoted the idea of an independent "Czar of Intelligence" outside of the White House in response to the
9/11 Commission
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks", includin ...
's findings.
Same-sex marriage and gay rights
Bush has expressed support for "protecting the sanctity of marriage." He endorsed the
Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed
constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...
that would define marriage for all of the states as strictly heterosexual. Late in the 2004 campaign, however, he said that the states should be allowed to "enable people to you know, be able to have rights, like others," though marriage would not be among them. Activists on both sides of the issue took this comment as endorsing
civil unions.
National security and foreign policy
President Bush submitted his
National Security Strategy of the United States; the "three pillars" of this are to:
* Defend the peace by working against
terrorists and terrorist-tolerating regimes.
* Preserve the peace by maintaining relations with allies and reaching out to nations to combat terrorism.
* Extend the peace by spreading democracy and human rights across the globe.
Afghanistan
Supported
continued American involvement in Afghanistan. Believed President
Hamid Karzai to be beneficial to Afghanistan's progress.
Libya
In a series of negotiations which involved Libya, Britain, and the United States, Libya turned over materials relevant to the production of nuclear weapons.
Iraq
Supported
the continuation of American military presence in Iraq. Promoted the goal of democratic elections by January 2005 as integral to the nation's democratic reform. Bush ran as the war president.
Saudi Arabia
Bush advocated pressure on the
Saudi Royal Family to more directly combat
terrorism and to seize the assets of
terrorists operating within their borders.
Campaign controversies
Military service controversy
In previous campaigns, Bush had been criticized for his military service record. He skipped over a long waiting list to receive a spot in the
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
; once he was in the Guard, it has been alleged he did not complete all his required duties. These long-standing charges were given more attention in the 2004 campaign because of the contrast with Kerry's record as a decorated combat veteran of the
Vietnam War.
A group of Bush supporters countered with an advertising campaign arguing that some of Kerry's medals had been undeserved (see
John Kerry military service controversy
During John Kerry's candidacy in the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, a political issue that gained widespread public attention was Kerry's Vietnam War record. In television advertisements and a book called ''Unfit for Command'', co-authored b ...
). The subject was further highlighted when
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
released
memos purportedly from Bush's commanding officer in the Guard. The memos added some unflattering details about Bush's Guard service. Almost immediately, however, widespread doubts were raised about their
authenticity. CBS News eventually concluded that it could not validate them and that it should not have used them. The incident may have ended up helping Bush by creating doubts about the legitimacy of his detractors.
Television advertising: 9/11
Bush's campaign launched its first major set of television commercials on March 3, 2004. Although these four spots (three in English and one in Spanish) contained no reference to Senator Kerry, two (one in English and the one in Spanish, both titled, "Safer, Stronger") generated controversy for their inclusion of four seconds of images drawn from the aftermath of the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, including the wreckage of the
World Trade Center site, images of
New York firefighters (the New York firefighters' union supported Kerry), and the image of a flag-draped coffin being carried out of the attack site.
Some families of 9/11 victims accused the Bush campaign of being insensitive to the memory of those who died and of exploiting the tragedy for his personal political gain. Bush campaign advisor
Karen Hughes defended the ads as "very tasteful" and noted that 9/11 was a defining event for Bush's presidency.
The main topic of this heated discussion is the use of actual images of the attack. The use of images from the attack, said
Governor of Pennsylvania
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Ed Rendell, a Democrat, on
Face the Nation, implies support from New York firefighters. Rendell claims that a New York firefighters union head supports Kerry for President. But although the International Association of Firefighters was the first union to support Kerry, the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York endorsed the President for re-election in August 2004.
Defenders of the Bush messages liken his messages to those of
Franklin D. Roosevelt's re-election campaign, which used images of the December 7 attack by
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
on the United States and advised Americans to "Remember
Pearl Harbor."
Endorsements
George W. Bush received endorsements from many
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
,
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Senator
Zell Miller of
Georgia and former 12-year mayor of New York City
Ed Koch. The
Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York, representing 20,000 active and retired firefighters, endorsed the President on August 31, 2004. On September 22, 2004, the
Abe Lincoln Black Republican Caucus, a political organization of gay African American Republicans, voted in a special call meeting in
Dallas, Texas, to endorse President
George W. Bush for re-election.
Actors and Actresses
*
Stephen Baldwin
*
Ernest Borgnine
*
Dean Cain
*
Robert Davi
*
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
*
Robert Duvall
*
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
*
Kelsey Grammer
*
Angie Harmon
*
Patricia Heaton
*
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
*
Chuck Norris
*
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
*
Dolph Lundgren
*
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture.
Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...
