Bill Clinton, the former President of the United States, has a new title. The 66-year-old American politician has been recognised as Father of the Year, by the National Father's Day Council at a fundraiser in New York City. Proceeds from the event will go to an international non-governmental organisation, called Save The Children.

The country's former Commander-in-Chief, while receiving the award, revealed he received a short congratulatory message from his wife, the former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

"I [received] a text message from Hillary saying, 'Congratulations. I think you deserve this'. In our family, that's a very big deal," he explained.

The award was presented to Clinton by his daughter, Chelsea. The 33-year-old said her father had set the bar very high for her husband, Marc Mezvinsky.

"I don't need an award to tell me he's the best [dad] that I ever could have hoped for. But I'm grateful he's getting the recognition that I, of course, his unapologetically biased daughter, think he's always deserved," Chelsea said.

"Of all the reasons that I'm proud of my father, I'm most proud that he's my dad and that he's always been there for me. He has always provided me a safe place to land and a hard place from which to launch," she added.

Chelsea works as a special correspondent for American television news network NBC.

Meanwhile, Clinton, while receiving the award from his daughter, told the audience there were a million people who were at least as deserving of the title, it meant a lot to him.

"You could never have picked anyone happier," he stated, adding, "Because seeing my daughter still makes me happier than anything else in the world."