Brayden Harrington

The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of the United States Democratic Party formally chose former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris of California as the party's nominees for president and vice president, respectively, in the 2020 United States presidential election.

Originally scheduled to be held July 13–16, 2020, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee just a week before the planned start of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, the convention was postponed to August 17–20, 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The convention was ultimately downsized, with its location shifted to the city's Wisconsin Center. Due to pandemic restraints, Milwaukee's host city role was decreased to that of a headquarters for the broadcast, with most of the convention activities occurring remotely from sites across the United States.

Adapting to pandemic restraints, the format was substantially different from previous conventions, with the duration of each day of the convention being significantly shorter than in past conventions and with most of the convention activity occurring held remotely from many venues across the country rather than at a single venue. Its activities were largely decentralized and it was regarded to be a "virtual" convention. However, the convention was officially considered to centered at the Wisconsin Center, which is where its production was headquartered, its roll call was directed from, and where a limited number of speeches (primarily those by Wisconsin politicians) were delivered. Both Biden and Harris instead delivered their acceptance speeches remotely from the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden and Harris went on to win the 2020 election, defeating the Republican Party ticket of incumbent president Donald Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence.

Background

The convention was the 49th Democratic National Convention.

Site selection

Bids on the site for the convention were solicited by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in late 2017. Preliminary requirements for host cities that the DNC laid out included that they should have between 17,000 and 18,000 hotel rooms (including 1,000 luxury suites) located within 30 minutes of the convention venue.

The Democratic National Committee made the bids public in the spring of 2018. Las Vegas withdrew and decided to focus on the 2020 Republican National Convention, for which its bid was subsequently defeated by Charlotte. In April 2018, the Democratic National Committee sent requests for proposals to the eight remaining cities that had expressed interest in hosting the event (Atlanta, Birmingham, Denver, Houston, Miami, Milwaukee, New York City, and San Francisco).

On June 20, 2018, the Democratic National Committee announced four finalists for the convention site (Denver, Houston, Miami, and Milwaukee). Immediately following the announcement, the finalist city of Denver withdrew from consideration due to apparent scheduling conflicts.

Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez announced on March 11, 2019, that Milwaukee would host the convention.

The selection of Milwaukee made this the first Democratic National Convention to be hosted in the Midwestern United States since Chicago hosted the 1996 Democratic National Convention, and the first to be hosted in a midwestern city other than Chicago since St. Louis hosted the 1916 Democratic National Convention. This was the first major party convention held in Milwaukee. It was also the first major party convention to be held in any city in the state of Wisconsin.

In terms of population, Milwaukee is smaller than other metropolitan areas that had hosted recent major party conventions. Milwaukee is among the smallest metropolitan areas to have hosted a major party convention. Milwaukee's success in bidding for the convention was viewed in some circles as an upset, as the other two remaining finalist cities were not only larger metropolitan areas, but also had significant experience hosting major events such as Super Bowls.

Milwaukee's selection was seen, in part, as emphasizing party's desire to place an focus on winning Midwestern states like Wisconsin, and its desire to win back " blue wall" states in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. The swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin had been the states which the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence had won by the narrowest margins in the preceding 2016 election, and had these states been instead won by the 2016 Democratic ticket of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, they would have delivered the Democratic ticket an electoral college victory in 2016. The 2016 election had also been the first time since the 1980s that any of these three states had voted Republican. The three aforementioned "blue wall" states were, ultimately, won by the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020.

Some sources cited DNC chairman Tom Perez's personal connections to Milwaukee as a factor that aided Milwaukee's selection. His wife had originally been from nearby Wauwatosa, they had held their wedding in Milwaukee, and their daughter was a current student at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

Bids

Several cities made efforts to be selected as the location of the 2020 convention.

Change of venue

On June 24, 2020, it was announced that the convention had been downsized and would be held at Milwaukee's Wisconsin Center instead of its originally planned venue, Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum. The change of location made this the first major party convention held in a convention center since the 1996 Republican National Convention, and the first Democratic convention to be held in such a venue since the 1984 Democratic National Convention.

Role of superdelegates

Superdelegates are delegates to the convention who are automatically chosen by the party, rather than by the results of primaries and caucuses. While technically unpledged, in the past many of them have informally pledged themselves to a predesignated front-runner in previous elections. The superdelegate system is controversial among Democrats, and supporters of both Clinton and Sanders have called for their removal in 2020.

