'Bill Clinton has compiled a record of philanthropic impact since leaving office unmatched by any former president'

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Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton 48m
This article does a good job of explaining the tremendous impact of Bill’s post-presidency work (and why I’m so proud of him).

Bill Clinton’s Philanthropic Legacy: An Appraisal
David Callahan | March 12, 2026
https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/bill-clintons-philanthropic-legacy-an-appraisal

___Through the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and other activities — including donating millions of dollars of his own money — Clinton has compiled a record of philanthropic impact since leaving office in 2001 that is unmatched by any former president and far more extensive than most people realize.

At the center of that impressive record is the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), which has helped millions of people gain access to antiretroviral drugs, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, since its founding in 2002. This work has likely saved hundreds of thousands of lives, although even rough estimates of CHAI’s impact are hard to come by.

However, Clinton’s philanthropic footprint has extended well beyond global health, reflecting his famously broad interests and deep curiosity. Both on his own and with both former Bush presidents, Clinton has helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for humanitarian disasters — most notably, the devastating 2004 tsunami in Asia, Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. His foundation and CGI have also worked on climate change, domestic poverty, education, gender equity, and more.

The template for Clinton’s philanthropy started to fall in place in the first week after he left office, when an earthquake struck in India, killing 20,000 people and causing widespread destruction. Clinton called the country’s prime minister to offer his assistance. In short order, he had helped catalyze a new nonprofit, the American Indian Foundation, which raised tens of millions of dollars from donors in the Indian diaspora for emergency relief. The money went to build houses, schools, hospitals, health centers and more. The foundation, which is still in operation today, claims to have raised more than $118 million and “impacted some 12.9 million lives from across 26 states of India.”

One final testament to Bill Clinton’s charitable commitments is worth mentioning: the millions of dollars that he and Hillary have given through their personal philanthropy since 2001, the Clinton Family Foundation. As of late 2024, that figure stood at just under $30 million.

read more:https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/bill-clintons-philanthropic-legacy-an-appraisal

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[hlthe2b]

1. I find it hard to believe he has surpassed Jimmy Carter's efforts and those of the Carter Center,

and other work, but maybe in total $$$. Carter's work alone to eradicate Guinea Worm along with CDC and WHO- a debilitating parasitic disease of millions in Africa is incredible--to ensure free elections in countless countries, his work that put Habitat for Humanity on the map and which until his later years influenced Federal policies on housing.

So much more than I can include here. That said, I am happy to hear this of Clinton. And, happy to put them both in a similar "league" of very successful post Presidency contributions.

[MaryMagdaline]

3. Jimmy Carter was the gold standard

[Grim Chieftain]

5. Jimmy Carter's entire life was a life of service

What a wonderful man. I miss him.

[Jarqui]

6. He was a treasure - I adored him ..nt

[BannonsLiver]

8. He didn't surpass Carter. That's just the OP's opinion, which is predictably contrarian.

[bigtree]

9. it's the author's opinion

...albeit, he doesn't spend any time here characterizing the others.

Philanthropy actually the bent of his publication, Inside Philanthropy.

...founder & editor in chief, David Callahan

His books include "The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age."
https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/author/callahan-demosgmail-com


Callahan launched the news website Inside Philanthropy in early 2014. The site's tag line is "Who's Funding What, and Why." It covers news about recent gifts by foundations and major donors, as well as the world of fundraising and trends in philanthropy. The site also includes profiles of funders to help nonprofits find money and publishes a daily newsletter. In addition, it issues its own set of annual awards, the "IPPYs," that include categories such as the "Philanthropist of the Year" and "Foundation President of the Year."

Callahan, David (1990). Dangerous Capabilities: Paul Nitze and the Cold War. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-016266-5.
Callahan, David (1994). Between Two Worlds: Realism, Idealism, and American Foreign Policy After the Cold War. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-018213-7.
Callahan, David (1998). Unwinnable Wars: American Power and Ethnic Conflict. New York: Hill and Wang. ISBN 978-0-8090-3064-4.
Callahan, David (1998). State of the Union. New York: Signet. ISBN 978-0-451-19725-2.
Callahan, David (2002). Kindred Spirits: Harvard Business School's Extraordinary Class of 1949 and How They Transformed American Business. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-41819-1. OCLC 50630480.
Callahan, David (2004). The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead. Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-15-603005-2. OCLC 858674447.
Callahan, David (2007). The Moral Center: How Progressives Can Unite America Around Our Shared Values. Orlando: Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-15-603298-8.
Callahan, David (2010). Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America (1 ed.). Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-17711-2.
Callahan, David (2017) [2010]. The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9781101947050.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Callahan#Career

[bigtree]

11. hard to tell about 'impacts' of the two's philanthropy

...their interests often merged.

President Bill Clinton and President Jimmy Carter - CGI America 2016

[MaryMagdaline]

2. Impressive

The most impressive thing about the Clinton Foundation in its early years was the ability to pay medical staff to work consistently in clinics in Africa. A lot of the diseases they were fighting - HIV and others - required highly skilled professionals to commit to long term employment to man the various clinics providing treatment. That meant deep connection to the local governments to provide safe and clean infrastructure, worldwide connections to medical and nursing schools to provide staffing, and of course, deep deep pockets of donors.
In other words, the worldwide reach of the Clintons. One of the few foundations, other than the Carter Foundation (which set the standard) that I would donate to.

[Turbineguy]

4. Trump on the other hand

will likely create an extinction event.

[milestogo]

7. GWB has an impressive record of dog paintings

and refusing to comment on anything important.

[llmart]

12. But he leads the list of most brush cleared from his land.

[Jbraybarten]

10. Great work, but unmatched? Carter's work is significant.