STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Finally, we have come to the end, the end of a presidential process that began well over one year ago, kicking off in primaries that included close to 20 Republican candidates and half a dozen Democrats.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
It's amazing to think about that. Let's just listen back now to some of the memorable sounds from the 2016 presidential campaign.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: I am officially running...
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: ...For president of the United States. And we are going to make our country great again.
(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD)
HILLARY CLINTON: So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote. Because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: Excuse me, sit down. You weren't called. Sit down. Sit down.
JORGE RAMOS: No, I'm a...
TRUMP: Sit down.
RAMOS: (Unintelligible).
TRUMP: Go back to Univision.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BERNIE SANDERS: Middle class in this country is collapsing. We have 27 million people living in poverty. We have massive wealth and income inequality. Our trade policies have cost us millions of decent jobs. Enough of the emails, let's talk about the real issues facing America.
(SOUNDBITE OF DEBATE)
TED CRUZ: Donald, Donald, I understand rules are very hard for you. They're very confusing.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Mr. Trump, you're doing a great job. I have his book.
CRUZ: Donald, relax.
TRUMP: Go ahead. I'm relaxed. You're the basket case. Go ahead.
CRUZ: OK, now...
WOLF BLITZER: The latest debate - gentleman, please.
CRUZ: Well, hold on. I get my answer. He doesn't get to yell...
BLITZER: We're - I want to move - I want to move on. These are the rules.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And as the debates whittled down the contenders - and you are hearing some of those voices again - we, MORNING EDITION, traveled across the country to talk to voters. Here are some voices from the campaign trail, from states as far flung from each other as Montana and Florida.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)
GREENE: Have you made a decision yet?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Oh, I'm leaning.
GREENE: Where are you leaning?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Probably Trump, which is really bad because of all of them, he's a terrible option but the lesser of the evils.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: I guess if it was between Hillary and Bernie, I'd say I'd go with Bernie. And I think if it was between Bernie and Trump, I'd end up going with Trump. And I don't like it. Like, that tastes like vinegar. But that's probably what I'd do. You all saw that that was agonizing for me, though. I did not like this question.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: I should have talked to my...
INSKEEP: And those are some of the...
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: ...My doctor first, before I watched this (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: I've just received a call from Secretary Clinton.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: She congratulated us - it's about us - on our victory.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CLINTON: This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for. And I'm sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)
KATHLEEN ZHU: We wake up the next morning. We put on our pantsuits. And we fight on because there is no other choice but to fight on for our values.
INSKEEP: There's a student and Hillary Clinton supporter from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. And again, Hillary Clinton has conceded defeat on a stage here today. She, of course, conceded in a phone call to Donald Trump early this morning. And Trump gave his victory speech in the wee hours of the morning. Secretary Clinton, in her response just now, said, we owe him an open mind and a chance to lead, that that was part of the American system, that that was an American democratic value.
But so too, she added, were the rule of law, the equality of all and freedom of worship and expression. She said, we respect those values, and we must defend them. And so something of a call to arms in the years to come by a smiling Hillary Rodham Clinton inside a ballroom with her husband and daughter with her on stage. There you have it. The 2016 election is decided. We'll be continuing to cover so much that is ahead. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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