The Unity Reform Commission, created after the 2016 election, recommended that the number of 2020 superdelegates be drastically reduced. In July 2018, the DNC revoked the voting rights for superdelegates on the first ballot,Herndon, Astead W
"Democrats Take Major Step to Reduce Role of Superdelegates"
, ''The New York Times'', July 11, 2018.Levy, Adam
"A new, smaller role proposed for superdelegates"
, CNN, June 8, 2018. unless a candidate has secured a majority using only pledged delegates.

Except for the presidential nomination, superdelegates will vote on all issues.

Selection of pledged delegates

The number of delegates allocated to each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., are based on, among others, the proportion of votes each state gave to the Democratic candidate in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections. A fixed number of pledged delegates are allocated to each of the five U.S. territories and Democrats Abroad.

Qualification of suspended campaigns

The Democratic National Committee's 2020 selection rules state that any candidate who is no longer running loses the statewide delegates they have won and those delegates are then reallocated to candidates still in the race. However, the interpretation of this rule in 2020 races might be different from the interpretation in past races. In previous elections, such as the 2008 presidential primary, candidates would suspend their candidacies rather than formally withdraw, allowing their already pledged delegates to attend the convention and pick up new ones along the way.

Logistics

Before it was downsized, 50,000 people had been expected to attend the convention. 31 state delegations were to stay in 2,926 Milwaukee-area hotel rooms and 26 delegations were to stay in 2,841 hotel rooms in Lake County and Rosemont, Illinois. Another 11,000 hotel rooms were to house volunteers, members of the media, donors, and other attendees. Additionally, dormitories at Milwaukee-area universities and colleges were planned to accommodate some convention guests and volunteers. The Hilton Milwaukee City Center was to serve as the convention's "headquarters hotel".

Milwaukee had been planning an extension of its streetcar line to be completed in advance of the convention. However, these plans faltered, and no expansion was built before the convention.

Organizers were originally planning to recruit 15,000 volunteers.

The firm Populous was named as the event architect. Populous was assigned to work in partnership with Milwaukee firm American Design Inc. In February 2020, Milwaukee-based JCP construction was awarded the contract to be the construction general contractor for the convention. Hargrove LLC was, at the same time, awarded the contract to serve as the convention's event management firm.

A proposal was made for the state to pass legislation that would have extended the permitted hours of operation for bars in the Milwaukee area during the convention. However, this was not passed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the proposal was abandoned.

Host committee

The Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee was established to organize the convention.

In October 2019, the Host Committee announced its leadership team. The president of the Host Committee was Liz Gilbert. Leadership included a board of directors. Further leadership included co-chairs and vice chairs, as well as honorary vice-chairs. The co-chairs of the Host Committee were Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett and Congresswoman Gwen Moore. Vice chairs included Milwaukee County executive Chris Abele, U.S. senator Tammy Baldwin, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin Mandela Barnes, Governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers, former U.S. senator Herb Kohl. Honorary vice chairs included Milwaukee Common Council president Ashanti Hamilton and Wisconsin state treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Democratic leader for the Wisconsin State Assembly Gordon Hintz, Attorney General of Wisconsin Josh Kaul, Congressman Ron Kind, Wisconsin secretary of state Doug La Follette, Congressman Mark Pocan, and Wisconsin State Senate minority leader Jennifer Shilling. Additionally, the Host Committee's honorary finance chair was Alex Lasry, the senior vice president of the Milwaukee Bucks.

In early February 2020, Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee president Liz Gilbert and her chief-of-staff Adam Lonso were both fired after an investigation found that the committee's "work environment did not meet the ideals and expectations" of the organization's board (with allegations of a "toxic" work environment). Acting as interim leader of the Host Committee was Teresa Vilmain. In late February, new leadership team was announced with Raquel Filmanowicz serving as CEO and Paula Penebaker serving as COO, with both taking these positions formally on March 2, 2020.

The host committee raised $40 million to stage the convention.

Delay and downsizing

The convention was originally scheduled to be held July 13–16, 2020, On April 2, 2020, it was announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention would be delayed to August 17–20.

