The Iowa caucuses were being held on this day in 2004, and the outcome would have a significantly negative outcome for one Vermonter.

Vermont Governor Howard Dean was running for president, and had been widely reported in the press as likely to emerge victorious in Iowa. Tracking polls had put him out front.

To everyone’s surprise, a last minute surge by candidates John Kerry and John Edwards gave Dean a third place finish, which, because expectations had been so high, was widely regarded as a failure. Hope for building momentum coming out of Iowa was gone. The Dean bid for the presidency was essentially over.

Sticker from the collections of the Vermont Historical Society.