Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Former President Bill Clinton said Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is ``ready to lead'' and vowed to do everything he could to make sure Obama wins the White House in November.

Clinton used his speech, one of the most closely watched at the Democratic National Convention, to quell talk that he wasn't fully behind Obama. He also sought to tamp any lingering resentment among the 18 million people who voted for his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, during the primaries

``Last night, Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she is going to do everything she can to elect Barack Obama,'' Clinton, 62, said tonight in Denver. ``That makes two of us.''

The two-term president also went on the attack against Republican President George W. Bush, criticizing the Republican's domestic and foreign policies. He listed the priorities that he said Obama would have as president, including building alliances overseas and creating new jobs at home.

``Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are first strong at home,'' Clinton said. ``People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.''

The line brought delegates to their feet.

Obama, 47, formally became the party's standard-bearer just hours ago, after Hillary Clinton halted a roll-call vote and called for his nomination by acclamation. Her name had also been placed in nomination as a gesture to her supporters.

McCain

In his speech tonight, Bill Clinton highlighted the differences between Obama and presumed Republicans nominee John McCain. While McCain is a ``good man'' who served heroically in the Vietnam War, Clinton said he was wrong on ``the two great questions of this election -- how to rebuild the American Dream and how to restore America's leadership in the world.''

Obama, on the other hand, ``is ready to lead,'' he said. ``Everything I learned in my eight years as president and the in work I've done since, in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job.''

Bill Clinton was 46 when he won the presidency in 1992. Tonight, he reminded the crowd that during the campaign he was derided as ``too young and too inexperienced'' to be the nation's commander-in-chief.

``It didn't work in 1992, because we were on the right side of history,'' Clinton said. ``And it won't work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.''

The Democrats next will formally nominate Delaware Senator Joseph Biden as the party's vice presidential nominee. Biden, 65, will then take the podium for a speech.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Denver at kjensen@bloomberg.net; Catherine Dodge in Denver at cdodge1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 27, 2008 22:38 EDT