Allies of the Clintons and neutral observers alike said Mrs. Clinton had much to be proud of in this campaign. She outlasted all but one of a distinguished field of primary opponents, won about 17 million votes and a dozen critical states, and earned grudging admiration for her fortitude even from those who despised her. She shattered the gender barrier at the presidential level for all who come after her. She emerged as the chosen tribune for a major part of the Democratic electorate.  But she also made comments that divided voters along racial lines, stretched the facts and last month raised the specter of assassination as a justification for remaining in the race to the bitter end despite a mathematical near-certainty that she had lost weeks earlier.  “The Clintons are and probably always will be a paradox,” said Leon Panetta, who served as chief of staff in the Clinton White House and who supported Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy. “They were very good at being able to gain power and then try to use that power to try to help ordinary Americans. The paradox is that in order to gain power, they sometimes did whatever it takes to win.”  There were moments in this campaign, Mr. Panetta added, that made some people “question where their heart really was.” Mr. Panetta said this was especially sad given Mr. Clinton’s strong presidential record on affirmative action and other racial issues.  “Look, both of them are viewed as tough fighters, both are viewed as people who will continue to confront the most difficult odds and sometimes still win,” Mr. Panetta said. “People will always admire that in them.” But he added that this campaign, because it seemed to take a divisive turn, “has in many ways hurt their legacy.”  The race question will be one of the most difficult for the Clintons to deal with. Black politicians and voters had been among Mr. Clinton’s hardiest defenders during impeachment and supported Mrs. Clinton in large numbers at the beginning of this contest. But comments from Mr. Clinton and several prominent black supporters of Mrs. Clinton earlier this year helped turn the black electorate decisively against her. Her remark last month that “hard-working Americans, white Americans” were supporting her did not help.  “It has definitely damaged not just hers but also Bill’s legacy on race,” said David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.  Sean Wilentz, professor of American history at Princeton University, said that the Clintons had been unfairly accused of exploiting racial divisions, but that the perception had taken hold and would take time to erase. He also said the harm to Mr. Clinton’s image and stature in the party would turn around more quickly than the public view of Mrs. Clinton.  “Bill has the attributes of an old-fashioned, tactile, warm, outgoing politician,” Mr. Wilentz said. “We have not seen his like since Lyndon Johnson at his best.”  He continued: “He has ‘it,’ whatever ‘it’ is. Reagan had it, Franklin Roosevelt had it, Bill Clinton has it. People may be angry with him, disappointed in him, but they won’t stay angry.”  In June 2008 — at the end of one of the most astonishing primary campaigns in history — The New York Times looked back at what went wrong for Hillary Clinton’s run.  Mrs. Clinton is different, Mr. Wilentz said. “She’s anomalous. She makes people nervous. She’s in a role people are unfamiliar with,” he said. “She doesn’t project the kind of warmth in large public venues that he seems to, although she has gotten better at it.”  Mr. Wilentz said that Mrs. Clinton’s loss will sting for a bit but that her commitment to public life and public service will continue, whether in the Senate or perhaps in another run for the presidency. “She’s the titular leader of the center of the Democratic Party,” he said. “She has a duty to party and country to assume that role with grace and dexterity.”  Other historians said the real impact of the race on the Clinton legacy would not be clear until November.  “If McCain wins a race that Democrats expect to win, a lot of people will say, ‘If she had won the nomination, we would have won,’ ” said Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University. That could set the stage for a Clinton candidacy in 2012.  Many of Mr. Obama’s loyalists, however, would attribute his defeat to her relentless campaign against him. Such division among Democrats could persist through the next presidential cycle and leave Mrs. Clinton weakened.  If Mr. Obama wins, however, the era of Clinton dominance of the Democratic Party will be over. “They will no longer be leaders of the party, and their role, especially his, will be much diminished,” said Alan Brinkley, historian and provost at Columbia University. “Bill Clinton has been head of the party for 16 years, literally and informally. Now there will be someone else.”  Even so, Mr. Brinkley added, “It will be a little like Ted Kennedy in 1980. That was sort of the end of the dream of another Kennedy presidency. But it didn’t really diminish the importance of Kennedy in American life. And I don’t think it will diminish theirs. They just won’t be as central.”  William A. Galston, a former White House adviser to the Clintons who is now at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said millions of people came to admire Mrs. Clinton’s resilience, her indefatigability, her work ethic and the sheer will required to suit up every day and do battle against a better-armed opponent. “She’s endured worse,” he said. “I’m confident she’ll pick herself up and define new objectives.”  But Mr. Galston also said the campaign had shattered the aura of Clintonian invincibility. “It’s one thing to disagree about tactics employed in the successful pursuit of victory,” said Mr. Galston, who supported Mrs. Clinton. “It’s another to go flat-out in that mode and fail.”  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A18 of the New York edition with the headline: Campaign Adds to Complicated Clinton Legacy. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
The complicated legacy of Bill and Hillary Clinton is all the more complicated now that their political winning streak has ended.