Thank you very
much. Thank you very much. Thank you. (They're singing our song.) Thank
you very much. Thank you. You're singing -- You're singing our song.
Well, the first thrill tonight was to find myself for the first time in
a long time in a movie on prime time. But this, as you can imagine, is
the second big thrill.
Mr. Chairman,
Mr. Vice-President-to-be, this convention, my fellow citizens of this
great nation:
With a deep
awareness of the responsibility conferred by your trust, I accept your
nomination for the Presidency of the United States.
I -- I do so
with deep gratitude. And I think also I might interject on behalf of all
of us our thanks to Detroit and the people of Michigan and to this city
for the warm hospitality that we've enjoyed. And I thank you for your
whole-hearted response to my recommendation in regard to George Bush as
the candidate for Vice President.
I'm very proud
of our Party tonight. This convention has shown to all America a party
united, with positive programs for solving the nation's problems, a
party ready to build a new consensus with all those across the land who
share a community of values embodied in these words: family, work,
neighborhood, peace, and freedom.
Now, I know
that we’ve had -- we've had a quarrel or two but as only as to the
method of attaining a goal. There was no argument here about the goal.
As President, I will establish a liaison with the 50 Governors to
encourage them to eliminate, wherever it exists, discrimination against
women. I will -- I will monitor federal laws to insure their
implementation and to add statutes, if they are needed.
More than --
More than anything else, I want my candidacy to unify our country, to
renew the American spirit and sense of purpose. I want to carry our
message to every American, regardless of party affiliation, who is a
member of this community of shared values.
Never before
in our history have Americans been called upon to face three grave
threats to our very existence, any one of which could destroy us. We
face a disintegrating economy, a weakened defense, and an energy policy
based on the sharing of scarcity.
The major
issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal, and moral
responsibility of Democratic Party leadership, in the White House and in
the Congress, for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us.
They tell us they've done the most that could humanly be done. They say
that the United States has had it’s day in the sun, that our nation has
passed its zenith. They expect you to tell your children that the
American people no longer have the will to cope with their problems,
that the future will be one of sacrifice and few opportunities.
My fellow
citizens, I utterly reject that view.
The American
people -- The American people the most generous on earth, who created
the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that
we can only make a better world for others by moving backward ourselves.
And those who believe we can have no business leading this nation.
I will not
stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre
leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national
will and purpose. We have come together here because the American people
deserve better from those to whom they entrust our nation's highest
offices, and we stand united -- we stand united in our resolve to do
something about it.
We need a
rebirth of the American tradition of leadership at every level of
government and in private life as well. The United States of America is
unique in world history because it has a genius for leaders -- many
leaders -- on many levels. But, back in 1976, Mr. Carter said, "Trust
me." And a lot of people did. And now many of those people are out of
work. Many have seen their savings eaten away by inflation. Many others
on fixed incomes, especially the elderly, have watched helplessly as the
cruel tax of inflation wasted away their purchasing power. And today a
great many who trusted Mr. Carter wonder if we can survive the Carter
policies of national defense.
"Trust me"
government asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man;
that we trust him to do what's best for us. Well my view of government
places trust not in one person or one Party, but in those values that
transcend persons and parties. The -- The trust is where it belongs --
in the people. The responsibility to live up to that trust is where it
belongs, in their elected leaders. That kind of relationship, between
the people and their elected leaders, is a special kind of compact.
Three hundred
and sixty years ago in 1620, a group of families dared to cross a mighty
ocean to build a future for themselves in a new world. When they arrived
at Plymouth, Massachusetts, they formed what they called a "compact"; an
agreement among themselves to build a community and abide by its laws.
This single
act -- the voluntary binding together of free people to live under the
law -- set the pattern for what was to come.
A century and
a half later, the descendants of those people pledged their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor to found this nation. Some forfeited
their fortunes and their lives; none sacrificed honor.
Four -- Four
score and seven years later, Abraham Lincoln called upon the people of
all America to renew their dedication and their commitment to a
government of, for, and by the people.
Isn't it once
again time to renew our compact of freedom; to pledge to each other --
to pledge to each other all that is best in our lives; all that gives
meaning to them -- for the sake of this, our beloved and blessed land?
