Hours after Sen. John Kerry called President George W. Bush to concede the White House race, he told supporters that he will continue to fight for Americans and for unity.

"In the days ahead, we must find common cause," he said at Boston's Faneuil Hall.

He also said that he warned Bush about "the danger of division."

He and running mate Sen. John Edwards reminded supporters to continue to push for their vision for America.

"You can be disappointed, but you cannot walk away," Edwards said. "This fight has just begun."

To his supporters and volunteers, Kerry said, "Don't lose faith. What you did made a difference."

"The time will come when your work and your ballots will change the world ... It's worth fighting for."

He thanked Americans for the "privilege and gift" of spending two years going around the country getting to know them.

The phone call to Bush -- said to be less than five minutes long -- came after a night of vote counting with Ohio's 20 electoral votes at stake. In his concession speech, Kerry said that he would make sure all votes were counted from the state, but that it was clear he would not carry the state.

A Democratic source said Bush called Kerry a tough and honorable opponent earlier.

Bush is expected to speak at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

Bush, who led the popular vote 51 to 48 percent with 99 percent of the country reporting results, spent the morning waiting to declare victory to give Kerry time to reflect on the results of the election, Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card told supporters early Wednesday morning.

"We are convinced that President Bush has won re-election with at least 286 Electoral College votes," Card told cheering supporters at the Reagan Building in downtown Washington. "He also had a margin of at 3½ million popular votes."

For some time overnight, the result in Ohio was in question. But Bush maintained a lead of about 136,000 votes, with the possibility that provisional ballots and uncounted absentee ballots could change that slipping away from Kerry.

High Turnout

Bush won a swath of states in the central and southern United States, including Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Colorado. Kerry captured Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, Washington and Hawaii.

Election officials say this year's voter turnout could be the highest in more than 40 years.

More than 120 million people are expected to have voted Tuesday -- about 60 percent of all eligible voters.

In 1960, nearly two of every three eligible voters cast a ballot in the Kennedy-Nixon race.

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Results: National Races | State-By-State Breakdown Coverage: Hot Races | State Issues | Voting Problems Interactive: Electoral College Explained Slideshow: Images Of Election 2004 Survey: Happy With Election Outcome?

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A nonpartisan study suggests at least six states and the District of Columbia set new highs in voter turnout. Those states are Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Exit polls suggested that voters' concerns over the fight against terrorism trumped their disappointment with the war in Iraq and the state of the economy. According to the polls, voters from around the country said that when it comes to protecting the country from terrorists, people think Bush can do a better job than Kerry.

However, even on the issue of terror, the exit polls show, the nation is divided. According to the results, seven in 10 voters said they were worried about another major attack on U.S. soil.

Interactive: Electoral College Explained

However, a majority felt the nation is safer than it was four years ago. Those who felt safer strongly favored Bush; leaving Kerry the choice of the 40 percent who felt less safe.

Exit Polls: At A Glance