He will become president-elect by a single vote in the electoral college, the narrowest margin since 1876. He will also be the first man since 1888 to win the presidency while losing the popular vote. And he will take office after some of the most acrimonious partisan fighting of recent years.
Most voters say they want the contest to end.
As Congress reassembles in Washington, the talk is turning to the legislation that could pass with bipartisan support prescription-drug benefits, a patients bill of rights, and so on. If you add to all that the undoubted powers of the presidency, which kept Bill Clinton going through dire circumstances, there is a strong case for thinking Mr Bush can create a honeymoon for himself and use it to pass a stack of centrist, popular laws. But three things have changed in the past month. Two will make this soft landing harder to achieve now than it was on election day. He dispatched Dick Cheney to set up the transition process.