Hello, America.Twelve years ago tonight, I addressed this convention for the very first time.

You met my two little girls, Malia and Sasha – now two amazing young womenwho just fill me with pride. You fell for my brilliant wife and partner Michelle,who’s made me a better father and a better man; who’s gone on to inspire ournation as First Lady; and who somehow hasn’t aged a day.

I know the same can’t be said for me. My girls remind me all the time. Wow,you’ve changed so much, daddy.

And it’s true – I was so young that first time in Boston. Maybe a little nervousaddressing such a big crowd. But I was filled with faith; faith in America – thegenerous, bighearted, hopeful country that made my story – indeed, all of ourstories – possible.

A lot’s happened over the years. And while this nation has been tested by warand recession and all manner of challenge – I stand before you again tonight,after almost two terms as your President, to tell you I am even more optimisticabout the future of America.

How could I not be – after all we’ve achieved together?

After the worst recession in 80 years, we’ve fought our way back. We’ve seendeficits come down, 401(k)s recover, an auto industry set new records,unemployment reach eight–year lows, and our businesses create 15 million newjobs.

After a century of trying, we declared that health care in America is not aprivilege for a few, but a right for everybody. After decades of talk, we finallybegan to wean ourselves off foreign oil, and doubled our production of cleanenergy.

We brought more of our troops home to their families, and delivered justice toOsama bin Laden. Through diplomacy, we shut down Iran’s nuclear weaponsprogram, opened up a new chapter with the people of Cuba, and brought nearly200 nations together around a climate agreement that could save this planetfor our kids.

We put policies in place to help students with loans; protect consumers fromfraud; and cut veteran homelessness almost in half. And through countless actsof quiet courage, America learned that love has no limits, and marriage equalityis now a reality across the land.

By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it waswhen we started.

And through every victory and every setback, I’ve insisted that change is nevereasy, and never quick; that we wouldn’t meet all of our challenges in one term,or one presidency, or even in one lifetime.

So tonight, I’m here to tell you that yes, we still have more work to do. Morework to do for every American still in need of a good job or a raise, paid leave ora decent retirement; for every child who needs a sturdier ladder out of povertyor a world–class education; for everyone who hasn’t yet felt the progress ofthese past seven and a half years. We need to keep making our streets saferand our criminal justice system fairer; our homeland more secure, and our worldmore peaceful and sustainable for the next generation. We’re not doneperfecting our union, or living up to our founding creed – that all of us arecreated equal and free in the eyes of God.

That work involves a big choice this November. Fair to say, this is not yourtypical election. It’s not just a choice between parties or policies; the usualdebates between left and right. This is a more fundamental choice – about whowe are as a people, and whether we stay true to this great American experimentin self–government.

Look, we Democrats have always had plenty of differences with the RepublicanParty, and there’s nothing wrong with that; it’s precisely this contest of ideasthat pushes our country forward.

But what we heard in Cleveland last week wasn’t particularly Republican – and itsure wasn’t conservative. What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of acountry where we turn against each other, and turn away from the rest of theworld. There were no serious solutions to pressing problems – just the fanningof resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate.

And that is not the America I know.

The America I know is full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity. The AmericaI know is decent and generous. Sure, we have real anxieties – about paying thebills, protecting our kids, caring for a sick parent. We get frustrated with politicalgridlock, worry about racial divisions; are shocked and saddened by themadness of Orlando or Nice. There are pockets of America that never recoveredfrom factory closures; men who took pride in hard work and providing for theirfamilies who now feel forgotten; parents who wonder whether their kids willhave the same opportunities we had.

All that is real. We’re challenged to do better; to be better. But as I’ve traveledthis country, through all fifty states; as I’ve rejoiced with you and mourned withyou, what I’ve also seen, more than anything, is what is right with America. I seepeople working hard and starting businesses; people teaching kids and servingour country. I see engineers inventing stuff, and doctors coming up with newcures. I see a younger generation full of energy and new ideas, not constrainedby what is, ready to seize what ought to be.

Most of all, I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith whobelieve that we are stronger together – black, white, Latino, Asian, NativeAmerican; young and old; gay, straight, men, women, folks with disabilities, allpledging allegiance, under the same proud flag, to this big, bold country that welove.

That’s the America I know. And there is only one candidate in this race whobelieves in that future, and has devoted her life to it; a mother andgrandmother who’d do anything to help our children thrive; a leader with realplans to break down barriers, blast through glass ceilings, and widen the circleof opportunity to every single American – the next President of the UnitedStates, Hillary Clinton.

