Former US president Bill Clinton turns 80 on August 19, 2026, exactly 25 years after leaving the White House.
Avisen Danmark reports that Clinton reaches the milestone today, having spent eight years as president and a quarter of a century as a former one. He remains two months younger than the current US president, Donald Trump.
Clinton was born in Hope, Arkansas, on August 19, 1946. According to Vocal Media, he was 46 when he took office in January 1993 and 54 when he left in January 2001. He is the only living former president who served in the previous century.
He graduated from Yale Law School in 1973 and married Hillary Clinton, whom he met there, two years later. A run for the House of Representatives failed in 1974, but he became governor of Arkansas in 1978 at the age of 32.
In the years since 2001, Clinton has given paid speeches, including in Denmark, written books, and run charitable work through the Clinton Foundation, Avisen Danmark writes. His wife has served as senator, secretary of state, and presidential candidate. Earlier this year he testified in Congress about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying he had no knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of minors.
His most recent political intervention came on July 4, 2026, when the United States marked 250 years as a nation. As reported by LiveMint, Clinton’s “America at 250” statement warned of deep division and serious threats to US institutions and democracy.
ABC News quoted the same message, in which Clinton pointed to renewed questions about America’s future and role in the world. Fox News noted that the statement implicitly criticized the current administration over masked agents, an unconstitutional war, and the alleged weaponization of government against political opponents.
A fact check by Yahoo News found that a long audio clip circulating online, presented as a Clinton speech from that day, was AI-generated. His authentic contribution was a written statement posted through his own channels and the Clinton Foundation.
Clinton’s presidency was overshadowed by the affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, which led to an impeachment trial on charges of lying under oath and influencing witnesses. He was acquitted. Avisen Danmark notes that his administration produced budget surpluses and reduced public debt, and that in 2000 he opened GPS to civilian use.
In foreign policy, he hosted the 1993 handshake between Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Palestinian self-rule, helped end the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, and contributed to the 1998 Northern Ireland peace agreement. The Danish outlet notes that the Middle East process had collapsed by the time he left office.
The Italian agency Adnkronos marked the birthday with a profile focused on his heart surgery and subsequent largely plant-based diet, citing his cardiologist. Clinton is now a grandfather to three children of his daughter Chelsea, who is 46.
