2000: George W. Bush is elected over Vice President Al Gore by the slimmest of margins, 271 electoral votes to 266, with 270 needed to win. Bush wins even though Gore outpolls him by more than a half-million ballots in the popular vote. Remember Ralph Nader? He draws 2.9 million votes, and a heaping helping of blame from Democrats for tilting the election toward Bush.
2004: Bush is re-elected over Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., by 286 electoral votes to 251. Remember John Edwards? One "faithless elector" from Minnesota casts an electoral vote for him. (No one claims credit for the Edwards vote, but there is speculation that someone unconsciously mixed up the two Johns on the ticket.) Bush draws 62 million votes to Kerry's 59 million. Nader's star is fading: He gets about 465,000 ballots.
2008: Illinois Sen. Barack Obama defeats Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., by 365 electoral votes to 173. Obama gets 69 million popular votes to McCain's 60 million.