Overview

What's the real story behind the 2000 presidential election fiasco? Hanging Chads presents candid and insightful interviews with key figures in the post-election recount in Florida, which decided whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would win the closest presidential contest ever. The book features an introduction that clearly explains the often complex and convoluted legal manoeuvering that occurred during those tense thirty-six days of the recount, a timeline laying out the sequence of events, a cast of characters that identifies the key players on both sides, and a glossary of the court cases and legal terminology that came into play. Pleasants interviews the two main Florida lawyers, Dexter Douglass for Gore and Barry Richard for Bush, and discusses the decision-making process with three judges involved in key cases. The book includes the viewpoint of the press and key political players like Tom Feeney, the Florida legislature's Speaker of the House, and Mac Stipanovich, a key political advisor to Katherine Harris. In addition, Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore explains why she chose the infamous butterfly ballot that sent the whole process into motion. Providing a unique and balanced insiders' view of one of the most important events in recent history, Hanging Chads is a must-have for students and historians of American politics.

Full Product Details

9781349529827

Table of Contents

Reviews

Julian Pleasants has given us the definitive book on the disputed presidential election of 2000. Hanging Chads reveals how a badly flawed Florida ballot and the denial of a recount awarded the presidency to a candidate who lost by half a million votes in the popular count. - George McGovern, former U.S. Senator and 1972 Democratic Presidential Candidate Julian Pleasants has provided readers with a very valuable, well researched, and dispassionate story of the very controversial presidential election of 2000 in Florida. Combining an extended introduction with informative interviews with all of the key people involved in the disputed election, Pleasants allows readers to see for themselves how events transpired in 2000. His introduction alone is worth the price of this book. Anyone interested in his fascinating story of perhaps the closest election in American history must read this book. - Reubin O'D. Askew, Governor of Florida, 1971-1979

Author Information

JULIAN PLEASANTS is Professor of History and Director of the Oral History Program at the University of Florida, USA.

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