Heidi M. Przybyla

USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Hillary Clinton began Tuesday on a hopeful note, with the nation's finest polling and analytics data indicating she'd be elected first female president of the world's most powerful country. By night's end, she called Donald Trump to concede the office she'd sought for so long.

Early Wednesday morning, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta took the stage at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, while Clinton stayed back at the hotel where she'd been watching returns with her family.

“It’s been a long night and it’s been a long campaign, but I can say we can wait a little longer,” he said. “Every vote can count," adding that the campaign would "have more to say tomorrow." Not long after, Clinton was on the phone conceding the election to the real estate billionaire after the Associated Press called the race.

Clinton will indeed speak Wednesday morning, according to a campaign aide.

She had been scheduled to head to the Javits Center Tuesday night, a steel and glass structure the campaign chose for its symbolism in anticipation that the Democratic nominee would become the first woman to "shatter the highest, hardest glass ceiling," as she and her campaign surrogates often say.

Instead, Clinton supporters seemed stricken at the unexpected result as they streamed out of the cavernous glass structure. The Democratic nominee had long been favored to win.

A scene that played out across the auditorium was forlorn-looking mothers and daughters. Fifty-year-old Liz Reisman sat on a stairway with her daughter slumped on her lap. "We’re going to be living in the 1950s again, we’re going back in time. There are no words," she said, citing in particular the potential impact on the Supreme Court. Her daughter, Rachel, she said, would likely call in sick to school the next day.

The crowd at the Javits Center thinned significantly as the night progressed. Standing with red-rimmed eyes, Dana Vance, a 27-year-old pastry cook in Manhattan, stood over another mom on the floor with her arms around a little girl. “It’s really, really heartbreaking,” she said of the girl, who had earlier discussed how a woman could run for president. “I’ve seen so many little girls … defeated,” Vance said, choking back tears.

There was also reflection on the political arc that began with the election of Barack Obama eight years earlier, when the nation celebrated the first black president.

"It wasn’t cool to be a racist when Barack Obama was elected, and now it’s all coming out," said Nancy Gallagher, a 58-year-old from New York as she made her way out of the Javits Center. Her friend, 53-year-old Pam Batalis, interjected: “He made American hate again — you can use that."

For millions of women, this Election Day turned cold

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In the final hours of Clinton’s historic bid to become the first female U.S. president, the Democratic nominee began the equivalent of a national therapy program to heal the nation following one of the nastiest and most divisive campaigns in modern history.

In last-minute stops across Pennsylvania and Michigan, Clinton underscored the need for Americans to put aside anger — and even hate — that's defined an election dividing Americans along racial, class and gender lines.

Voters in key states endured long lines, equipment failures





As election returns rolled in, a group of speakers entertained the crowd, including New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and the so-called Mothers of the Movement, a group of African-American women who’ve lost their children to gun violence. The campaign had planned to give the most prominent slot, coming just before the main program, to Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father of a Muslim solider killed in Iraq in 2004.

The mood in the Javits Center became subdued as the surprising results rolled in. Singer Katy Perry, who performed at a recent Clinton rally, took to the stage for brief remarks. "If you’re in a state where the polls are still open you must vote for Hillary Clinton tonight," she said.

Others also tried to keep spirits high, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who likened Clinton to other female pioneers and predicted she would “break through that final barrier” for women. Even as many supporters appeared surprised by the closeness of the race, the speakers worked to keep spirits high. Schumer led them in a chant: “I believe that she will win!”

In an interview with a New Hampshire radio station early Tuesday, Clinton was already being asked how she wanted to be remembered as president.

"I hope to be remembered as someone who began to help heal our country, to overcome the divide, the very unfortunate feeling that a lot of people have that this election was very much filled with nastiness and negativity," she said.

Clinton’s effort to deliver a more unifying message began far later than she’d originally intended. Her campaign has spent the past couple weeks aggressively highlighting Trump’s negatives rather than her own aspirations for the future of the country.

However, late Sunday, after FBI Director James Comey notified Congress that a recently announced review of new emails related to the investigation of Clinton's private server had not changed the bureau's recommendation that no criminal charges should be filed, her rhetoric shifted to a more optimistic note.

As Election Day looms, Clinton joins forces with Obamas in Philadelphia

Prominent surrogates had also emphasized the history-making potential of Clinton's candidacy in recent days.

In Philadelphia on Monday night, first lady Michelle Obama told more than 30,000 supporters that their votes could help Clinton "break the highest, hardest glass ceiling and become our president."

But as election night wore on, the hopeful mood of Clinton supporters grew dim. Lori Levy, who stood with one of Clinton's neighbors from Chappaqua, lamented the fact that the campaign appeared to have underestimated the number of hidden Trump voters. “People wouldn’t admit to voting for him in the polls, but they went ahead and did it,” said Levy.

Reisman, the mother who brought her 17-year-old daughter, said she "really wanted to experience this night together with my daughter." Still, she said, "I’m hoping that in my lifetime there will be that experience."