"I believe we can seize this future together," he said, "because we are not as divided as our politics suggest. We're not as cynical as the pundits believe."

He has been delivering different versions of the same speech since 2004, when he first came to national prominence at the Democratic convention in Boston. On the night of his re-election, it was less true than ever. Perhaps in the morning, confronted with a map blue at the edges and dark red through the middle from top to bottom, he may have reflected that he is the president of two countries, not one. After an election campaign that cost almost £4 billion, the only states to change their allegiance were Indiana and North Carolina: both traditionally conservative states Mr Obama won by narrow margins four years ago and could not hold. Nationally, the popular vote was split 51% to 48%, with Mr Obama winning just three million more votes than Mitt Romney.