The wife of U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is asking the country to give her husband the chance to lead the United States “to a better place.”

Ann Romney used her speech at the Republican National Convention Tuesday night to promote her husband's accomplishments as a businessman, governor of Massachusetts and leader in the Mormon church.

She also reached out to women voters, saying they were “the best of America, the hope of America.”

After her speech, Ann Romney she was greeted at the podium by her husband with a congratulatory hug and kiss.

On the day Mitt Romney secured the party's nomination for president, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is closing Tuesday's event with his keynote address.

During roll call late Tuesday, Republican party delegates from across the country cast the more than 1,144 votes needed for Mr. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.

Fellow Republican presidential candidate, Texas Representative Ron Paul, also received some votes.

Former Congressman Artur Davis, an Alabama Democrat-turned-Republican, told convention attendees that Mr. Romney is the “most experienced executive to seek the presidency” in 60 years.

Party officials are hoping Mrs. Romney's speech will showcase a more personal side of the Republican candidate than the image the Obama campaign has painted of him as a wealthy businessman who has little connection with everyday Americans and their economic concerns. Christie is expected to pinpoint what Republicans see as the significant failures of Mr. Obama's tenure over the last three-and-a-half years.

Tuesday has been the first full day of the Republican convention, with most events canceled Monday as Tropical Storm Isaac skirted Florida's western coastline before becoming a hurricane. Convention officials are still watching the storm's path as it heads toward the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico for a possible landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday in Louisiana and it could again force changes in the convention schedule.

The Republican governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, canceled his planned convention speech, saying he was staying home to deal with the prospect of Isaac hitting his state.

President Barack Obama is spending Tuesday and Wednesday campaigning in college towns in Iowa, Colorado and Virginia. The Democrats hold their convention next week in Charlotte, North Carolina.