George W. Bush, arguably HBS’s most famous alumnus (HBS ’75), eked out a victory earlier this month over Democrat challenger John F. Kerry in a Presidential contest that drew the highest U.S. voter turnout since 1968. While Bush managed to garner the popular mandate that eluded him in the last election, results showed razor thin margins that barely spared voters a replay of muddled network projections, intense legal battles and protracted debates on dangling chads. Final tallies showed Bush winning the popular vote by a margin of 51 percent to 48 percent and capturing 286 electoral votes, compared to Kerry’s 252.
