22. Bush Is One Of Only Four Presidents To Have Won An Election Despite Receiving Less Votes Than His Opponent
Although Bush claimed victory in the 2000 Presidential election against Al Gore, the Republican candidate actually received less votes nationwide than his Democratic opponent. Al Gore received 543,816 votes more than Bush - but lost the electoral college 271 to 266, giving Bush the victory. As a result, Bush became only the fourth President ever to be elected having lost the popular vote - although he was only confirmed as President-Elect more than a month after the election due to the fact votes in Florida (where Bush won by just 527 votes) were originally scheduled for a recount before the US Supreme Court declared this move illegal. The other three Presidents elected despite losing the popular vote were John Quincy Adams (who lost by 44,804 votes to Andrew Jackson in 1824), Rutherford B Hayes (who lost by 264,292 votes to Samuel J Tilden in 1976) and Benjamin Harrison (who lost by 95,713 votes to Grover Cleveland in 1888).
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
