President Barack Obama on Wednesday night told Americans they face a stark choice in November ― an unusual election that has raised “fundamental” questions “about who we are as a people,” and pitted one of the most qualified candidates in history, Hillary Clinton, against an untrustworthy con man, Donald Trump.

In a Democratic National Convention speech that was at turns emotional and blistering and ended with Clinton appearing by his side, Obama began with a recitation of his accomplishments in office ― reducing unemployment and saving the auto industry, passing health care reform, a nuclear agreement with Iran and the killing of Osama bin Laden.

President Barack Obama made his case for Hillary Clinton for president Wednesday night. ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES

He acknowledged problems that the country still faces ― people struggling with bills, an epidemic of gun violence ― but he also professed his strong belief in the country’s ability to fix its problems, even if “change is never easy, and never quick.”

“The America I know is full of courage and optimism and ingenuity,” Obama said, contrasting this vision with the dark, pessimistic message that came from the Republican convention in Cleveland last week.

“What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other, and turn away from the rest of the world,” Obama said. “There were no serious solutions to pressing problems ― just the fanning of resentment and blame and anger and hate.”

After laying out those two visions, Obama made his case for Clinton, reminding people not only of her experience and expertise but also of her record of championing groups such as children and veterans.

Obama made a particularly big deal about Clinton’s commitment to public service, in an apparent attempt to turn one of her biggest political liabilities ― her experience in politics ― into an asset. “She knows she’s made mistakes, just like I have; just like we all do. That’s what happens when we try.”

Obama likened Clinton’s grit and determination to Theodore Roosevelt’s. “Hillary Clinton is that woman in the arena.  She’s been there for us ― even if we haven’t always noticed.”

Obama questioned the ability of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump to protect Americans. MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS

And then it was time to talk about Trump. Previous speakers ― including Vice President Joe Biden and vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine ― had already worked up the crowd. Obama picked up where they left off ― at first, by adopting the same mocking tone he’d used in 2011 at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

“He’s not really a plans guy,” Obama said of the real estate mogul turned Republican nominee. “Not really a facts guy, either. He calls himself a business guy, which is true, but I have to say, I know plenty of businessmen and women who’ve achieved success without leaving a trail of lawsuits and unpaid workers and people feeling like they got cheated.”

But Obama quickly turned serious, mentioning Trump’s record in business as proof that he would not protect the economic interests of everyday Americans. “Does anyone really believe,” Obama said, “that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion? Your voice?”

He also questioned Trump’s ability to protect Americans from foreign threats: “He cozies up to Putin, praises Saddam Hussein, and tells the NATO allies that stood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want our protection. Well, America’s promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments.”

At one point, Obama invoked an iconic figure from Republican Party history to press his case. “Ronald Reagan,” Obama explained, “called America ‘a shining city on a hill.’ Donald Trump calls it ‘a divided crime scene’ that only he can fix. …  He’s just offering slogans, and he’s offering fear. He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election.”

“That is another bet that Donald Trump will lose,” Obama continued. “Because he’s selling the American people short. We are not a fragile or frightful people. Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order. We don’t look to be ruled.”

But the strongest part of his speech came at the end ― when, after painting Trump as somebody who doesn’t believe in America, Obama reasserted his own belief that democracy can work and that, given the chance, they will make the right choices for the country.

“That’s America,” Obama said. “Those bonds of affection; that common creed. We don’t fear the future; we shape it, embrace it, as one people, stronger together than we are on our own.”

Obama’s speech brought the partisan crowd to its feet ― and the roars grew louder when Clinton made her dramatic, if predictable, entrance onstage to join him. The two exchanged words, embraced and then stood on the stage soaking in the applause as the convention’s third night drew to a close.

Clinton joined Obama onstage after his speech Wednesday. ROBYN BECK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

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Eight years ago, Hillary Clinton famously said her first White House bid had put“about 18 million cracks” in the glass ceiling, one for each voter who’d cast a ballot for her in the 2008 primary.

On Tuesday, that glass ceiling finally came down.

Clinton was formally named the Democratic nominee for president at her party’s convention in Philadelphia, making her the first woman ever to top a major party’s ticket for the White House.

More than 200 other women have sought the presidency since 1872, but none have come this far. The female Democratic leaders gathered in Philadelphia this week have waited their entire lives to see one of their own reach this point, just a step away from the Oval Office. To them, Clinton’s nomination represents the culmination of decades of work devoted to tearing down the barriers women have faced seeking high office in America.

“Yes, we do break barriers,” Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who was the first woman to win a Senate seat not previously held by her husband, said in her nomination speech. “On behalf of all the women who’ve broken down barriers for others, and with an eye toward the barriers still ahead, I proudly place Hillary Clinton’s name in nomination to be the next president.”

