At some point on Tuesday night, as Americans around the country sat glued to television coverage of the election results, President Joe Biden joined them in doing the same.

He was going to retreat upstairs to the White House residence, aides said, with a smattering of family members and his longtime political advisers to keep tabs on an election that until three months ago he was supposed to be in, and one that will have far-reaching implications for him personally, politically and historically.