Al Gore's presidential plans halted one long moment in 1989 when he watched a car hit his 6-year-old son, sending him flying 30 feet in the air and scraping 20 feet along pavement.
"I ran to his side and held him and called his name, but he was limp and still, without breath or pulse. His eyes were open with the empty stare of death, and we prayed the two of us, there in the gutter with only my voice," Gore told Democrats Thursday.Gore spent 30 days straight in the hospital by the boy's side and years more helping him recover. To do so, he scrapped a 1992 presidential bid. He resolved to push what is truly important in life - which in the end led him to the presidential ticket anyway.
"I did not seek this nomination nor did I expect it," he told the convention as he accepted the vice presidential nomination it gave him by acclamation.
"But I am to join this team because I love my country. And I believe in my heart that together, we offer the American people the best chance to move this nation forward in the right direction again."
Gore almost always seemed destined for a presidential ticket. He is the son of a U.S. senator who made all the right moves to Harvard, Vietnam, journalism, divinity school, law school, the House, the Senate and a presidential bid all before age 39.
But his son's accident made him re-evaluate his direction. By his son's hospital bed, he began writing his best-selling book, "Earth in the Balance," about his passionate belief that more must be done to save the planet.
"For generations, we have believed we could abuse the Earth because we somehow are not really connected to it. But now we must face the truth. The task of saving the Earth's environment must and will become the central organizing principle of the post-Cold War world."
Gore added that likewise, "The equally false assumption that we are not connected to each other has led to our social crisis. Even worse, the evil and mistaken assumption that we have no connection to those generations preceding us or those who will follow us has led to the crisis of values we face today."
He said the biggest culprit of such faults is the Bush administration. "It is time for them to go," he said - which the convention repeated every time he listed what he said was one of its faults.
Gore, considered an authority on the environment, also has the reputation of a hard worker known for checking out scores of books from the Library of Congress and devouring them to become an expert on any legislation he seeks.
Because of that, Democrats gleefully look forward to debates between him and Vice President Dan Quayle - who they see as an intellectual flyweight (and, interestingly, was a newspaperman like Gore, who was an investigative reporter).
Gore also added a light touch to his speech by dancing with his wife on stage when he finished and by beginning by saying he had always dreamed "that one day, I'd have the chance to come here to Madison Square Garden and be the warmup act for Elvis (a nickname given to Clinton)."
That helps overcome past criticism that he is too wooden, technical and boring. He himself tells the joke, "How do you tell Al Gore from all the Secret Service men? He's the stiff one."
Gore, 44, is a year younger than Clinton. Their combined ages are only nine years older than Ronald Reagan - and their speeches said they want to convert their youth and vigor to change America.