Josh Hafner

USA TODAY

Donald Trump's stunning election as president of the United States spelled with it the likely end of the Clinton political dynasty that first rose to national power a quarter century ago.

The second Clinton presidency forecasted by so many pundits, pollsters and politicos will not come to pass. The former first lady will not return to the White House in January — neither will former president Bill Clinton.

After traveling the nation in a conversion van, fending off Bernie Sanders and surviving an FBI investigation, Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations came to a surprising end. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton, whose role in a second Clinton White House had been the subject of speculation throughout the campaign, may now return to philanthropic efforts and his role on the Clinton Foundation’s board.

How election night unfolded: Stunning end to a wild campaign

While campaigning last month in Iowa, the former president reflected on his wife and one of her debate performances against Donald Trump..

“I looked at her, and I realized that’s the kind of person you want to be president: She’s calm, relaxed and focused on other people,” Bill Clinton said, according to the Quad-City Times.

Clinton concedes, ending long bid for White House

“That’s what the election ought to be about. It’s a clear choice: You’ve got divide, distract and demonize against cooperate, concentrate and create opportunities," he said. "It’s a pretty clear choice. I thought much more about her than I did about him. I’m beyond being moved or surprised, have been for a long time.”

Perhaps Bill Clinton wasn’t moved or surprised, then, Tuesday night, as swing state after swing state on election maps flipped red. Ohio. Then Florida. Then North Carolina. His fellow Hillary Clinton supporters, though, were. Image after image from Clinton’s election night rally in New York showed attendees with eyes closed, watery or gazing numbly out of frame.

The Clinton dynasty solidified during its first and likely only presidency, launched from the back of Bill Clinton’s 12 years as Arkansas governor. He went on to preside over the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. In 1998, he became the second American president to be impeached (the Senate later acquitted him).

As first lady, Hillary Clinton’s profile grew as the head of her husband’s health care task force, a controversial effort that ended in defeat. After her husband left office, she moved to New York and won a U.S. Senate seat. Eight years later, she ran for the White House unsuccessfully. Eight years after that, in Wednesday’s early hours, she conceded her second presidential campaign.

Bill Clinton spoke confidently while in Iowa last month, but he described a loss for his wife as a possibility.

“We are on the verge of having the best times America has ever had if we do the right things and show the right face to the world and show the world how to walk away from the madness,” he said.

On Tuesday, in his view, America walked toward "the madness" and, in doing so, away from the Clinton family.

Follow Josh Hafner on Twitter: @joshhafner