Hillary Clinton Acceptance Speech: 'The World is Watching What We Do'

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Hand on heart, hugging her daughter, and clad head-to-toe in white, Hillary Clinton took the stage Thursday to a sea of waving American flags at the Democratic National Convention and then formally accepted the party's nomination as candidate for president of the United States.

"Tonight, we've reached a milestone in our nation's march toward a more perfect union: the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president," she said.

Standing before a packed Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Clinton addressed multiple audiences.

She spoke to the cheering and crying Democratic Party faithful within the arena, and to the remaining holdouts from former primary opponent Bernie Sanders' camp, still reticent to give her their trust. She was also speaking to the nation, making her case against Republican candidate Donald Trump, and seeking to capture support from the demographics most susceptible to the New York billionaire's message.

To all of them, it was Clinton's chance to reintroduce herself after decades in the public eye — as first lady, and then through her time in the Senate, on the 2008 campaign trail, and as secretary of state.

"Sometimes the people at this podium are new to the national stage. I, as you know, am not," she said.

Clinton acknowledged her shortcomings as a public figure but defended her decades-long work as an advocate.

“The truth is, through all these years of public service, the ‘service’ part has always come easier to me than the ‘public’ part,” she said. “I get it that some people just don’t know what to make of me.”

Clinton talked about her mother and father, and her own history, depicting herself as a detail-oriented policy wonk geared toward finding solutions and enacting a "bold agenda."

She was introduced Thursday by her daughter, Chelsea.

"I'm here as a proud American, a proud Democrat, a proud mother, and — tonight, in particular — a very, very proud daughter," Chelsea Clinton said, sharing childhood memories of her "wonderful, thoughtful, hilarious mother."

Hillary Clinton accepted the nomination to roaring cheers, offering a campaign themed on opposition to Trump's "Make America Great Again" message.

"It is with humility, determination and boundless confidence in America’s promise that I accept your nomination for president," she said.

In her speech, Clinton evoked the founding fathers' divisive meeting in Philadelphia and their ability to compromise and find common purpose to come together as a nation.

"America is once again at a moment of reckoning," she said. "Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart. Bonds of trust and respect are fraying. And just as with our founders there are no guarantees. It truly is up to us. We have to decide whether we will all work together so we can all rise together."

They embraced "the enduring truth that we are stronger together," she said, one of many references to her campaign slogan.

Some of the most powerful politicians in the country piled into Clinton's corner in the week leading up to her acceptance speech — the first lady, sitting president, former president, vice president and her former primary opponent.

They spoke as one against Trump, but the room needed no convincing on that count. Rather, the powerful surrogates' primary goal was to to praise Clinton herself and endeavor to close the rift created within their own party, where many remain unconvinced.

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President Barack Obama painted a picture of contrast colored heavily by Clinton's formidable résumé.

“You can read about it, you can study it, but until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis or send young people to war,” Obama said in his speech Wednesday night. “But Hillary’s been in the room; she’s been part of those decisions. ... Even in the midst of crisis, she listens to people, and she keeps her cool, and she treats everybody with respect.”

His wife, Michelle, sought to tie Clinton's historic potential as first woman in the White House to the Obamas' own momentous role as its first black family.

Clinton's husband, former president and possible first first gentleman, launched into the lengthy, well-trodden tale of their first meeting and long courtship in his speech Tuesday, a play to humanize a wife so often labeled as "cold" by the press.

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All worked to project a feeling of trust and certainty onto Clinton, after a week marked by protests from within the party, revelations from a hack into DNC emails and a post-Republican National Convention polling bump for Trump.

In particular, Clinton needs to build trust among the two demographic groups that polls suggest trend Trump: white male and blue-collar voters.

She spoke to those voters as she addressed the economy and defense Thursday.

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"Some of you are frustrated, and even furious — and you're right, (the economy's) not working the way it should," she said. "Democrats, we are the party of working people. But we haven't done a good enough job showing that we get what you're going through, and we're going to do something to help."

Creating opportunities and more good jobs with rising wages is her "primary mission as president," Clinton said, "especially in places that for too long have been left out and left behind."

On defense, Clinton drew a sharp contrast between herself and Trump, echoing Obama's refrain.

"The choice we face is just as stark when it comes to our national security," she said. "Anyone reading the news can see the threats and turbulence we face. From Baghdad and Kabul, to Nice and Paris and Brussels, to San Bernardino and Orlando, we're dealing with determined enemies that must be defeated. No wonder people are anxious and looking for reassurance — looking for steady leadership."

As she outlined her strategy in Philadelphia, supporters chanted "Hillary!" in order to drown out those protesting with cries of "No more war!"

However, she also played to the Sanders crowd, thanking her primary challenger early in the program and earning some of the biggest cheers of the night for calls to reform campaign finance laws and enact a free college tuition program.

On the historic nature of her candidacy, Clinton spoke only briefly Thursday night.

"Standing here as my mother's daughter, and my daughter's mother, I'm so happy this day has come. Happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between," she said. "Happy for boys and men, too — because when any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone. When there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit."

In her closing remarks, she sounded the call again for optimism and courage, for a legacy of "planting seeds in a garden you never get to see."

"Yes, the world is watching what we do. Yes, America's destiny is ours to choose," Clinton closed. "So, let's be stronger together, my fellow Americans."

>> Photo via DNC Live Feed