Uniting a divided nation - the first task for the new man in the White House

Celebrations at last, but the work is just starting for President Bush
George W Bush had already heard that Al Gore was withdrawing his recount team from Florida when he arrived at the Capitol building in Austin, Texas, yesterday and was indicating that the theme of his response would be to "unite a divided nation".

After greeting members of the media he spent yesterday working on his conciliatory address to the nation and contacting potential members of his cabinet. "This has been a long and arduous process for everyone involved on both sides," said James Baker, who has been acting as Mr Bush's legal adviser for the past five weeks.

Art Aubry, who runs the Shooting Star photography studio just down the road from the governor's mansion, ran out on to the street to celebrate when he heard that Al Gore was ending the recount yesterday. "I couldn't be happier," said Mr Aubry, whose business card shows him and Mr Bush together.

Mr Aubry had been ready for a big celebration on the night of November 7. Then Al Gore withdrew his concession and 500 disposable cameras he had been hoping to sell to revellers had to be stored. But he felt that the wait had been worth it. "I think the country is aghast at the way the vote was carried out. Who knew that there were 67 different standards in one state?" he said.

A hardy band of four supporters had braved the icy winds to wave their placards at George Bush as he arrived in Austin. Barbara Goldin, who works at a nearby military base, said: "I wanted to be here to show the president-elect my support because I can't go inside the governor's mansion and give him a hug."

She said that Bush supporters would probably not get round to celebrating the victory properly until the weekend. "It would be wrong for us to celebrate now - the whole nation has been torn apart."

The Bush camp was still reluctant to put the bunting out. But plans for a muted unofficial party at the nearby Four Seasons hotel were under way, although there was no triumphalism on display as Mr Bush arrived, flanked by his secret service bodyguards, at the Capitol building to carry out some of his last acts as governor.

There has been much discussion within the Bush camp as victory seemed increasingly likely about an appropriate response. From early yesterday, Karen Hughes, Mr Bush's spokeswoman, was engaged in producing a suitably restrained reaction, not least because of the bridge-building that Mr Bush will have to do with the Democrats for any meaningful legislation to proceed next year.

Gradually, since the early, angry days after November 7, Mr Bush has sought to present a more conciliatory manner as it became clear that Al Gore had won the popular vote by 300,000, that less than a quarter of the electorate had voted for Mr Bush and that around half of the population were not really convinced that he had won. Many believe he has been shoe-horned into power by a partisan judiciary and a flawed, if not corrupt, electoral system in a state run by his brother.

No American president has come to the White House in such difficult circumstances and with as little practical political experience for dealing with them. He faces two great challenges of political legitimacy. The first is to secure his authority as the winner of the most intensely disputed election in modern US politics. The second is to restore the authority of the presidency in a nation split down the middle on party lines.

In these tasks he has a major credibility gap to cross. He is regarded by his opponents as a placeman for the religious right, gun lobby and big business. It was noted that, when a Bush victory finally looked almost certain, shares in tobacco, pharmaceuticals and Microsoft rose. Mr Bush is perceived as someone likely to put a halt to the big tobacco company civil actions and the government's action against Microsoft, and unlikely to cap the price of pharmaceuticals.

Those lobbies that backed Mr Bush are expecting legislative help, tax breaks and a lighter regulatory framework.

Mr Bush has also been throwing out hints of how he hopes to "heal the divide". One of the biggest divides will be with the black voters, 92 % of whom supported Mr Gore. His team has dropped hints that not only will Colin Powell become his secretary of state and Condoleezza Rice his national security adviser, but that there will be other high-profile appointments to address the perceived distrust. William Gray, a Democratic former congressman and current head of the United Negro College Fund, has been suggested as a possible secretary of education.

Mr Bush's background and manner suggest the Oval Office is about to see a dramatic change. Instead of Bill Clinton's energy and engagement in detailed policy and campaigning issues, he seems likely to be more of a figurehead and delegator in the Ronald Reagan mould, though without the latter's instinctive sense of style. Much of the burden of governing is likely to fall on Dick Cheney, who sometimes appears to be the real head of the new team.

A year ago George W Bush was famous in for just two things - being the son of a president and being the Republican presidential candidate who had raised more money on the campaign trail than any candidate for the White House before him. Those who invested will now be looking for their return. For some it will be one of the 8,000 patronage jobs that change hands in Washington with the arrival of a new administration. For the most influential there will be posts at the White House; for the richest, ambassadorships and invitations to White House banquets.

The right wing of Mr Bush's party, led by Trent Lott in the Senate and Tom DeLay in the House of Representatives, intends to secure some of the policy goals that a Democratic president prevented. The most controversial of these would be steps towards outlawing abortion, an almost sacred cause to many conservatives.

In Shrub, the unauthorised and sceptical biography of the man who will be the 43rd president, Molly Ivins quotes one of Mr Bush's less statesmanlike remarks when he described himself as "the pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity". He will need a pitbull's tenacity if he is not to be seen as another, more pampered, member of the canine species acting on behalf of the corporations who spent so heavily to ensure his success.

George W Bush - a life

1946 Born George Walker Bush in New Haven Connecticut, the son of George Herbert Walker and Barbara Bush

1948 The Bush family moved to Midland, Texas, where George Bush Senior started an oil exploration business

1959 The family moved to Houston and George W Bush was sent to Phillips Academy boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts, where he was an indifferent student

1965 Went to Yale University in New Haven, where he earned a BA in history in 1968

1968 Won a coveted slot as a trainee pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, which ruled out being sent to fight in the Vietnam war.

1969-73 Bush wandered from job to job, at one point working with young people in Houston

1973 Enrolled in Harvard business school

1975 Returned to Midland, Texas, to try his luck in the oil business, with the help of former business friends of his father

1977 Married Laura Welch, a Midland librarian and teacher

1978 Ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Texas

1986 A Dallas firm bought out Bush's ailing oil company. After his 40th birthday party, he gave up drinking and resolved to take life more seriously

1988 Helped run his father's presidential campaign

1989 Helped put together a consortium to buy the Texas Rangers baseball team

1994 Defeated the Democratic governor of Texas, Ann Richards

1998 Won re-election as Texas governor

1999 Declared his intention to run for the presidency

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