Now, eight years ago, Hillary and I were rivals for the Democratic nomination.We battled for a year and a half. Let me tell you, it was tough, because Hillary’stough. Every time I thought I might have that race won, Hillary just came backstronger.

But after it was all over, I asked Hillary to join my team. She was a littlesurprised, but ultimately said yes – because she knew that what was at stakewas bigger than either of us. And for four years, I had a front–row seat to herintelligence, her judgment, and her discipline. I came to realize that herunbelievable work ethic wasn’t for praise or attention – that she was in this foreveryone who needs a champion. I understood that after all these years, shehas never forgotten just who she’s fighting for.

Hillary’s still got the tenacity she had as a young woman working at theChildren’s Defense Fund, going door to door to ultimately make sure kids withdisabilities could get a quality education.

She’s still got the heart she showed as our First Lady, working with Congress tohelp push through a Children’s Health Insurance Program that to this dayprotects millions of kids.

She’s still seared with the memory of every American she met who lost lovedones on 9/11, which is why, as a Senator from New York, she fought so hard forfunding to help first responders; why, as Secretary of State, she sat with me inthe Situation Room and forcefully argued in favor of the mission that took outbin Laden.

You know, nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office. Untilyou’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis,or send young people to war. But Hillary’s been in the room; she’s been part ofthose decisions. She knows what’s at stake in the decisions our governmentmakes for the working family, the senior citizen, the small business owner, thesoldier, and the veteran. Even in the middle of crisis, she listens to people, andkeeps her cool, and treats everybody with respect. And no matter how dauntingthe odds; no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, everquits.

That’s the Hillary I know. That’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire. And that’s why Ican say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman more qualifiedthan Hillary Clinton to serve as President of the United States of America.

And, by the way, in case you were wondering about her judgment, look at herchoice of running mate. Tim Kaine is as good a man, as humble and committeda public servant, as anyone I know. He will be a great Vice President, and he’llmake Hillary a better President. Just like my dear friend and brother Joe Bidenhas made me a better President.

Now, Hillary has real plans to address the concerns she’s heard from you on thecampaign trail. She’s got specific ideas to invest in new jobs, to help workersshare in their company’s profits, to help put kids in preschool, and put studentsthrough college without taking on a ton of debt. That’s what leaders do.

And then there’s Donald Trump. He’s not really a plans guy. Not really a factsguy, either. He calls himself a business guy, which is true, but I have to say, Iknow plenty of businessmen and women who’ve achieved success withoutleaving a trail of lawsuits, and unpaid workers, and people feeling like they gotcheated.

Does anyone really believe that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this Earthshowing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion?Your voice? If so, you should vote for him. But if you’re someone who’s trulyconcerned about paying your bills, and seeing the economy grow, and creatingmore opportunity for everybody, then the choice isn’t even close. If you wantsomeone with a lifelong track record of fighting for higher wages, betterbenefits, a fairer tax code, a bigger voice for workers, and stronger regulationson Wall Street, then you should vote for Hillary Clinton.

And if you’re concerned about who’s going to keep you and your family safe in adangerous world – well, the choice is even clearer. Hillary Clinton is respectedaround the world not just by leaders, but by the people they serve. She’sworked closely with our intelligence teams, our diplomats, our military.

And she has the judgment, the experience, and the temperament to meet thethreat from terrorism. It’s not new to her. Our troops have pounded ISILwithout mercy, taking out leaders, taking back territory. I know Hillary won’trelent until ISIL is destroyed. She’ll finish the job – and she’ll do it withoutresorting to torture, or banning entire religions from entering our country. Sheis fit to be the next Commander–in–Chief.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump calls our military a disaster. Apparently, he doesn’tknow the men and women who make up the strongest fighting force the worldhas ever known. He suggests America is weak. He must not hear the billions ofmen, women, and children, from the Baltics to Burma, who still look to Americato be the light of freedom, dignity, and human rights.

He cozies up to Putin, praises Saddam Hussein, and tells the NATO allies thatstood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want ourprotection. Well, America’s promises do not come with a price tag. We meet ourcommitments. And that’s one reason why almost every country on Earth seesAmerica as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago.

America is already great. America is already strong. And I promise you, ourstrength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump.

In fact, it doesn’t depend on any one person. And that, in the end, may be thebiggest difference in this election – the meaning of our democracy.

Ronald Reagan called America “a shining city on a hill.” Donald Trump calls it “adivided crime scene” that only he can fix. It doesn’t matter to him that illegalimmigration and the crime rate are as low as they’ve been in decades, becausehe’s not offering any real solutions to those issues. He’s just offering slogans,and he’s offering fear. He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he mightscore just enough votes to win this election.

