PHILADELPHIA — Bill Clinton was once the Democrats explainer-in-chief, electrifying the convention crowd with his support of President Barack Obama.
Today, he increasingly seems to be explaining himself.
In the four years since the party's last national convention, the center of gravity in Democratic politics has shifted decidedly to the left. Clinton must finesse some of his administration's biggest achievements, including a landmark free trade agreement and major criminal justice law, lest his wife pay the price with the party's emboldened liberal base.
On Tuesday night, the former president will promote what aides say are his wife's lesser-known achievements, her early days as a child advocacy lawyer, her policy campaigns as first lady and work as senator from New York.
But his 10th consecutive convention address may require one of the toughest balancing acts of his career: separating his wife's legacy from his own.
"It's not just [Bernie] Sanders supporters who have concerns about the impacts of those policies," said Ben Jealous, a former head of the NAACP who endorsed the Vermont senator and now backs Clinton. "You look at this platform and in many ways it's a response to those policies."
There's little question Bill Clinton remains a beloved figure within the party; he's hosting a series of his own events during the convention, where top donors to his wife's campaign will fete him after his speech.
At the same time, some of the key achievements of his administration formed the basis of rival Sanders' critique against his wife, particularly among younger voters — that she's too willing to compromise liberal ideals for political gain.
"His presidency was a little bit before my time," said Mike Cordaro, 29, of Blueskin Township. "From what I know now, looking back, I'm really not a big fan."
Separating Bill Clinton's achievements from Hillary Clinton's record proved difficult for her campaign during the primary season, particularly after years of the couple famously marketing themselves as "two for the price of one."
Clinton has made it clear that her husband will be playing a key role in her administration's economic policy, doing far more, she has said, than picking "the flowers and the china."
"It's an all-hands-on-deck time," she said in a weekend interview with CBS's "60 Minutes." ''And there's a lot that happened which helped the American people during those eight years."
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage of Clinton's speech.