Though this year's election lacked the history-making narrative of 2008, it did set a different kind of record -- the heftiest price tag for any election.
The Center for Responsive Politics estimated that the most expensive campaign of all time cost around $6 billion, which is $700 million more than what was spent in 2008.
Candidates can attribute much of this spending to the more than 1 million presidential ads aired between June 1 and Oct. 29 -- an all-time high, according to the Fiscal Times.
All told, the Obama campaign raised more than $632 million during the 2012 election season, compared to Romney campaign's $389 million, Truthout reports.
To put it into perspective, the campaign funds could cover 4 billion AA batteries for displaced Hurricane victims, 858 million six-packs of Budweiser, and pay for the entire population of Texas to go skydiving.
But in all seriousness, that money could also have done a lot of good things. See the infographic below from Avaaz on how campaign funds could be used to fund disaster relief, fight global disease and provide universal education.
