Biden's handoff to Harris set for DNC in Chicago

• It will be a goodbye that Biden resisted for weeks, as pressure built within the party for him to drop out of the race after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump in June.
• Now Biden, as a sitting president who wanted another term, will be in the unusual position of celebrating his own accomplishments while trying to persuade Americans to pick another Democrat for the White House.
• Democrats want Biden to focus on his legislative legacy, including the passage of a bipartisan infrastructure law, a massive climate and health care bill, and the Chips and Science Act.
• Party planners typically have months to plan four nights of political choreography. Since Biden's sudden withdrawal on July 21, they've had four weeks to rework a convention that will honor Biden and re-introduce Harris to America.

Driving the news: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also is slated to speak Monday night. Former President Obama will take the prime-time speaking slot on Tuesday night, as NBC News first reported and Axios confirmed.

• Per tradition, Wednesday night will be devoted to the vice-presidential pick, with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) speaking after former President Clinton, widely regarded as one of the party's best setup speakers.
• The convention will culminate in Harris' acceptance speech Thursday night.
• "To paraphrase one of President Biden's favorite poems, it's a convention lineup well-constructed to make hope and history rhyme," said Jeff Nussbaum, a former Biden speechwriter.

Between the lines: Democrats have enjoyed great fundraising success from their "three presidents" routine.

• Now they'll try to tease out the act over three nights.

What we're hearing: The speeches are being drafted but much of the speaker lineup is in flux.

• "Beyond the nominee acceptance speeches on Wednesday and Thursday night, programming has not been finalized or announced yet," a convention official said.

Zoom out: For both parties, choreography has replaced drama at their summer conventions.

• The goal is to use modern stagecraft and TV production tricks to introduce their ticket to a public that doesn't follow the campaign as closely as political obsessives do.
• Organizers will try to create moments and personal stories that can be shared on social media and continue to be part of the party's messaging long after the convention.

• The DNC's storyline will be familiar: Democrats are focused on America's future, while Trump is obsessed with himself and the past.

Zoom in: Bill Clinton is likely to attempt to address the economy under Biden — a persistent vulnerability in polls that Republicans want Harris to answer for.

• The 42nd president is likely to make a sweeping argument for why the middle class has prospered under Biden, with record-low unemployment and an economy that has defied expectations.

What we're watching: Like rock concerts, conventions are designed to build to a climactic moment: the nominee's acceptance speech. Unlike concerts, there's no encore.

• That puts an enormous amount of pressure on party planners to avoid any technical, stylistic or strategic snafus.

Flashback: Buy anyone from Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign a drink and you'll likely hear about their own private torment when Clinton Eastwood decided to interview a chair at the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla.

• Then ask an Obama veteran what they remember most about their 2012 convention in Charlotte. Most will cite Bill Clinton's speech, in which he used a mix of statistics and anecdotes to defend Obama's record on the economy and foreign policy.
• Obama himself struggled to explain how good he thought it was, eventually settling on making Clinton the "Secretary of Explaining Stuff."