It was on 6 January, 2001, that a joint session of Congress certified that George W. Bush was the winner of the 2000 election. In one of the closest Presidential elections in U.S. history, George W. Bush was ultimately declared the winner more than five weeks after the election ended, due to the disputed Florida ballots.
Vice President Al Gore became the third Presidential candidate to win the popular vote but lose the election. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to halt Florida’s manual recount of ballots. The ruling in effect gave Florida’s 25 electoral votes to Bush giving him 271 to Gore’s 266—where 270 is needed to win the election. George W. Bush took the oath of office on January 20, 2001, to become the 43rd President of the United States.