About: Al Sharpton 2004 presidential campaign

The 2004 presidential campaign of Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist from New York City, began with his expressed interest in May 2001. In August of that year, Sharpton announced the formation of an exploratory committee and began to campaign for the nomination of the Democratic Party. Sharpton had previously run for several elected offices throughout the 1990s, and many news outlets reported on how Sharpton was unlikely to gain the Democratic nomination, with some arguing that the primary point of his campaign was to raise his profile. Sharpton claimed that, while he was running with the intent to win, it was more important to him that his campaign help raise issues primarily concerning the African American community, regardless of whether he received the nomination or not.