Together, let
us make this a new beginning. Let us make a commitment to care for the
needy; to teach our children the virtues handed down to us by our
families; to have the courage to defend those values and virtues, and
the the willingness to sacrifice for them.
Let us pledge
to restore, in our time, the American spirit of voluntary service, of
cooperation, of private and community initiative; a spirit that flows
like a deep and mighty river through the history of our nation.
As your
nominee I pledge to you to restore to the Federal government the
capacity to do the people's work, without dominating their lives. I
pledge to you -- I pledge to you a government that will not only work
well but wisely, its ability to act tempered by prudence and its
willingness to do good balanced by the knowledge that government is
never more dangerous than when our desire to have it help us blinds us
to it’s great power to harm us.
You know --
You know the first -- the first Republican President once said, "While
the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no Administration by
any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the Government
in the short space of four years." If Mr. Lincoln could see what's
happened in the last three and a half years, he might hedge a little on
that statement. But -- But with the virtues that are our legacy as a
free people and with the vigilance that sustains liberty, we still have
time to use our renewed compact to overcome the injuries that have been
done to America these past three and a half years.
First, we must
overcome something the present Administration has cooked up -- a new and
altogether indigestible economic stew: one part inflation, one part high
unemployment, one part recession, one part runaway taxes, one part
deficit spending, seasoned with an energy crisis. It's an economic stew
that has turned the national stomach.
Ours are not
problems of abstract economic theory. These are problems of flesh and
blood; problems that cause pain and destroy the moral fiber of real
people who should not suffer the further indignity of being told by the
government that it is all somehow their fault. We do not have inflation
because -- as Mr. Carter says -- we've lived too well.
The head of a
government which has utterly refused to live within its means and which
has, in the last few days, told us that this coming year's deficit will
be 60 billion dollars, dares to point the finger of blame at business
and labor, both of which have been engaged in a losing struggle just
trying to stay even.
High taxes, we
are told, are somehow good for us, as if, when government spends our
money it isn't inflationary, but when we spend it, it is.
Those -- Those
who preside over the worst energy shortage in our history tell us to use
less, so that we will run out of oil, gasoline, and natural gas a little
more slowly. Well, now, conservation is desirable, of course. We mustn't
waste energy. But conservation is not the sole answer to our energy
needs. America must get to work producing more energy.
The Republican
program for solving economic problems is based on growth and
productivity. Large amounts of oil and natural gas lay beneath our land
and off our shores, untouched because the present Administration seems
to believe the American people would rather see more regulation, more
taxes, and more controls than more energy.
Coal offers
great potential. So does nuclear energy produced under rigorous safety
standards. It could supply electricity for thousands of industry [sic]
and millions of jobs and homes. It must not be thwarted by a tiny
minority opposed to economic growth which often finds friendly ears in
regulatory agencies for its obstructionist campaigns.
Now, make no
mistake. We will not permit the safety of our people or our
environmental heritage to be jeopardized, but we are going to reaffirm
that the economic prosperity of our people is a fundamental part of our
environment.
Our problems
-- Our problems are both acute and chronic, yet all we hear from those
in positions of leadership are the same tired proposals for more
Government tinkering, more meddling, and more control -- all of which
led us to this sorry state in the first place.
Can anyone
look at the record of this Administration and say, "Well done"?
Can anyone
compare the state of our economy when the Carter Administration took
office with where we are today and say, "Keep up the good work"?
Can anyone
look at our reduced standing in the world today and say, "Let's have
four more years of this"?
I believe the
American people are going to answer these questions, as you've answered
them, in the first week in November and their answer will be, "No --
we've had enough."
And then --
And then it will be up to us, beginning next January 20th, to offer an
administration and congressional leadership of competence and more than
a little courage. We must have the clarity of vision to see the
difference between what is essential and what is merely desirable, and
then the courage to bring our government back under control.
It is -- It is
essential -- It is essential that we maintain both the forward momentum
of economic growth and the strength of the safety net between [beneath]
those in society who need help. We also believe it is essential that the
integrity of all aspects of Social Security be preserved.
Beyond --
Beyond these essentials, I believe it is clear our federal government is
overgrown and overweight. Indeed, it is time our government should go on
a diet.
