It was a mercifully brief presidential election night, if you consider the period effectively over once a clear winner has emerged. By 10 pm. Eastern, newspaper editors could put crisp, definitive headlines atop their front pages. Some European newspapers managed the same, either by way of special editions or the quaint tradition of afternoon publishing. Papers on several other continents also heralded the election results with some, such as Barcelona's el Periódico below and Diario do Comercio in Brazil, running high-concept covers emphasizing the election's deeper meaning for American culture. One briefly wonders what sorts of words and images they would have reached for amid a McCain victory. But it is much more satisfying, really, to feel the world gaze on America with approving eyes once again. A blow-up of the newspaper headlines is after the jump.

More papers are available at the Newseum website.