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The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican President George W. Bush defeated Democratic nominee John Kerry, a United States Senator from Massachusetts.
Bush and incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney were renominated by their party with no difficulty. Former Governor Howard Dean emerged as the early front-runner in the 2004 Democratic primaries, but Kerry won the first set of primaries in January 2004 and clinched his party's nomination in March after a series of primary victories. Kerry chose Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who had himself sought the party's 2004 presidential nomination, to be his running mate.
Bush's popularity had soared early in his first term after the September 11 attacks, but his popularity declined between 2001 and 2004. Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's conduct of the War on Terrorism and the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Bush presented himself as a decisive leader and attacked Kerry as a "flip-flopper", while Kerry criticized Bush's conduct of the Iraq War. Domestic issues were debated as well, including the economy and jobs, health care, abortion, same-sex marriage and embryonic stem cell research.
Bush won by a slim margin, taking 50.7% of the popular vote and 286 electoral votes. He swept the South and the Mountain States and took the crucial swing states of Ohio, Iowa, and New Mexico, the latter two being flipped Republican. Although Kerry flipped New Hampshire compared to the previous election, Bush's electoral map expanded numerically. Some aspects of the election process were subject to controversy, but not to the degree seen in the 2000 presidential election. The Florida race this time saw Bush winning with a solid five-point margin, unlike the razor-thin margin of the previous election that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court in the case of Bush v. Gore.
Bush was the first candidate since his father in the 1988 election to also win a majority of the popular vote, as well as the last Republican candidate to have done so. Bush's victory also marked the first and only time that the Republican nominee won a presidential election without carrying any state in the Northeast. Bush would serve until 2009 and be succeeded by Barack Obama, whereas Kerry would continue to serve in the Senate and later become the 68th Secretary of State of the United States during Obama's second term.

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