As early as April 2020, the Democratic Party had been bracing for the possibility of a virtual convention. On May 12, 2020, the Democratic National Committee authorized the convention planners to research alternative methods for participants to cast votes, considering the possibility that the Democratic National Committee may decide to hold the entire convention virtually.

On June 24, 2020, it was announced that the convention was to be downsized. The venue was shifted from the Fiserv Forum to the Wisconsin Center. But, instead of the entire convention being held in Milwaukee, it would now feature Milwaukee as merely a hub city for the major convention events. The convention was now planned to instead consist of what the DNC said would be "curated content from Milwaukee and other satellite cities, locations, and landmarks across the country". All official business will now be conducted remotely. Organizers canceled official parties and events scheduled to be held in Milwaukee before and coinciding with the convention. Delegates were asked to no longer travel to Milwaukee, and plans were now formally made to implement a system for them to cast their votes virtually. The following month, in mid-July, members of Congress were also told not to travel to Milwaukee for the event.

At the announcement of the downsizing it was declared that Biden would accept his nomination in Milwaukee. It was later announced on July 30, 2020, that his running mate would also accept her nomination in Milwaukee. However, on August 5, 2020, it was announced that Biden no longer planned to travel to Milwaukee to accept his nomination, and would instead do so from Delaware. It was also announced then that a number of other speakers that had been scheduled to travel to Milwaukee, including Biden's running mate, would also instead be addressing the convention remotely. This was seen as, effectively, moving to make the convention almost entirely virtual. This was the first time that a major party presidential candidate had accepted their nomination remotely from the official site of the convention since Franklin D. Roosevelt did so in 1944.

There were initially plans to have up to 5,000 attendees in Milwaukee for the convention at the inception of its downsizing. This was later further reduced to 1,000, and then again reduced 300 people, including both attendees and media granted access. Due to an order imposed by the Milwaukee Health Department barring gatherings over 250 people, the total number of people permitted to gather at the Milwaukee convention hub was ultimately capped at that number. There were no delegates in the Wisconsin Center. While speakers were not traveling to Milwaukee, plans were retained for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez and Secretary of the Democratic National Committee Jason Rae (also secretary of the convention) to be in Milwaukee.

The owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Fiserv Forum threatened to sue the Democratic Party, which had paid only $5.5 million of the $7 million rent on the venue.

Following the decision to relocate the venue to Wisconsin Center, Fiserv Forum was later chosen to be as the main venue for the 2024 Republican National Convention, was held on July 15–18, 2024.

Health protocols

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a number of protocols have been put in place.

Participants at Wisconsin Center were required to self-quarantine for at least 72 hours before arriving, wear personal protective equipment, undergo daily COVID-19 testing, partake in symptom tracking through a daily questionnaire, avoid bars and restaurants, and follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

Security

As is routine for a major party convention, the event had been designated a National Special Security Event. Originally, the United States Department of Justice was to provide $50 million in security, but this was decreased to $40 million.

The boundaries of the planned security footprint, in which increased security measures would be implemented, but in which individuals not attending the convention (including demonstrators) were still to be permitted, was announced in January 2020. The streets marking the boundary of the announced footprint were to be Cherry Street on the north, 10th Street on the west, Clybourn Street, and Water Street on the east. On July 24, 2020, the Milwaukee Common Council passed an ordinance that would ban a long list of items from the security footprint, including air rifles, nunchucks, drones, containers of bodily fluids, glass bottles, and coolers. On August 12, 2020, it was announced that the security footprint had been shrunk significantly. The security footprint ultimately encompassed almost only areas directly surrounding the convention center. Fencing was erected surrounding the Wisconsin Center. Temporary flight restrictions were in place each night from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. CDT. A ban on drones was also in place.

Originally, the city originally budgeted to have approximately 3,000 law enforcement officers from outside the city assist the Milwaukee Police Department during the convention. This was decreased to approximately 2,000. By late July there were anticipated to be only 1,100 officers from outside the city assisting the department. However, in late July, more than 100 police agencies announced that they would be withdrawing from their contracts to provide personnel to aid in security during the convention after the Milwaukee police chief announced that their department would restrict the use of tear gas and pepper spray by law enforcement during demonstrations and protests. The Wisconsin National Guard then planned to provide hundreds of members to help with security. There had been talk of potentially limiting boat traffic on the Milwaukee River by placing a temporary stay on all bridge openings, but this security measure did not materialize.

