Joe Biden has formally announced his bid to be president of the United States.
The former vice president becomes the 20th Democrat to throw his hat into the ring in the fight to take on Donald Trump in 2020.
In a video message published on Thursday morning, Biden said “everything that has made America - America - is at stake”.
He enters the race as a frontrunner in a crowded field that already includes Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, rising star mayor Pete Buttigieg and former congressman Beto O’Rourke.
Biden spent 36 years in the US Senate representing Delaware before being picked by Barack Obama to be his running mate in 2008.
He will hope his association with the former president, as well the argument he can appeal to voters who backed Trump in 2016, will help secure him the nomination.
But the 76-year-old’s path to victory could be blocked by allegations, made before today’s announcement, that he behaved inappropriately towards women.
In response, Biden said he would now be “more mindful” of respecting the “personal space” of women.
During his time in the Senate, he served as both chair of the foreign relations committee and judiciary committee.
Biden previously launched presidential bids in 1988 and 2008. His first attempt was derailed after he was found to have plagiarised a speech by Neil Kinnock, the then leader of the Labour Party.
Voting in the the 2020 Democratic nomination race kicks off with the Iowa caucuses in February next year.