The end to the race came one day after the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 majority, reversed a Florida Supreme Court decision to continue recounting tens of thousands of undervotes in the state, dealing the death blow to Gore's hopes for the presidency.

By a 7-2 vote, the court held per curiam that there were "constitutional problems" with the Florida Supreme Court's decision, and by a 5-4 vote ruled that there was nothing more the Florida court could do to fairly recount the state's ballots without disrupting the electoral process.

But while the court's decision effectively ended the election, the strongly worded opinions of the four dissenting justices revealed a deep divide on the court. In the most dramatic dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said that his colleagues reflected an "unstated lack of confidence in the impartiality and capacity" of the Florida Supreme Court in siding with the Bush team's appeal, undermining the credibility of the nation's highest court.

In the decision's aftermath, even Republicans admit that Bush must convince the nation that the presidency confers upon him the legitimacy to govern.

Though he did not mention it last night, Gore won the popular vote by 330,000 votes. Bush officially won the make-or-break state of Florida by only 537 votes.

Yesterday, Bush moved to strengthen his claim to the presidency, reaching out to Democrats and reasserting his campaign promise to be a "uniter, not a divider."

Bush was introduced before his speech by the highest-ranking Democrat in his state, House Speaker Pete Laney, and he is considering appointing a few Democrats to Cabinet posts. In his speech, his mentioned one of Texas's most endearing politicians, the late lieutenant governor, Bob Bullock, a Democrat with whom he became close friends.

In the next few days, aides say, Bush will focus on making peace with bitter Democrats on Capitol Hill--but he will also begin announcing White House and Cabinet appointments.