I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend. And I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president.

My husband will tell you one of the most frequent questions he gets from world leaders is, 'How's your wife's garden?'

And I come here as a daughter, raised on the South Side of Chicago - by a father who was a blue-collar city worker and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me.

While I believed deeply in my husband's vision for this country... and I was certain he would make an extraordinary President... like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance. How would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight?

When it comes to the qualifications that we should demand of our president, to start with, we need someone who will take the job seriously.

I want a president who will teach our children that everyone in this country matters, a president who truly believes in the vision that our Founders put forth all those years ago that we are all created equal, each a beloved part of the great American story.