After winning another four years in the White House, US president George Bush yesterday pledged to work for the trust of all Americans and to wage the war on terror "with every resource of our national power".
Mr Bush's remarks came in a victory speech before cheering supporters in Washington after Democratic candidate Senator John Kerry conceded that he could not win Ohio's 20 electoral college votes to keep his hopes of the presidency alive.
By winning the key state of Ohio Mr Bush brought his total of electoral college votes to 274, four more than the 270 needed for victory. Mr Kerry had 252 votes, with Iowa (7) and New Mexico (5) still undecided.
Mr Bush also won the biggest ever popular vote in an American presidential election, getting the support of 58.9 million voters (51 per cent) to Mr Kerry's 55.3 million (48 per cent).
"I will need your support and I will work to earn it," Mr Bush said, addressing the 55 million Americans who voted for his Democratic rival.
With Vice President Dick Cheney and their families at his side and speaking to a cheering audience including cabinet members, Mr Bush said America would give Iraq and Afghanistan the strength to defend their freedom "and our servicemen and women can come home with the honour they have earned".
Earlier Mr Kerry telephoned Mr Bush at the White House to concede defeat, after a long night huddled with aides calculating if he could win Ohio with the counting of some 150,000 provisional ballots, votes cast by people who did not have registration, and absentee ballots.
However when lawyers advised him he could not expect the extra votes to exceed Mr Bush's lead of over 136,000, Mr Kerry decided to concede rather than risk a rerun of the recount spectacle in Florida four years ago.
Democratic sources said that his running mate, Senator John Edwards, wanted him to hold out until the vote count was beyond dispute and to ignore the declaration by White House chief of staff Andy Card in the early morning that Mr Bush was the winner and that that the president was merely delaying a victory speech to give Mr Kerry time to consider the figures in the light of day.
Mr Kerry spoke to the president by telephone about the need to heal the nation after a long and bitter campaign, aides said. Mr Bush called the senator a worthy, tough and honourable opponent, according to campaign aides.
Later, in an emotional concession speech in Boston, the Massachusetts senator said: "America is in need of unity and longing for a larger measure of compassion. I hope President Bush will advance those values in the coming years."
Introducing Mr Bush yesterday Vice President Dick Cheney said they now had a mandate and would pursue a consequential presidency.
Mr Bush, addressing those who voted for Mr Kerry, said: "I will need your support and I will work to earn it ... When we work together there is no limit to the greatness of America."
"We are entering a season of hope," he said, outlining a brief agenda for his second term, including tax code reform, strengthening social security and public schools, upholding the "deepest values of family and faith" and "helping the emerging democracies of Afghanistan and Iraq".
The Republican Party also gained four Senate seats and lost one to increase its majority in the upper chamber to five and brought about the defeat of Democratic minority leader Senator Tom Daschle in South Dakota.
Despite glitches and an unprecedented turnout that left people queuing long after midnight in some places, the poll generally went smoothly.
Mr Bush won Florida by 5 percentage points but failed to take some states targeted by his campaign, including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Voters in 11 states approved constitutional amendments limiting marriage to one man and one woman.