Programming

The official theme of the convention was "Uniting America". The Wisconsin Center was used for the convention's broadcast and production, acting as the control room and "hub" of the convention production. The convention's programming was a mix of pre-recorded segments and live broadcasts from sites across the United States. The convention organizers established a custom video control room in the exhibit hall on the third floor of the Wisconsin Center, designed to handle hundreds of feeds from across the country, in order to accommodate the remote speeches. Supplementary control rooms existed in other locations, such as in Delaware. Producer Glenn Weiss oversaw the production from a temporary control studio created for him at his personal residence. Also acting as producer was Ricky Kirshner.

Speakers appeared from various "satellite locations", including key studios in Los Angeles, New York City, and at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware. The broadcasts were emceed by their nightly hosts from the studio in Los Angeles. All of the speeches were held behind closed doors with no in-person audience.

A stage was set up in a conference room on the second floor of the Wisconsin Center. The stage at the Wisconsin Center saw limited use, with a number of participants from Wisconsin using it as the venue for their participation in the convention. Convention secretary Jason Rae also directed the roll call from the Wisconsin Center stage. The roll call featured votes being presented from locations in each state or territory, with some of the votes presented by special guests emphasizing Biden's history and platform; Bob Casey Jr. appeared from Biden's childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, LGBT rights activists Judy and Dennis Shepard presented Wyoming's votes, and gun control advocate Fred Guttenberg (whose daughter was killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting) presented Florida's votes.

The duration of the convention program was significantly downsized from one that was originally expected to total 24 hours over the four days to one that would total only eight hours. The downsizing led the convention organizers to need far fewer volunteers than the 15,000 they had originally been trying to recruit.

Music performances were filmed for inclusion in the main programming.

In addition to the televised convention programming, further content was livestreamed by the Democratic Party on digital platforms. Prior to the beginning of each night's programming, the hip-hop music channel ''Behind the Rhyme'' on Twitch streamed the official pre-show and post-show for each night, with the latter featuring performances by Beverly Bond, Vashtie, DJ Cassidy, Jermaine Dupri on each night respectively. The political podcast ''Pod Save America'' also aired a "Live from the Democratic National Couch-vention" special prior to the August 20 broadcast, which featured the premiere of its new documentary short ''Dress Rehearsal'', which chronicled the April 2020 state Supreme Court election in Wisconsin.'''' Following the closing night of the convention, the Democratic Party livestreamed an "after party" on digital platforms hosted by Andy Cohen and headlined by musician Diplo. The program featured segments featuring celebrities filmed from their homes. Celebrities participating in the "after party" broadcast included Alyssa Milano, Aubrey Plaza, Liza Koshy, Zooey Deschanel, Michelle Kwan, Nicole Ehrlich, Cat Cora, Jaime Camil, Elena Delle Donne, Jason Winston George, Keith Powell, and Neil Casey. Also featured in the "after party" program were political figures such as Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, Senator Chris Coons, and Biden campaign advisor Symone Sanders.

Platform

In April, shortly after Sanders endorsed Biden, the two created a "Unity task force" to draft a version of the party platform. The Democratic National Convention Committee set up a series of "virtual platform meetings" to garner input from the general public.

The Platform Drafting Committee Chair was Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. The Platform Standing Committee includes a number of party leaders and elected officials appointed by the DNC:

Drafting process

Public hearings were live-streamed on the DNCC's YouTube channel on the following topics:

* Monday, June 29 from 5-8 p.m. ET: "Addressing the COVID-19 Health Crisis and Building Back Better." A "Medicare for All" provision was rejected by the committee on June 27 on a 125–36 vote.
* Wednesday, July 1 from 5-8 p.m. ET: "A Vision for a More Equitable Future"
* Thursday, July 2 from 5-8 p.m. ET: "Restoring the Soul of America"

The full Platform Drafting Committee met on July 15 and 27, where they submitted a finished product to be voted on via the internet from August 1–15.

