The outgoing president's decision not to seek re-election and endorse his vice president instead has been met with both respect and euphoria.
ADVERTISEMENTPresident Joe Biden delivered his valedictory address to the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, saying, "I gave my best to you" and basking in a long ovation that reflected the energy released by his decision to cede the stage to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden, 81, received a hero's welcome several weeks after many in his party successfully pressured him to drop his bid for reelection after a disastrous debate with Donald Trump.
Coming one month after the unprecedented mid-campaign switch, the opening night of the convention in Chicago was designed as a platform for the incumbent president to make a glorious exit and slingshot Harris toward her showdown with Trump — whose comeback bid for the White House is viewed by many Democrats as an existential threat to the future of US democracy.
On Monday, Biden insisted that despite reports to the contrary, he did not harbour any ill will about the impending end of his tenure, and called on the party to unite around Harris.
Speaking clearly and energetically, Biden relished the chance to defend his record, advocate for his vice president and go on the attack against Trump.
His delivery was more reminiscent of the Biden who won in 2020 than the mumbling and sometimes incoherent one-time candidate whose debate performance sparked the downfall of his reelection campaign.
Visibly emotional when he took the stage, Biden was greeted by a more than four-minute-long ovation and chants of "Thank you Joe".
"America, I love you," he replied.
He called his selection of Harris as his running mate four years ago "the very first decision I made when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I made my whole career".
"She's tough, she's experienced and she has enormous integrity, enormous integrity," he said. "Her story represents the best American story."
"And like many of our best presidents," he added in a nod to his own career, "she was also vice president."
Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff came out after his address to embrace him and his family.
"Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you'll continue to do," she said earlier in the evening. "We are forever grateful to you."
Biden's speech, billed as the marquee event of the evening, was pushed into late night as the convention programme lagged more than an hour behind schedule. The delay led convention organisers to cancel a performance from legendary musician James Taylor.
He celebrated the successes of his administration, including a massive boost in infrastructure spending and a cap on the price of insulin. The spending resulted in more money going to Republican-leaning states than Democratic states, he said, because "the job of the president is to deliver for all of America".
ADVERTISEMENTFirst Lady Jill Biden alluded to her husband's wrenching decision to leave the race in her own remarks before Biden took the stage. She said she fell in love with him all over again "just weeks ago, when I saw him dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek reelection and endorse Kamala Harris".
Also on hand to praise Biden was 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton, who lost the Electoral College vote to Trump despite beating him by millions in the popular vote.
"Something is happening in America," she said in her speech. "You can feel it. Something we've worked for and dreamed of for a long time. First though, let's salute President Biden. He has been democracy's champion at home and abroad."
And in a post on X, Barack Obama — who will speak at the convention on Tuesday — showered affection and respect on his former vice president.
ADVERTISEMENT"What I admire most about Joe is his decency, his resilience, and his unshakable belief in the promise of our country," Obama wrote. "Over the last four years, those are the values America has needed most. I am proud to call him my president, and I'm so grateful to call him my friend."
Future versus past
Meanwhile, Democrats also looked to keep the focus on Trump, whose criminal convictions they mocked and who they asserted was only fighting for himself, rather than "for the people" — the night's official theme.
Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow hoisted an oversized copy of "Project 2025" — a blueprint for a second Trump term that was put together by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and a coalition of far-right thinkers — onto the lectern.
Biden meanwhile turned his attention to Russia's war in Ukraine and Trump's allegedly warmer relationship with President Vladimir Putin.
ADVERTISEMENT"Just as no Commander-in-chief should ever bow down to a dictator, the way Trump bows down to Putin, I never have," he said. "And I promise you, Kamala Harris will never do it, will never bow down."
The outgoing president added that Europe and NATO "were in tatters" when Trump left office, but now the continent is more united than it has been for years thanks to the addition of Finland and Sweden to NATO, as well as Ukraine's continued freedom almost three years after Putin said he would take Kyiv in three days.
Democrats also worked hard to keep abortion access front and centre for voters, betting that the issue will propel them to success as it has in other key races since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade two years ago.
Monday's speakers included women whose healthcare suffered as a result of that decision, and one woman who was raped and became pregnant by her stepfather attacked Trump for trying to roll back access to abortion. The convention programme included a video of Trump praising his own role in getting Roe struck down.
ADVERTISEMENTThe convention programme also honoured the civil rights movement, with an appearance from the Reverend Jesse Jackson, longtime racial equality activist and two-time former contender for the presidential nomination.
There were also several references to Fannie Lou Hamer, the late civil rights activist who gave a landmark speech at a Democratic convention in 1964.
Hamer was a former sharecropper and a leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, a racially integrated group that challenged the seating of an all-white Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
Hamer spoke on 22 August 1964 — 60 years before Harris is set to publicly accept the Democratic nomination and thus become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to be nominated for president by a major party.
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