Editing Hamid Karzai (section)

==2004 Afghan presidential election==
{{Main|2004 Afghan presidential election}}
[[File:Inauguration of President Hamid Karzai in December 2004.jpg|thumb|Karzai's inauguration on 7 December 2004, after winning the [[2004 Afghan presidential election|presidential election]].]]
When Karzai was a candidate in the October 2004 [[2004 Afghan presidential election|presidential election]], he won 21 of the 34 [[provinces of Afghanistan|provinces]], defeating his 22 opponents and becoming the first democratically elected leader of Afghanistan.

Although his campaigning was limited due to fears of violence, elections passed without significant incident. Following an investigation by the United Nations of alleged voting irregularities, the national election commission in early November declared Karzai winner, without a runoff, with 55.4% of the vote. This represented 4.3&nbsp;million of the total 8.1&nbsp;million votes cast. The election took place safely in spite of a surge of insurgent activity.<ref name="Democracy Is Born">{{Cite book |last=Matthew J. Morgan |title=A Democracy Is Born: An Insider's Account of the Battle Against Terrorism in Afghanistan |url=https://archive.org/details/democracyisborni0000morg |year= 2007 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-99999-5 |access-date=16 September 2008  |url-access=registration }}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref>

Karzai was sworn in as President of the [[Islamic republic|Islamic Republic]] of Afghanistan on 7 December 2004, at a formal ceremony in Kabul. Many interpreted the ceremony as a symbolically important "new start" for the war-torn nation. Notable guests at the inauguration included the country's former King, [[Mohammed Zahir Shah|Zahir Shah]], three former U.S. presidents, and U.S. Vice President [[Dick Cheney]].