The United States presidential election of 2000 was the 54th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. John McCain, the Republican nominee, defeated Joe Lieberman, the Democratic nominee. Interestingly, McCain and Lieberman were longtime friends, and were both seen as centrists and reformers; this, perhaps, led to the closeness of the election. Lieberman was also the first Jewish person to be nominated by a major party for president.