But for a president who won the highest office in the land by promising big, sweeping change, Tuesday’s election is a reminder that it will be up to someone else to complete the change he long envisioned.

Health care may be the most important example. Passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 drastically reshaped the insurance markets in the country, improving access to medical care. But even Democrats agree that much more needs to be done to improve the cost and quality of that care.

“If this was a football field, I’d put us on the 30-yard line with 70 yards to go,” said Mr. Daschle, who was Mr. Obama’s first pick for secretary of health and human services but withdrew after questions about his taxes.

Mr. Daschle said the unfinished nature of Mr. Obama’s health care program was partly the fault of Republican obstructionism and partly the result of delays that always occur when trying to overhaul such a large social program. The Affordable Care Act gave Mr. Obama’s administration great latitude to reshape the nation’s health care system, and the next president will inherit that same authority.

“That latitude has worked for us,” Mr. Daschle said. “If it’s a Trump presidency, it could work against us.”