2000 in the United States

Federal government

• President: Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas)
• Vice President: Al Gore (D-Tennessee)
• Chief Justice: William Rehnquist (Wisconsin)^[1]
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois)
• Senate Majority Leader: Trent Lott (R-Mississippi)
• Congress: 106th

January

• January 4 – Alan Greenspan is nominated for a fourth term as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman.
• January 5–8 – The 2000 al-Qaeda Summit of several high-level al-Qaeda members (including two 9/11 American Airlines hijackers) is held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• January 10 – America Online announces an agreement to purchase Time Warner for $162 billion (the largest-ever corporate merger).
• January 12 – Elián González affair: Attorney General Janet Reno rules that a child rescued by Coastguards must be returned to his father in Cuba.^[2]
• January 14 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 11,722.98 (at the peak of the Dot-com bubble).
• January 26 – The rap-metal band Rage Against the Machine plays in front of Wall Street, prompting an early closing of trading due to the crowds.
• January 30 – Super Bowl XXXIV: The St. Louis Rams win the NFL Championship for the first time since 1951, defeating the Tennessee Titans 23–16.
• January 31 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes in the Pacific Ocean, killing all 88 people on board.

February

• February 11 – A blast from an improvised explosive device in front of a Barclay's Bank, across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, wounds dozens but kills none.
• February 13 – The final original Peanuts comic strip is published, following the death of its creator, Charles Schulz.
• February 17 – Microsoft releases Windows 2000.

March

• March 7 – Texas Governor George W. Bush and U.S. Vice President Al Gore emerge victorious in the Republican and Democratic caucuses and primaries of the United States presidential election.
• March 9 – The FBI arrests art forgery suspect Ely Sakhai in New York City.
• March 10 – The NASDAQ Composite Index reaches an all-time high of 5,048.^[3]
• March 20 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown), a former Black Panther, is captured after a gun battle in Atlanta, Georgia that leaves a sheriff's deputy dead.
• March 21 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the government lacks authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, throwing out the Bill Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative.
• March 27 – The Phillips explosion of 2000 kills one and injures 71 in Pasadena, Texas.

April

• April – The unemployment rate drops to a low of 3.8%, the lowest since December 1969.
• April – The labor force participation rate hits a historical peak of 67.4%.
• April – The employment-population ratio reaches an all-time high of 64.8%.
• April 1 – The 2000 United States Census determines the resident population of the United States to be 281,421,906.
• April 3 – United States v. Microsoft: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.
• April 22 – In a predawn raid, federal agents seize 6-year old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida and fly him to his Cuban father in Washington, DC, ending one of the most publicized custody battles in U.S. history.
• April 25 – The State of Vermont passes HB847, legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples.
• April 28 – Richard Baumhammers begins a two-hour racially motivated shooting spree in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, leaving five dead and one paralyzed.

May

• May 3 – In San Antonio, Texas, computer pioneer Datapoint files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• May 24 – Five people are shot and killed during a robbery at a Wendy's in Queens, New York.
• May 28 – The comic strip Bringing Up Father ends its 87-year run in newspapers.

June

• June 1 – Expo 2000, the world's fair in Hanover, Germany, begins without the attendance of the United States.^[4]
• June 5 – 405 The Movie, the first short film widely distributed on the Internet, is released.
• June 7 – United States Microsoft antitrust case: A Court orders the breakup of the Microsoft corporation because of its monopoly in the computer software market.^[2]
• June 28 – Elián González affair: Elián González seized by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and returned to Cuba.^[2]

July

• July 12 – A thirty year old^[5] American mechanic named Thomas Jones^[6] was pursued by law enforcement officers from the Philadelphia Police Department in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[7] More than one dozen officers beat and attacked Jones while wounded.^[8][9]

• July 31–August 3 – The Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania nominates Texas Governor George W. Bush for U.S. President and Dick Cheney for Vice President.

August

• August 8 – The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
• August 14–17 – The Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles nominates U.S. Vice President Al Gore for President and Senator Joe Lieberman for Vice President.

September

• September 3 – The 5.0 M_w Yountville earthquake shook the North Bay area of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), causing 41 injuries and $10–50 million in losses.
• September 6 – In Paragould, Arkansas, Breanna Lynn Bartlett-Stewart is stillborn to Jason Stewart and Lisa Bartlett. Breanna Lynn's stillbirth is notable for being the first stillbirth to be resolved by means of the Kleihauer-Betke test.
• September 8 – The United Nations Millennium Declaration is made in New York City.

October

• October 11 – 250 million US gallons (950,000 m³) of coal sludge spill in Martin County, Kentucky (considered a greater environmental disaster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill).
• October 12 – In Aden, Yemen, the USS Cole is badly damaged by two Al-Qaeda suicide bombers, who place a small boat laden with explosives alongside the United States Navy destroyer, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.
• October 16 – Mel Carnahan, Democratic Governor of Missouri and US Senate candidate, dies in a plane crash in Jefferson County, Missouri, three weeks before the election for that office. Lieutenant Governor Roger B. Wilson succeeds Carnahan as Missouri's Governor.
• October 23 – Madeleine Albright holds talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.
• October 26 – The New York Yankees defeat the New York Mets in Game 5 of the 2000 World Series, 4–1, to win their 26th World Series title. This is the first Subway Series matchup between the two crosstown rivals. It is their 4th World Series win in the last five years under Manager Joe Torre.

November

• November 7
  • United States presidential election, 2000: Republican candidate Texas Governor George W. Bush defeats Democratic Vice President Al Gore in the closest election in history, but the final outcome is not known for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida.^[2]
  • Hillary Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office.
  • Just three weeks after his death, Mel Carnahan is posthumously elected to the United States Senate defeating Republican incumbent John Ashcroft. Then-Governor Roger B. Wilson appoints his widow, Jean Carnahan, to fill the seat for him.
• November 8 – U.S. presidential election, 2000: Per Florida law, an automatic recount begins in the state due to the narrow margin of the outcome.^[10]
• November 16 – Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting U.S. President to visit Vietnam.
• November 17 – U.S. presidential election, 2000: The Supreme Court of Florida prevents Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris from certifying the election results, allowing recounting to continue.^[11]

December

• December 8 – U.S. presidential election, 2000: The Supreme Court of Florida orders a statewide manual recount of the votes in the presidential election. The next day the U.S. Supreme Court places a stay on this order.^[10]
• December 12 – U.S. presidential election, 2000 – Bush v. Gore: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns the ruling by the Florida Supreme Court, ending the recount and effectively giving the state, and the Presidency, to Texas Governor George W. Bush.^[2] The following day, U. S. Vice President Al Gore concedes the election and suspends the activities of his recount committee.^[11]
• December 13 – The Texas Seven escape from their prison unit in Kenedy, Texas, and start a crime spree.
• December 20 – Brothers Reginald and Jonathan Carr break into a house in Wichita, Kansas, subjecting the occupants to rape and torture, and eventual murder. Only one of the occupants survived and the brothers were caught the next day. The event became known as the Wichita massacre.
• December 24 – The Texas Seven rob a sports store in Irving, Texas; police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot dead.
• December 26 – Wakefield Massacre. Michael McDermott kills 7 coworkers at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield, Massachusetts.
• December 28 – U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.
• December 31 – President Bill Clinton signs the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.^[2]

Ongoing

• Iraqi no-fly zones (1991–2003)
• Dot-com bubble (c. 1995–c. 2000)