*
Jane Russell
*
Tom Selleck
*
Gary Sinise
*
Kevin Sorbo
*
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
*
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
was currently governor of California at the time.
*
Jon Voight
*
Bruce Willis
*
James Woods
Slogan
Bush's campaign never officially announced a campaign slogan. However, Bush's campaign made several bus tours bearing de facto slogans. These include the "Yes, America Can" Bus Tour and the "Heart and Soul" Bus Tour, which used the slogan "Moving America Forward". The
2004 Republican National Convention
The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of historic quadrennial meetings at which the Republican candidates fo ...
in
New York City featured the slogan "A Safer World and More Hopeful America".
Debates
On September 20, the Bush campaign and the
Kerry campaign jointly released
a memorandum of understanding between the two campaigns. The 32-page MOU covered in minute detail many aspects of the staging and format for the
presidential and vice-presidential debates.
On September 30, Bush debated Kerry at
University of Miami in
Coral Gables, Florida in the
first of three scheduled debates.
Polls conducted immediately following the debate suggests that a majority of undecided voters believe that, while neither candidate committed any serious gaffes, Kerry fared better than Bush did.
A
second debate, in "town hall" format, was held on October 8 at
Washington University in St. Louis with
Charles Gibson moderating. Bush later attempted to deflect criticism of what was described as his scowling demeanor during the first debate, joking at one point about one of Kerry's remarks, "That answer made me want to scowl."
The
final debate occurred on October 13 at
Arizona State University
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
and was moderated by
Bob Schieffer of
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
.
The
only vice presidential debate between Vice President
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
and Senator
John Edwards happened on October 5 at
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...
. It was moderated by
Gwen Ifill of the
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
.
Features of the campaign
The foundation of Bush's campaign for re-election was ideological
conservatism. Members of the campaign team believe there are clear ideological differences between George W. Bush and
John Kerry, and believe this contrasts with the
2000 Presidential election, in which both candidates attempted to portray themselves as "
centrists". Critics have argued that the crux of Bush's campaign was the suggestion that John Kerry would be soft on terrorism in comparison to George Bush, and to present Bush as a "war President". They also claim that the Bush campaign is concerned mainly with personalities rather than tackling ideological issues.
Much of the opposition to the Bush campaign (and vis-a-vis support to the Kerry campaign) took the form of "Anybody but Bush" - voters who would vote for anyone else.
Campaign visits
Not since the 1972 presidential election had Minnesota been an important Battleground Swing State as it was in 2004. As a result, President George W. Bush made 8 unprecedented campaign visits to Minnesota. On April 26, 2004 he made a first time presidential campaign visit to Edina, Minnesota during which Congressmen Jim Ramstad presented The President with the book “Lest We Forget” by John C. Martin, a U.S. Civil War veteran and Department Commander of the G.A.R. The National Daughters of the Grand Army first presented the book to President Coolidge on August 3, 1928.
Election and victory
The election took place on November 2, 2004 and ended with Bush gaining 286
electoral votes and Kerry garnering 251 electoral votes. Ironically, one vote went to Kerry's running mate and former presidential candidate,
John Edwards, when one of the electors (pledged to Kerry) voted for John Edwards by mistake. This was the first time in U.S. history that an elector had voted the same person for president and vice-president. As President Bush's running mate, Vice President Dick Cheney received 286 votes and John Edwards received 252.
The key state that both candidates needed was
Ohio. Ohio has 20 electoral votes, enough for both candidates to surpass the necessary 270. Ohio was reporting its results, but had not counted provisional ballots. In Ohio, Kerry trailed by 136,000 votes (not including provisional ballots). The chances of Kerry gaining the necessary votes through provisional ballots was slim.
Around 2:00 p.m. EST on November 3, 2004, John Kerry made a speech at
Faneuil Hall,
Boston. In this speech, he announced that he "cannot win this election." One hour later, George W. Bush declared that "America has spoken" and they had made a "historic victory." He said to Kerry supporters, "To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it."
With 286 electoral votes, President George W. Bush won the 2004 Presidential Election. Bush received over 62 million popular votes.
"Presidential Election of 2004, Electoral and Popular Vote Summary"
/ref>
See also
*2004 Republican National Convention
The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of historic quadrennial meetings at which the Republican candidates fo ...
*2004 United States presidential election
The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Chene ...
* Second inauguration of George W. Bush
* John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign
* George W. Bush 2000 presidential campaign
References
External links
George W. Bush acceptance speech
{{DEFAULTSORT:George W. Bush Presidential Campaign, 2004
George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign
George W. Bush
Dick Cheney
Bush, George W.
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he p ...
Bush, George W.
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he p ...
Presidency of George W. Bush