Bush and Cheney were formally nominated at the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia on August 2. Their battle for the White House against Gore and his running mate, Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, was one of the closest and most disputed presidential elections in the country's history.

On election night, November 7, it all came down to the state of Florida and its 25 electoral votes. With a razor-thin lead in the state (though he trailed Gore in the popular vote), Bush was first declared the winner by the news networks, and Gore called to concede the election. Hours later, the final count in Florida looked too close to call, and Gore rescinded his concession as the recounts began. After five weeks of complicated legal battles that stretched all the way to the highest court in the land, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to stop the recounts in Florida, effectively declaring Bush the winner of the state by a margin of 537 votes. On December 13, one day after this decision, Gore ended his campaign and congratulated Bush on his victory, as both men urged the nation to try to put partisan differences aside in the wake of the extraordinary election. In his first address as president-elect, Bush continued to stress bipartisanship, a central theme of his campaign, and promised to be the leader of "one nation," not "one party."

George W. Bush was inaugurated as the 43rd president of the United States on January 20, 2001.