Platform provisions and ratification

After months of negotiations, Biden/Sanders platform task force issued its 110-page report on July 9 outlining platform recommendations. Convention delegates officially adopted the Democratic Party's 2020 platform on August 18, following delegate balloting by mail. The platform was divided into ten sections: " pandemic response, the economy, health care, criminal justice, climate, immigration, education, foreign policy, voting rights, and identity-related rights issues." The platform calls for:
* A universal public health insurance option for all Americans.
* Allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.
* Universal free COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccines.
* To combat climate change, eliminating carbon emissions (pollution) from power plants by 2035 and making substantial investments in U.S. infrastructure and renewable energy.
* Increasing housing supply, including affordable housing.
* Making community colleges tuition-free for all, and making public colleges and universities tuition-free for students from families with under $125,000 in annual income.
* An increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour and an increase in the Child and Dependent Care tax credit.
* Comprehensive criminal justice reform.
* Repealing the Hyde Amendment.
* Decriminalizing the use of marijuana and allowing states to fully legalize marijuana.
* Statehood for the District of Columbia; self-determination for Puerto Rico, including the right of Puerto Ricans to decide whether to become a state; and restoration of Voting Rights Act provisions.
* Comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants.
* "Bring our forever wars to a responsible end" but maintain a small U.S. military presence in Iraq to "ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS"
* End the "race to war with Iran" and seek restoration of the Obama-era multilateral agreement with Iran.
* Support for a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, coupled with an "ironclad" commitment to the security of Israel.

The platform was considered by some sources to be the most progressive in Democratic Party history, and the most progressive for any major political party in U.S. history. However, there was some dissent from the party's left wing over the omission of platform planks supporting single-payer healthcare ("Medicare for All") or the Green New Deal. Prior to the convention, over 700 delegates, largely from Bernie Sanders' camp, previously signed a statement vowing to vote against the platform because it did not include a provision supporting Medicare for All; this included U.S. representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ro Khanna. The platform was adopted, with 3,562 delegates in support and 1,069 voted no, a further 87 abstained.

Convention leadership

On March 26, 2019, Joe Solmonese, former president of the Human Rights Campaign, was named convention CEO.

On June 1, 2020, the campaign of presumptive nominee Joe Biden named two advisers to the convention, naming Addisu Demissie as adviser for convention coordination and Lindsay Holst as senior adviser for convention and special projects.

Programming was overseen by Ricky Kirshner, who acted as a producer. In addition, Stephanie Cutter held the formal position of program executive. Glenn Weiss acted as the director. Jessica Jennings was the director of media logistics.

Officers

On July 30, 2020, the officers of the convention were designated. Representative Bennie Thompson served as the permanent chair of the convention.

Permanent co-chairs were Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, Rep. Tony Cárdenas of California, Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms, and New Jersey governor Phil Murphy. The convention's vice-chairs were Senator Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, former representative Tony Coelho of California, Representative Sharice Davids of Kansas, Lieutenant Governor of Michigan Garlin Gilchrist, Congresswoman Donna Shalala of Florida, former representative Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin Mandela Barnes, and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Kate Marshall. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer served as honorary chairs.

The convention's sergeant-at-arms was Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin. Jason Rae acted as secretary of the convention. The convention's parliamentarians were House majority leader Steny Hoyer, Helen McFadden
Sarah E. Merkle
and state senator Yvanna Cancela of Nevada.

Nominating and balloting

Pre-convention delegate count

The table below reflects the presumed delegate count as per the 2020 Democratic primaries.

, the following overall number of pledged delegates is subject to change, as possible penalty/bonus delegates (awarded for each state scheduled election date and potential regional clustering) may be altered.

The 2020 Democratic Party rules state that, unless a candidate has secured a majority of delegates using only pledged delegates, the superdelegates will have no voting rights on the first ballot.

Candidates who have suspended their campaigns without having received any pledged or superdelegate endorsements, as well as those who've suspended their campaigns and subsequently lost their endorsements to other candidates, are not included in the table below.

The table below reflects the presumed pledged delegate count following the 2020 Democratic primaries. In addition to these, there will also be 771 superdelegate votes (including the eight half-votes belonging to Democrats Abroad superdelegates), making for 4,750 combined delegate votes.