Therefore, my
first act as Chief Executive will be to impose an immediate and thorough
freeze on federal hiring.
Then -- Then
we're going to enlist the very best minds from business, labor, and
whatever -- whatever quarter to conduct a detailed review of every
department, bureau, and agency that lives by federal appropriations. And
we're going to enlist the help and ideas of many dedicated and hard
working government employees at all levels who want a more efficient
government just as much as the rest of us do.
I -- I know
that many of them are demoralized by the confusion and waste they
confront in their work as a result of failed and failing policies. Our
instructions to the groups we enlist will be simple and direct. We will
remind them that government programs exist at the sufferance of the
American taxpayer, and are paid for with money earned by working men and
women, and programs that represents a waste of their money -- a theft
from their pocketbooks -- must have that waste eliminated or that
program must go.
It must go
by executive
order where possible, by congressional action where necessary.
Everything
that can be run more effectively by state and local government we shall
turn over to state and local government, along -- along with the funding
sources to pay for it. We're going to put an end to the money
merry-go-round where our money becomes Washington's money, to be spent
by states and cities exactly the way the federal bureaucrats tell us it
has to be spent.
I will not
accept the excuse that the federal government has grown so big and
powerful that it is beyond the control of any President, any
Administration, or Congress. We are going to put an end to the notion
that the American taxpayer exists to fund the federal government.
The federal
government -- The federal government exists to serve the American
people.
On January
20th, we are going to re-establish that truth.
Also on that
date we're going to initiate action to get substantial relief for our
taxpaying citizens and action to put people back to work.
None of this
-- None of this will be based on any new form of monetary tinkering or
fiscal sleight-of-hand. We will simply apply to government the common
sense that we all use in our daily lives.
Work -- Work
and family are at the center of our lives, the foundation of our dignity
as a free people. When we deprive people of what they've earned, or take
away their jobs, we destroy their dignity and undermine their families.
We can't support our families unless there are jobs; and we can't have
jobs unless the people have both money to invest and the faith to invest
it.
These -- These
are concepts that stem from an economic system that for more than 200
years has helped us master a continent, create a previously undreamed of
prosperity for our people, and has fed millions of others around the
globe. And that system will continue to serve us in the future if our
government will stop ignoring the basic values on which it was built and
stop betraying the trust and good will of the American workers who keep
it where [sic] going.
The American
people are carrying the heaviest peacetime tax burden in our nation's
history, and it will grow even heavier under present law next January.
We're taxing ourselves into economic exhaustion and stagnation, crushing
our ability and incentive to save, invest, and produce.
This must
stop. We must halt this fiscal self-destruction and restore sanity to
our economic system.
I've long
advocated a 30 percent reduction in income tax rates over a period of
three years. This phased tax reduction -- This phased tax reduction
would begin with a 10 percent "down payment" tax cut in 1981, which the
Republicans in Congress and I have already proposed. A phased reduction
of tax rates would go a long way toward easing the heavy burden on the
American people. But, we shouldn't stop there.
Within the
context of economic conditions and appropriate budget priorities during
each fiscal year of my presidency, I would strive to go further. This
would include improvement in business depreciation taxes so we can
stimulate investment in order to get plants and equipment replaced, put
more Americans back to work and put our nation back on the road to being
competitive in world commerce. We will also work to reduce the cost of
government as a percentage of our gross national product.
The -- The
first task of national leadership is to set realistic and honest
priorities in our policies and our budget, and I pledge that my
Administration will do that.
When I talk of
tax cuts, I'm reminded that every major tax cut in this century has
strengthened the economy, generated renewed productivity, and ended up
yielding new revenues for the government by creating new investment, new
jobs, and more commerce among our people.
The present
Administration -- The present Administration's been forced by us
Republicans to play follow-the-leader with regard to a tax cut. But in
this election year, we must take with the proverbial "grain of salt" any
tax cut proposed by those who have already given us the greatest single
tax increase in our nation's history.
When those --
When those in leadership give us tax increases and tell us we must also
do with less, have they thought about those who've always had less --
especially the minorities? This is like telling them that just as they
step on that first rung of the ladder of opportunity, the ladder is
being pulled out from under them. That may be the Democratic
leadership's message to the minorities, but it won't be our message.
