US President-elect Vows to Heal CountryBush, preparing to enter the White House without a voting majority, called on the United States to "put politics behind us and work together" on retirement plans, health care for the elderly, and tax relief following a difficult election. "Our nation must rise above a house divided," Bush claimed in reaching out to try to heal the wounds of the long drawn-out presidential election. "I was not elected to serve one party, but to serve one nation, " said the country's soon-to-be 43rd president. Bush, the son of a former president, was delivering his address in the chamber of the Texas House of Representatives in Austin, Texas, an hour after Gore delivered a graceful, generous concession speech that also called for national reconciliation and unity. In a nationally televised address, Gore conceded the presidential election and promised to help the president-elect bring the country together. Gore also said that he strongly disagreed with the US Supreme Court's decision Tuesday night to stop the manual recount of ballots in Florida. But he said he accepted it. Nationally, the Democratic vice president outpolled the Texas governor by more than 300,000 votes -- 50,158,094 to 49,820,518. Bush won the election by capturing the needed state-based 270 electoral votes with Florida's 25 putting him over the top. Gore's attempt to get a hand count of disputed ballots in the state ended on Tuesday night by the US Supreme Court. Bush, 54, planned to meet with Gore next Tuesday during a visit to Washington. The meeting will also include a visit to outgoing President Bill Clinton and to congressional leaders. Bush's presidency will mark the second father-son presidential combination in the American history, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The elder Bush was defeated by Clinton and Gore in 1992. Bush Looks Forward to Meeting Gore on December 19US President-elect George W. Bush will meet Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore on December 19, Bush's spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said Wednesday night.Tucker said that Bush told Gore he looked forward to meeting him when the vice president called Bush on Wednesday at 8:52 p.m. EST Wednesday (0152 GMT Thursday) to congratulate the Texas governor on election victory. "The vice president was gracious. He congratulated Governor Bush," Tucker said. Bush to Give National AddressRepublican George W. Bush, preparing to assume the mantle of president-elect, said Wednesday that he will speak to the nation about an hour after Democrat Al Gore's scheduled address.Bush, set to speak at 10 p.m. EST Wednesday, was withholding a victory statement or any other comments on Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling pending an expected call from Gore and the vice president's 9 p.m. EST TV address. In a nationally televised speech, Bush will show his intention to reach across the partisan aisle in an effort to heal the nation 's deep political wounds, Bush's aides said. "He believes this venue exemplifies his ability to bring the country together, to work together to accomplish the nation's priorities," said Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett. Bush's presidency will be the second time in American history that a father-son combination has served in the White House, following the Adamses in the early 1800s. The elder Bush was defeated by Bill Clinton in his 1992 re-election bid. Exactly five weeks after one of the most unsettled presidential elections in US history, the deeply divided US Supreme Court overturned the Florida Supreme Court decision allowing continued manual recounts across the state Tuesday night, handing Bush a victory in his bid to close out the state's contested presidential election. Bush managed to win the White House by capturing the needed state-based 270 electoral votes. Florida's 25 electoral votes put him over the top. Sources here said that Gore intended to give "a statesman-like address," calling for a healing of the nation following the divisive battle for the White House that saw him rebuffed Tuesday night by a bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court. The vice president may not actually use the word "concede" and instead merely say his presidential campaign -- his second -- is over, one source said. Gore tried for the White House in 1998 but lost his bid for the Democratic nomination to Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis who was beaten by Bush's father, George Bush, in the November election. Gore ConcedesAl Gore said in a nationally televised address Wednesday night that he conceded the presidential election when he called Republican George W. Bush to congratulate him on victory.In his speech, Gore said he "strongly" disagreed but accepted the ruling made by the US Supreme Court Tuesday night, which dashed his hopes of being the 43rd US president. Gore called on the country to unite behind the new president and promised to help Bush bring the country together. "I call on all Americans, I particularly urge all who stood with us, to unite behind our next president," the vice president said. Gore reaffirmed his offer to meet with Bush as soon as possible in order to "heal the divisions of the campaign." Gore said that "what remains of partisan rancor must now be put aside." The vice president called Bush to concede, and joked that he wouldn't call Bush back this time. That's a reference to Gore calling Bush on the election night (November 7) to concede, only to call him back and take back his concession. Gore said his one regret is that he won't get to stay and fight for Americans for the next four years as president. However, he said that he will "never stop fighting for Americans." |
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