Presidential balloting

In an email, DNC secretary Jason Rae wrote to delegates outlining the process for that year's convention, noting that the planning committee "concluded that state delegations should not plan to travel to Milwaukee and official convention business will be conducted remotely."

Instead of a traditional in-person roll call, delegates voted remotely using a system the planning committee crafted that enabled them to cast their ballots via email, with unique identifiers for security. The DNC had plans regarding certifying each delegate. The party said delegates would be able to fill out the forms electronically, with no need for a printer or physical copy, according to the letter. The ballot, which includes questions about platform planks and the party's nominees, will be emailed to their state's committee. Once a state party had all the ballots from their delegation, the state delegation's chair would "submit a tally sheet to the Secretary's Office that formally records the number of votes cast on each item of convention business," The votes would be counted all at once on August 15, not as they come in.

Voting began August 3 and ended August 15, when the state delegation chairs were asked to submit their final tallies to the DNC secretary. That meant that the party knew the tally of votes for its nominee before the convention formally began.

Ceremonial roll call during the convention

The traditional roll call of the states was ceremonially held on the second night of the convention. It was done remotely from each of the 57 delegations, including all 50 states and seven additional territories/jurisdictions (the District of Columbia, the five inhabited U.S. territories, and Democrats Abroad). Organizers planned for it to last approximately 30 minutes. Convention secretary Jason Rae directed the roll call from the Wisconsin Center.

The remote roll call was widely praised.

Vice presidential nomination

The Rules Committee report which was passed by the convention addressed, among other things, the fiascos that occurred during the 1972 and 1980 conventions as regards selection of the vice-presidential nominee.

Rule C.7. of the Rules of Procedure states:

In accordance with this provision, Biden submitted Harris's name to the chairman, Bennie Thompson, and after Thompson's public reading of the rule, she was declared nominated.

Schedule

Each night of the convention was planned to last two hours. In addition to the convention's overall official theme of "Uniting America", each night had an official sub-theme of its own.

Monday, August 17

9:00–11:00 p.m. EDT

Emcee: Eva Longoria

;Theme: "We the People"

;Sub-themes:
*"We the People Demanding Racial Justice"
*"We the People Helping Each Other Through COVID-19"
*"We the People Putting Country Over Party"
*"We the People Recovering"
*"We the People Rise"

;Evening schedule:
*Opening ceremonies
**Introduction by actress Eva Longoria
**Call to Order by convention chair Bennie Thompson
**Pledge of Allegiance
**Performance of the United States national anthem ("The Star-Spangled Banner")
**Invocation by Gabriel Salguero
*Main convention program
*Benediction by Jerry Young
*Nightly close of order by convention chair Bennie Thompson

;Select speakers (in order of appearance):

;Performances (in order of appearance):
*Leon Bridges performing "Sweetness"
*Maggie Rogers performing "Back In My Body"
* Billy Porter and Stephen Stills performing "For What It's Worth"

;Selected film segments:
*"The Path Forward": A Conversation with Vice President Biden on Racial Justice (featuring Joe Biden, Houston police chief Art Acevedo, activist Jamira Burley, activist Gwen Carr, NAACP president Derrick Johnson, and Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot)
*A Conversation with Healthcare Workers on the Front Lines (moderated by United States women's national soccer team member Megan Rapinoe)
*"United We Stand" (featuring Kamala Harris and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidates United States senator Cory Booker, United States senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Governor of Washington Jay Inslee, United States senator Amy Klobuchar, United States representative Seth Moulton, former United States representative Beto O'Rourke, businessman Tom Steyer, and businessman Andrew Yang)

Tuesday, August 18

The second night of the convention included official business, such as the nominating roll call for president.

9:00–11:00 p.m. EDT

Emcee: Tracee Ellis Ross

;Theme: "Leadership Matters"

;Evening schedule
*Call to order by Mayor of Milwaukee Tom Barrett
*Credentials Committee Report
** James H. Roosevelt
**Lorraine Miller
*Rules Committee Report
**Barney Frank
** Maria Cardona
*Platform Committee Report
** Julie Chavez Rodriguez
**Denis McDonough
*Keynote address
*Main convention program (part 1)
*Nominations and roll call
*Main convention program (part 2)

;Select speakers (in order of appearance):