That is another bet that Donald Trump will lose. Because he’s selling theAmerican people short. We are not a fragile or frightful people. Our powerdoesn’t come from some self–declared savior promising that he alone canrestore order. We don’t look to be ruled. Our power comes from those immortaldeclarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago; Wehold these truths to be self–evident, that all men are created equal; thattogether, We, the People, can form a more perfect union.

That’s who we are. That’s our birthright – the capacity to shape our own destiny.That’s what drove patriots to choose revolution over tyranny and our GIs toliberate a continent. It’s what gave women the courage to reach for the ballot,and marchers to cross a bridge in Selma, and workers to organize and fight forbetter wages.

America has never been about what one person says he’ll do for us. It’s alwaysbeen about what can be achieved by us, together, through the hard, slow,sometimes frustrating, but ultimately enduring work of self–government.

And that’s what Hillary Clinton understands. She knows that this is a big, diversecountry, and that most issues are rarely black and white. That even when you’re100 percent right, getting things done requires compromise. That democracydoesn’t work if we constantly demonize each other. She knows that forprogress to happen, we have to listen to each other, see ourselves in eachother, fight for our principles but also fight to find common ground, no matterhow elusive that may seem.

Hillary knows we can work through racial divides in this country when werealize the worry black parents feel when their son leaves the house isn’t sodifferent than what a brave cop’s family feels when he puts on the blue andgoes to work; that we can honor police and treat every community fairly. Sheknows that acknowledging problems that have festered for decades isn’tmaking race relations worse – it’s creating the possibility for people of good willto join and make things better.

Hillary knows we can insist on a lawful and orderly immigration system whilestill seeing striving students and their toiling parents as loving families, notcriminals or rapists; families that came here for the same reasons our forebearscame – to work, and study, and make a better life, in a place where we can talkand worship and love as we please. She knows their dream is quintessentiallyAmerican, and the American Dream is something no wall will ever contain.

It can be frustrating, this business of democracy. Trust me, I know. Hillaryknows, too. When the other side refuses to compromise, progress can stall.Supporters can grow impatient, and worry that you’re not trying hard enough;that you’ve maybe sold out.

But I promise you, when we keep at it; when we change enough minds; whenwe deliver enough votes, then progress does happen. Just ask the twentymillion more people who have health care today. Just ask the Marine whoproudly serves his country without hiding the husband he loves. Democracyworks, but we gotta want it – not just during an election year, but all the days inbetween.

So if you agree that there’s too much inequality in our economy, and too muchmoney in our politics, we all need to be as vocal and as organized and aspersistent as Bernie Sanders’ supporters have been. We all need to get out andvote for Democrats up and down the ticket, and then hold them accountableuntil they get the job done.

If you want more justice in the justice system, then we’ve all got to vote – notjust for a President, but for mayors, and sheriffs, and state’s attorneys, and statelegislators. And we’ve got to work with police and protesters until laws andpractices are changed.

If you want to fight climate change, we’ve got to engage not only young peopleon college campuses, but reach out to the coal miner who’s worried abouttaking care of his family, the single mom worried about gas prices.

If you want to protect our kids and our cops from gun violence, we’ve got to getthe vast majority of Americans, including gun owners, who agree on backgroundchecks to be just as vocal and determined as the gun lobby that blocks changethrough every funeral we hold. That’s how change will happen

Look, Hillary’s got her share of critics. She’s been caricatured by the right and bysome folks on the left; accused of everything you can imagine – and somethings you can’t. But she knows that’s what happens when you’re under amicroscope for 40 years.

She knows she’s made mistakes, just like I have; just like we all do. That’s whathappens when we try. That’s what happens when you’re the kind of citizenTeddy Roosevelt once described – not the timid souls who criticize from thesidelines, but someone “who is actually in the arena…who strives valiantly; whoerrs…[but] who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.”

Hillary Clinton is that woman in the arena. She’s been there for us – even if wehaven’t always noticed. And if you’re serious about our democracy, you can’tafford to stay home just because she might not align with you on every issue.You’ve got to get in the arena with her, because democracy isn’t a spectatorsport. America isn’t about “yes he will.” It’s about “yes we can.” And we’re goingto carry Hillary to victory this fall, because that’s what the moment demands.

You know, there’s been a lot of talk in this campaign about what America’s lost –people who tell us that our way of life is being undermined by perniciouschanges and dark forces beyond our control. They tell voters there’s a “realAmerica” out there that must be restored. This isn’t an idea that started withDonald Trump. It’s been peddled by politicians for a long time – probably fromthe start of our Republic.

