“We are seeing, hopefully, some withdrawal from our own justice system’s addiction to incarceration,” Ms. Cody said. “Some of this will happen with clemency, but some of it needs to happen with true legislative sentencing reform.”

For years, Mr. Obama has been pressing for just that, hoping to reverse steep penalties put in place in recent decades that sent many African-American and Hispanic men to prison for mostly nonviolent offenses. The president has said he is hopeful that he can reach rare agreement with Republicans on broad changes to sentencing laws.

Mr. Obama has said he is encouraged by expressions of support for a criminal justice overhaul by conservative lawmakers and groups. Several Republicans who ran for president this election cycle have said sentencing laws need to be revamped. Liberal groups like the Center for American Progress have teamed up with Koch Industries, the conglomerate owned by the conservative brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, to try to shrink prison populations.

In brief comments on Wednesday, Mr. Obama singled out House Speaker Paul D. Ryan for his support on the issue and said he was “still hopeful that criminal justice reform can get done.”

But even as Mr. Obama seeks to work with Congress, he has tried to use the power of his office to address the thousands of mostly young men who were imprisoned under the stricter laws established during the “war on drugs” of the 1990s.

White House officials said the new grants of clemency underscored Mr. Obama’s commitment to redress. In a blog post, Neil Eggleston, the president’s chief lawyer, said Mr. Obama would remain “committed to continuing to issue more grants of clemency as well as to strengthening rehabilitation programs” throughout the rest of his presidency.