When it was finally over, the President who had become a radical champion of democracy's power to change the world became the living symbol of how it works. He made his decisions and moved on; the voters made theirs, in one of the most extraordinary displays of political passion seen in a generation. About 120 million voted, 15 million more than in 2000, with Bush beating Senator John Kerry by about 51% to 48.5%. He became the first President since 1988 to win a majority of the popular vote, he gained seats in both houses of Congress, and for good measure, he knocked off not just the Democratic nominee but the party's Senate leader as well. The love-hate presidency of George W. Bush was neither an accident of ideology nor a product of these times. Asked as he left the Crawford, Texas, polling station about the polarized feelings he inspires in voters, Bush replied, "I take that as a compliment. It means I'm willing to take a stand." He saw his task as leading and never looking back, and only that night did he learn whether enough people had decided to fall into line behind him to allow him to carry on. In a triumphant speech at the Ronald Reagan Building in D.C., after a long and winding election night, Bush declared victory. "America has spoken, and I am humbled by the trust and the confidence of my fellow citizens. With that trust comes a duty to serve all Americans, and I will do my best to fulfill that duty every day as your President."

Moments earlier, Kerry had stood before his supporters at Boston's Faneuil Hall, where his campaign began. To stamp out any delusions, he was very clear about the finality of his decision: "We cannot win this election," he said. Then, his voice breaking, he reminded his supporters that after an election, "we all wake up as Americans" and called for the healing to commence.

The kid who was born serious, who was greeted on campus with kazoos buzzing Hail to the Chief, who was tagged on national TV at age 27 as a future President, who marinated in the Senate among 99 other aspiring Presidents for 19 years before launching a bid for the White House that this time a year ago saw him barely twitching at about 10% in the polls, had shown exactly the kind of toughness his opponents claimed he lacked. He mortgaged his house, recast his team, renovated virtually every position he had ever taken and shook the grave dust off his suit several times before arriving at history's door. And then it closed in his face on a day when for a moment it had seemed to blow wide open.

In the end, an election that was supposed to be about all the ways we are divided at least brought us together at 193,000 polling places in democracy's messy leap of faith. Turnout was huge even in states where the result was assured. In Ohio the polls closed at 7:30, but the lines were so long that people were still voting at midnight. Some people admitted they just did not want to face their neighbors or their children at the end of the day and say they had not bothered to show up. Others said if you don't vote, you can't complain and did not want to be mute at a time like this. In the end, polls suggested that the single issue that mattered most was not the Iraq war or terrorism, not the economy, but the questions of values that simmered beneath the headlines throughout the campaign.

If the outcome still showed a public divided, it produced a government somewhat less so. Thanks to their sweeping victories Tuesday, the Republicans ensured that the very real challenges facing Bush in a second term—from Iraq as it heads toward elections, to entitlements as they drift toward insolvency, to Supreme Court appointments and the social issues that most deeply divide the public—would be addressed by a party with a rare monopoly of power in all three branches of government and a mandate, however slim, that did not exist four years ago. All of which points to the great mystery ahead: With re-election no longer the organizing principle of George Bush's presidency, what will guide his next four years, when the only judge left is history?

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