And it’s got me thinking about the story I told you twelve years ago tonight,about my Kansas grandparents and the things they taught me when I wasgrowing up. They came from the heartland; their ancestors began settling thereabout 200 years ago. They were Scotch–Irish mostly, farmers, teachers, ranchhands, pharmacists, oil rig workers.

Hardy, small town folks. Some were Democrats, but a lot of them wereRepublicans. My grandparents explained that they didn’t like show–offs. Theydidn’t admire braggarts or bullies. They didn’t respect mean–spiritedness, orfolks who were always looking for shortcuts in life. Instead, they valued traitslike honesty and hard work. Kindness and courtesy. Humility; responsibility;helping each other out.

That’s what they believed in. True things. Things that last. The things we try toteach our kids.

And what my grandparents understood was that these values weren’t limited toKansas. They weren’t limited to small towns. These values could travel toHawaii; even the other side of the world, where my mother would end upworking to help poor women get a better life. They knew these values weren’treserved for one race; they could be passed down to a half–Kenyan grandson,or a half–Asian granddaughter; in fact, they were the same values Michelle’sparents, the descendants of slaves, taught their own kids living in a bungalowon the South Side of Chicago. They knew these values were exactly what drewimmigrants here, and they believed that the children of those immigrants werejust as American as their own, whether they wore a cowboy hat or a yarmulke; abaseball cap or a hijab.

America has changed over the years. But these values my grandparents taughtme – they haven’t gone anywhere. They’re as strong as ever; still cherished bypeople of every party, every race, and every faith. They live on in each of us.What makes us American, what makes us patriots, is what’s in here. That’s whatmatters. That’s why we can take the food and music and holidays and styles ofother countries, and blend it into something uniquely our own.

That’s why we can attract strivers and entrepreneurs from around the globe tobuild new factories and create new industries here. That’s why our military canlook the way it does, every shade of humanity, forged into common service.That’s why anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists orjihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end.

That’s America. Those bonds of affection; that common creed. We don’t fearthe future; we shape it, embrace it, as one people, stronger together than weare on our own. That’s what Hillary Clinton understands – this fighter, thisstateswoman, this mother and grandmother, this public servant, this patriot –that’s the America she’s fighting for.

And that’s why I have confidence, as I leave this stage tonight, that theDemocratic Party is in good hands. My time in this office hasn’t fixedeverything; as much as we’ve done, there’s still so much I want to do. But for allthe tough lessons I’ve had to learn; for all the places I’ve fallen short; I’ve toldHillary, and I’ll tell you what’s picked me back up, every single time.

It’s been you. The American people.

It’s the letter I keep on my wall from a survivor in Ohio who twice almost losteverything to cancer, but urged me to keep fighting for health care reform,even when the battle seemed lost. Do not quit.

It’s the painting I keep in my private office, a big–eyed, green owl, made by aseven year–old girl who was taken from us in Newtown, given to me by herparents so I wouldn’t forget – a reminder of all the parents who have turnedtheir grief into action.

It’s the small business owner in Colorado who cut most of his own salary so hewouldn’t have to lay off any of his workers in the recession – because, he said, “that wouldn’t have been in the spirit of America.”

It’s the conservative in Texas who said he disagreed with me on everything, butappreciated that, like him, I try to be a good dad.

It’s the courage of the young soldier from Arizona who nearly died on thebattlefield in Afghanistan, but who’s learned to speak and walk again – andearlier this year, stepped through the door of the Oval Office on his own power,to salute and shake my hand.

It’s every American who believed we could change this country for the better,so many of you who’d never been involved in politics, who picked up phones,and hit the streets, and used the internet in amazing new ways to make changehappen. You are the best organizers on the planet, and I’m so proud of all thechange you’ve made possible.

Time and again, you’ve picked me up. I hope, sometimes, I picked you up, too.Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. I ask you tocarry her the same way you carried me. Because you’re who I was talking abouttwelve years ago, when I talked about hope – it’s been you who’ve fueled mydogged faith in our future, even when the odds are great; even when the roadis long. Hope in the face of difficulty; hope in the face of uncertainty; theaudacity of hope!

America, you have vindicated that hope these past eight years. And now I’mready to pass the baton and do my part as a private citizen. This year, in thiselection, I’m asking you to join me – to reject cynicism, reject fear, to summonwhat’s best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the UnitedStates, and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation.

Thank you for this incredible journey. Let’s keep it going. God bless the UnitedStates of America.