NEW YORK — After largely staying in the background this summer as Hillary Rodham Clinton kicked off her second campaign for president, former President Bill Clinton is ready to take on a more active and public role in his wife’s second bid for the White House.

Bill Clinton’s move to deepen the political involvement in his wife’s 2016 effort comes as she continues to confront the insurgent campaign of Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and the chance that Vice President Joe Biden could make a late entry into the race. Friends and former aides say the former president is eager to become a more vocal advocate for her candidacy.

“He’s going to be very active,” said Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton confidant. “He always intended to come out and support his wife. He’s now at the point that he’s ready to get out there.”

Shortly after Tuesday’s close of the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, the crown jewel of the sprawling charitable network he established after leaving the White House, Bill Clinton is scheduled to embark upon a series of fundraisers and party events across the country.

The events will follow a weekend in which he aired a forceful defense of his wife, arguing that she faces the same kind of partisan attacks over her use of a private email account and server while serving as secretary of state that plagued his 1992 campaign and his administration.