“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.”

President Gerald Ford said these words on Aug. 9, 1974 as he announced his decision to pardon former President Richard Nixon.

Today, those words could be uttered to pardon us — rather heal us — from this election.

This election was historic for many reasons, some of which were positive. But for the most part, it will be looked upon with disdain and maybe a touch of nausea.

Historians, dedicated to the preservation and celebration of American history, would not be faulted for simply skipping over the 2016 presidential election when teaching the next generation.

The election is over, and we have a president and a Congress. At the end of the day, the process worked, the people have spoken.

It might take a little while for social media to calm down, but the sun did rise today. It is Wednesday, and we have plenty of things to do.

We are sure to have lingering debates about rigging, voter suppression, electoral college map strategy, the role of the media and so on. But debates, when handled correctly, are healthy. Let us hope these debates are far more civil than what we experienced over the past year and go toward healing our country.

The election did little to provide a mandate for leadership over the next four years. It is also likely the tone and tenor of the campaign will carry over to Capitol Hill as Republicans and Democrats are destined to squabble.

The divides in our country are real. They were not created for this election, but rather were made worse by an ugly campaign.

It is our hope those divisions can heal, that we can move ahead with finding solutions for our country together.

At the end of the day, does it really matter who gets the credit, who earns political points, if the challenges facing our country are confronted and fixed? No, it does not.

The campaign is over. The election is over. But the hard work of fixing our country — emphasis on “our country” — has just begun.