The former senator and secretary of state locked up the necessary delegates to become the nominee in early June, and she has already picked Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as her running mate. But it wasn’t until Tuesday’s roll call vote by the party’s state delegations that her nomination against Republican Donald Trump became official and history was made.

Breaking from alphabetical order, the Vermont delegation was last to speak in the roll call, providing an opportunity to hand the microphone to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Clinton’s primary foe. To raucous applause, a smiling Sanders asked that convention rules be suspended, declaring his support for Clinton.

“I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States,” Sanders said.

Convention-goers told The Huffington Post that they considered Clinton’s nomination a watershed moment that would encourage more young women to pursue public office.

“We tend to want to emulate what we can see,” said Wendy Davis, the Texas Democrat. “We need to see ourselves in office so we can aspire to those things. Having [Clinton] there, I think, is going to open up for little girls ― and not-so-young girls ― the aspirations that they may not have had for themselves previously.”

The famed singer-songwriter Carole King said that the nomination had not just moved her emotionally, it had transformed her thinking about what is politically possible.

“It is amazing. After this, it won’t be a big deal. Of course a woman can be nominated. Of course a woman can be president,” King said. “I always thought of men as presidents and presidents as men. I was raised in a generation that thought that. And now that’s changed.”

Clinton will not speak at the convention until Thursday, when she delivers perhaps the most anticipated speech of her political career. So far, all the speaking has been done by Democratic stars making the case for a Clinton presidency, including Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and first lady Michelle Obama. Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, was slated to speak Tuesday after his wife’s nomination.

Democrats had hoped to roll into Philadelphia as a unified party prepared to draw a sharp distinction in tone and substance to Trump, who, at his party’s own convention in Cleveland last week, offered a bleak and frightening view of modern American life. But Democrats were knocked off message before their convention even began, with the hack and leak of embarrassing emails by staffers of the Democratic National Committee showing a bias against Sanders.

The stunning breach, which may have involved Russian intelligence agencies, quickly led to the resignation of the DNC’s chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

Democratic leaders have tried to put the turmoil behind them, aiming for full party unity behind Clinton by week’s end. Solidarity against Trump was one of the main themes of the primetime speech delivered by Sanders, who ran against the front-runner Clinton from the left in a surprisingly close primary. (Many Sanders backers literally booed the concept of unity at the start of the convention on Monday.)

The discord in Philadelphia, however, has so far failed to match the intra-party chaos in Cleveland, where one of the biggest Republican speakers refused to endorse Trump and a faction of anti-Trump delegates launched a last-minute unsuccessful coup to rob him of the nomination.

Many conservatives still cannot accept the brash real estate mogul ― who has fomented racism, misogyny and xenophobia throughout his yearlong campaign ― as the GOP’s standard-bearer. Others have quietly endorsed him but can barely manage to utter his name, except to say that he would be a better choice than the alternative.

Democrats’ goal this week is to convey a much more hopeful and forward-looking vision of the country than Clinton’s opponent. In his own acceptance speech, Trump misleadingly portrayed the U.S. as rife with criminals ― the violent crime rate has in fact continued to fall, in keeping with long-term trends ― and overrun by dangerous undocumented immigrants. Describing a nation in chaos, Trump declared himself the “law and order candidate” solely capable of restoring public safety.

At the convention so far, the best case against Trump has been made by the first lady, who delivered what’s already being called one of the best political speeches in recent years. In her remarks Monday night, Obama outlined a choice between divisiveness or unity, without even referring to Trump by name. America does not need to be made great again, she said in a swipe at Trump, because it is already “the greatest country on Earth.”

Historically speaking, Trump has had the highest unfavorability ratings of any modern presidential candidate. Unfortunately for Clinton, her polling does not fare much better, despite a long and accomplished career in public service. Her candidacy has been dogged by voters’ questions about her trustworthiness, made worse by recent findings by the FBI that her team mishandled classified information on a private server while she was secretary of state.

A formidable campaigner, Clinton has vastly out-raised the mostly self-funded Trump campaign so far in 2016. According to a recent analysis by Bloomberg, Clinton and her allied super PACs now have $86 million on hand, while the Trump campaign has $23 million. Overall, the Clinton camp has raised $386 million total versus Trump’s $94 million.

As HuffPost’s Paul Blumenthal previously reported, Clinton’s superior fundraising machine has given her a major advantage. Her campaign has established teams of hundreds of organizers in prime swing states and already made huge advertising purchases. Trump, meanwhile, only recently began establishing a ground game in key states.

Sam Stein and Amanda Terkel contributed reporting.