Bill Clinton supports a president’s right to golf

Bill Clinton, who put his clubs aside to stump for President Barack Obama’s reelection, believes golf is an elixir for the nation’s hackers-in-chief.

“Presidents need to rest their minds, not just their bodies,” the country’s 42nd president says in the December issue of Golf Digest, according to the Washington Post’s The Reliable Source. “They need the exercise, the fresh air.”

We’re sure Obama, who’s come under fire from Republicans for his penchant for the links, would be happy to hear that the most visible of the country’s four living former presidents this election season was looking out for his welfare.

But it’s not only the fine fettle of the First Duffer for whom Clinton has concern. Hillary’s husband spread the gospel about sound living during January’s inaugural “Health Matters” conference, held ahead of the PGA Tour’s 2012 Humana Challenge tournament -- an event many believe Clinton saved from extinction with his active involvement.

As a golfer and humanitarian, Clinton will be one of four Golf Digest cover subjects -- along with Olympics star Michael Phelps and Hollywood’s Michael J. Fox and Morgan Freeman -- for the Golf Digest’s “Game Changers: Players Who Give Back” feature. The article will reportedly let readers in on the philanthropic efforts of the cover boys and 20 other celebrity amateurs.

In the meantime, the Post’s purveyor of “VIP news and gossip from Washington, D.C.” quotes Clinton as crediting golf for his stepfather’s long life.

“One of the reasons my late stepfather lived to 89 and lived as well as he did was because he played a lot of golf,” Clinton said.

That’s a sentiment on which we’re certain partisans from both sides of the fairway can agree.