;Select film segments:
*The Biden Plan: Healthcare (narrated by Jeff Bridges)
*A More Perfect Union: A Conversation on Healthcare (featuring Joe Biden, and health care activists Julie Buckholt, Steve Gomez, Jeff Jeans, Laura Packard, Angie Taylor)
*The Biden Plan: National Security
*An Unlikely Friendship (narrated in part by Cindy McCain, widow of the late Senator John McCain from Arizona)
*Teacher

;Performances:
*John Legend

Wednesday, August 19

9:00–11:00 p.m. EDT

Emcee: Kerry Washington

;Theme: " A More Perfect Union"

;Sub-themes:
*A More Perfect Society
*A More Perfect Economy

;Evening schedule
*Prior to the evening program, the Democratic Governors Association hosted the panel "Bold Leadership: Women Governors Leading", which featured Oregon governor Kate Brown, Kansas governor Laura Kelly, New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Maine governor Janet Mills and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, and was moderated by Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo.
*Introduction
*Call to Order by convention chair Bennie Thompson
*Pledge of Allegiance
*Main convention program
*Vice-presidential nomination
*Vice-presidential acceptance speech

;Select speakers (in order of appearance):

;Select film segments:
*America Rising: March for Our Lives (featuring X González)
*The Biden Plan: Climate Change
*A Conversation with Young Climate Activists
*A Letter to Trump on Immigration
*America Rising: Immigrants Rebuilding America
*America Rising: From Women's Suffrage to the Women's March
*When You See Something Wrong
*America Recovering (featuring United States senator from Ohio Sherrod Brown, Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti, and United States congresswoman from Iowa Cindy Axne)

;Performances:
*Billie Eilish performing "My Future"
*Prince Royce performing " Stand by Me"
*Jennifer Hudson performing "A Change Is Gonna Come"

Thursday, August 20

9:00–11:00 p.m. EDT

Emcee: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

;Theme: "America's Promise"

;Evening schedule
*Call to Order by convention chair Bennie Thompson
*Remarks by Andrew Yang
*Introduction by Julia Louis-Dreyfus
*Pledge of Allegiance
*National anthem ("The Star-Spangled Banner") performed by The Chicks
*Invocation by Sister Simone Campbell
*Main convention program
*Presidential acceptance speech
*Fireworks display
*Benediction
*Adjournment by convention chair Bennie Thompson

;Select speakers (in order of appearance):

;Select film segments:
*A Tribute to John Lewis (directed by Dawn Porter; featuring former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives Stacey Abrams; deceased former United States representative Elijah Cummings; United States Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; Reverend Raphael Warnock, former ambassador Andrew Young)
*"You Built America": A Conversation on the Economy with Vice President Biden
*The Biden Plan: Military Families (featuring Jill Biden)
*A Tribute to Beau Biden
*This Time Next Year (featuring activist Ady Barkan; Nevada senator Yvanna Cancela; Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota Peggy Flanagan; United States representative Marcia Fudge; Mayor of Long Beach, California, Robert Garcia; activist Fred Guttenberg; United States senator Kamala Harris; United States Senate candidate Jaime Harrison; Harris County, Texas, judge Lina Hidalgo; activist Dolores Huerta; convicted murderer Donna Hylton; United States senator Doug Jones; lawyer Khizr Khan; actor Daniel Dae Kim; United States senator Amy Klobuchar; author Jon Meacham; former United States representative Susan Molinari; former United States secretary of state Colin Powell; United States representative Beto O'Rourke; Virginia state delegate Danica Roem; lawyer James H. Roosevelt; General Francis D. Vavala; United States senator Elizabeth Warren; businessman Andrew Yang)
*United We Stand (featuring former 2020 Democratic presidential candidates United States senator Cory Booker, former mayor of South Bend Pete Buttigieg, United States senator Amy Klobuchar, former United States representative Beto O'Rourke, United States senator Bernie Sanders, United States senator Elizabeth Warren, and businessman Andrew Yang)
*The Biden Grandchildren
*Keeping the Faith w/ The Currys (featuring Stephen Curry and his family)
*Biden Introduction

;Select performances:
*The Chicks performing "The Star-Spangled Banner"
*John Legend and Common performing " Glory"

Speakers and other events

In the past, hundreds of people had addressed each convention, giving many local or statewide candidates a valuable photo op

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