In his acceptance speech, Biden promised to end the ‘darkness’ of Donald Trump’s presidency.
"The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger, too much fear, too much division," Biden said.
Top priority for Covid-19
Biden, 77, urged Americans to punish Trump for the chaos that has seen more than 170,000 deaths during the coronavirus pandemic and economic calamity.
"We lead the world in deaths," he said in the 22-minute speech, calling Trump's performance "unforgivable."
On day one of his own presidency, Biden said, he would implement a national Covid-19 plan and mandate mask wearing.
Can Joe trump Donald?
Joe Biden is on his third White House bid after failing to win the nomination in 1988 and 2008.
After months of relentless mockery from Trump and other Republicans who claim Biden is senile, the veteran politician's speech was markedly fluent and always full of passion.
Democrats hope the strong performance, as well as the vice presidential nomination of Kamala Harris - the first black woman to make it onto the White House ticket of a major party - will deflate those attacks.
