the election of donald trump to the white house delivers a blow to the legacy of president barack obama on a multitude of domestic and foreign policies. it is also a defeat for a leader who campaigned relentlessly for democrat hillary clinton and vilified the republican nominee as unfit to serve as commander-in-chief. mr. trump waged a campaign that was a referendum on the entirety of mr. obama <u+2019>s record<u+2014>from the economy, immigration and climate change to the 2010 health-care law and the multinational agreement with iran to restrain its nuclear program. mr. obama campaigned more visibly for his former secretary of state than any modern sitting president has for his party<u+2019>s nominee. first lady michelle obama campaigned equally as hard for mrs. clinton, delivering emotional pleas for voters to reject mr. trump. both mr. obama and mrs. clinton<u+2014>rivals eight years ago for the democratic nomination<u+2014>recognized early that their goals would be reached or would fail together. mr. obama even sought to deter his own vice president, joe biden, from challenging her for the nomination. the transition of power from mr. obama to mr. trump will be unlike any in american history. the president has repeatedly said the now-president-elect couldn<u+2019>t be trusted with the codes to the nation<u+2019>s nuclear weapons. more broadly, mr. trump represented an about-face in the brand of leadership mr. obama has embraced as president. the new york businessman was a leading proponent of false accusations that mr. obama wasn<u+2019>t born in the u.s. , and he has painted him as leader who weakened america<u+2019>s power on the world stage. for instance mr. trump frequently compared mr. obama unfavorably to russian president vladimir putin, even though moscow is increasingly challenging u.s. interests. mr. trump plans to alter the administration<u+2019>s overall approach to foreign policy, the military and national-security issues. under a trump presidency, the international climate-change agreement mr. obama helped forge is at risk of losing u.s. government support, the restoration of diplomatic relations with cuba likely could plateau and traditional american alliances from europe to the middle east to asia are in question. mr. trump also has said he would derail a new trade pact with asia, the trans-pacific partnership , which is the linchpin of mr. obama<u+2019>s asia policy. mrs. clinton also opposed the pact. domestically, mr. trump has proposed strict immigration policies that were opposite of the platform mr. obama advanced while in office. he has promised to repeal mr. obama<u+2019>s signature health law, the affordable care act, and reverse the president<u+2019>s executive actions aimed at combating climate change. efforts to legislatively revamp the u.s. immigration system would face little chance of revival. <u+201c>republicans are going to continue to try and legislatively chip away at his record of accomplishments,<u+201d> said jim manley, a former top adviser to senate minority leader harry reid (d., nev.) who contributes opinion pieces to the wall street journal. white house press secretary josh earnest said last week that mr. obama was leaving his schedule open this week for a possible meeting with his successor <u+201c>if it works for both people.<u+201d> the president is expected to issue a written statement on the election results, followed by public remarks<u+00a0>on wednesday. officials didn<u+2019>t respond to questions about the election results. capital journal is wsj.com<u+2019>s home for election 2016 news. aides to mr. obama have said wouldn<u+2019>t feel settled about leaving office if mrs. clinton weren<u+2019>t elected. one of mr. obama<u+2019>s fears was that his successor would enter the white house and do what he did when he arrived in january 2009: spend the initial days undoing his predecessor<u+2019>s executive actions. mr. trump is likely to do just that. in the first two years of his presidency, when democrats controlled the house and senate, mr. obama netted his leading domestic policy achievement with the affordable care act. he also won legislation changing financial regulations and a nearly $1 trillion economic stimulus package. but his climate change and immigration ambitions stalled; they never again gained traction in congress. and for the remainder of his term, in the face of republican opposition on capitol hill, mr. obama leaned on executive authority to implement a range of policy changes. <u+201c>i would consider it a personal insult<u+2014>an insult to my legacy<u+2014>if this community lets down its guard,<u+201d> mr. obama told black voters in the closing weeks of the campaign. write to carol e. lee at carol.lee@wsj.com
trump<u+2019>s election deals sharp blow to obama<u+2019>s legacy  - wsj
carol e. lee