It was 10:30 p.m. in Chicago when President Joe Biden finally appeared onstage at the United Center, where he was met with an extended standing ovation to close out the first night of the Democratic National Convention — and a 50-year career in American politics.
“America, I gave my best to you,” Biden said during his keynote address. “I made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you. For 50 years, like many of you, I’ve given my heart and soul to our nation and I’ve been blessed a million times in return with the support of the American people.”
After a month of personal defiance and party infighting, Biden stepped aside as the Democratic nominee on July 21, withdrawing from the presidential race after a disastrous debate performance that sent his party into disarray and pushed even some of his longtime allies to publicly speculate about his ability to serve a second term.
His consolation prize: Biden Appreciation Night at the DNC.
On a beautiful summer Monday in Chicago, the party’s elders and up-and-comers lined up one-by-one to help define Biden’s legacy as the man who was able to defeat former President Donald Trump, and the one — who after recognizing the odds of the 2024 election — put country before his own political ambition.
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In a press release sent out ahead of the convention, Kamala Harris‘ campaign said of Monday’s programming: “While Donald Trump puts himself first, Democrats are fighting for the American people. President Biden has exemplified this through his leadership and legacy as a historic president who put the American people’s interest above his own.”
Within the first minute of the convention gaveling to order, Democratic National Convention Committee Chair Minyon Moore praised Biden for leaving the race, describing his decision as “a true act of patriotism” in which the president “passed the torch to the next generation.” Throughout Monday’s programming, the crowd chanted “Thank you Joe!”
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain began his speech by thanking Biden “for making history by walking the picket line with the UAW.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Senator Raphael Warnock all took their turns to applaud Biden for his leadership, his accomplishments in office and for being a “true patriot who has always put the people first.”
Harris herself made a surprise appearance Monday just to thank “our incredible President Joe Biden” for his “historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation and for all you will continue to do.”
Rep. James Clyburn’s, the Democratic kingmaker from South Carolina whose endorsement cemented Biden as the nominee four years ago, told the crowd that the country owes Biden “a great debt of gratitude” for his pubic service, before describing the president’s decision to back Harris as his successor as “one of the best decisions he made.”
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Ahead of the convention, political expert Steven Schier told Newsweek that in order for the Harris campaign’s to move forward as the fresh new party of joy and change, Biden would have to take “a back row seat”—a point that was underscored by nearly every speakers on Monday night.
Even Senator Chris Coons, one of the president’s closest allies in Washington, delivered remarks that came across as something of a eulogy for Biden’s half-century political career. Taking the stage ahead of First Lady Jill Biden, Coons touted the president’s legislative achievements and credited Biden for helping the country “get back up again,” before swiftly pivoting to the new Democratic nominee.
“Mr. President, thank you, thank you, for elevating a great leader in Kamala Harris,” Coons said.
But perhaps it was former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton who captured the tone of the evening best.
After saluting Biden at the top of her speech and commending him as “democracy’s champion at home and abroad,” Clinton—who might know how Biden is feeling more than anyone—announced: “Now, we are writing a new chapter in America’s story.”
“He brought dignity, decency and competence back to the White House, and he showed what it means to be a true patriot,” Clinton said. “Thank you Joe Biden for your lifetime of service and leadership.”
When it was the president’s turn to take the very stage from which he hoped to be accepting the party’s nomination, he began with a saying from his father: “Family is the beginning, the middle and the end.”
Introduced as the “a fighter who has been underestimated his entire life” and “one of the most consequential leaders in history” by his daughter Ashely Biden, the teary-eyed, 81-year-old president walked onto the stage to a long standing ovation from a tearful audience holding signs that read “We ❤️ Joe.”
“Justice is achievable and our days are not behind us, they’re before us,” the president said.
“I’ve either been too young to be in the Senate, because I wasn’t 30 yet, and too old to stay as president. But I hope know how grateful I am to all of you,” Biden told the crowd, before raising his voice to a shout. “I can honestly say I’m more optimistic about the future than I was when I was elected as a 29-year-old United States senator. Folks, we just have to remember who we are. We are the United States of America! And there’s nothing we cannot do when we do it together.”
“America’s future is in your hands,” he said as he wrapped up his remarks after midnight on the East Coast. By that time, the crowd had already started to thin out.