Ours -- Ours
will be: We have to move ahead, but we're not going to leave anyone
behind.
Thanks to the
economic policies of the Democratic Party, millions of Americans find
themselves out of work. Millions more have never even had a fair chance
to learn new skills, hold a decent job, or secure for themselves and
their families a -- a share in the prosperity of this nation.
It's time to
put America back to work, to make our cities and towns -- make our
cities and towns resound with the confident voices of men and women of
all races, nationalities, and faiths, bringing home to their families a
paycheck they can cash for honest money.
For those
without skills, we'll find a way to help them get new skills. For those
without job opportunities we'll stimulate new opportunities,
particularly in the inner cities where they live.
For those
who've abandoned hope, we'll restore hope and we'll welcome them into a
great national crusade to make America great again.
When we --
When we move from domestic affairs and cast our eyes abroad, we see an
equally sorry chapter in the record of the present Administration:
- A Soviet
combat brigade trains in Cuba, just 90 miles from our shores.
- A Soviet
army of invasion occupies Afghanistan, further threatening our vital
interests in the Middle East.
- America's
defense strength is at its lowest ebb in a generation, while the Soviet
Union is vastly outspending us in both strategic and conventional arms.
- Our European
allies, looking nervously at the growing menace from the East, turn to
us for leadership and fail to find it.
- And
incredibly, more than 50 -- as you've been told from this platform so
eloquently already -- more than 50 of our fellow Americans have been
held captive for over eight years -- eight months by a dictatorial
foreign power that holds us up to ridicule before the world.
Adversaries
large and small test our will and seek to confound our resolve, but we
are given weakness when we need strength, vacillation when the times
demand firmness.
The Carter
Administration lives in a world of make-believe -- every day, drawing up
a response to that day's problems -- troubles, regardless of what
happened yesterday and what'll happen tomorrow.
But you and I
live in a real world, where disasters are overtaking our nation without
any real response from Washington. This is make-believe, self-deceit
and, above all, transparent hypocrisy.
For example,
Mr. Carter -- Mr. Carter says he supports the volunteer Army, but he
lets military pay and benefits slip so low that many of our enlisted
personnel are actually eligible for food stamps. Reenlistment rates drop
and, just recently, after he fought all week against a proposed pay
increase for our men and women in the military, he then helicoptered out
to the carrier, the U.S.S. Nimitz, which was returning from long months
of duty in the Indian Ocean, and told the crew of that ship that he
advocated better pay for them and their comrades. Where does he really
stand, now that he's back on shore?
Well I'll --
I'll tell you where I stand: I do not favor a peacetime draft or
registration but -- but I do favor pay and benefit levels that will
attract and keep highly motivated men and women in our volunteer forces
and -- and that [?] with an active reserve, trained and ready for
instant call in case of an emergency.
You know,
there may be a sailor at the helm of the ship-of-state, but the ship has
no rudder.
Critical --
Critical decisions are made at times almost in comic fashion, but who
can laugh? Who was not embarrassed when the Administration handed a
major propaganda victory in the United Nations to the enemies of Israel,
our staunch Middle East ally for three decades, and then claim that the
American vote was a "mistake," the result of a "failure of
communication" between the President, his Secretary of State, and his
U.N. ambassador?
Who does not
feel a growing sense of unease as our allies, facing repeated instances
of an amateurish and - and confused Administration, reluctantly
conclude that America is unwilling or unable to fulfill its obligations
as leader of the free world?
Who does not
feel rising alarm when the question in any discussion of foreign policy
is no longer, "Should we do something?" But, "Do we have the capacity to
do anything?"
The -- The
Administration which has brought us to this state is seeking your
endorsement for four more years of weakness, indecision, mediocrity, and
incompetence. No No. No American should vote until he or she has asked,
"Is the United States stronger and more respected now than it was
three-and-a-half years ago?" "Is the world safer -- a safer place in
which to live?"
It is the --
It is the responsibility of the President of the United States, in
working for peace, to insure that the safety of our people cannot
successfully be threatened by a hostile foreign power. As president,
fulfilling that responsibility will be my number one priority.
We -- We're
not a warlike people. Quite the opposite. We always seek to live in
peace. We resort to force infrequently and with great reluctance, and
only after we've determined that it's absolutely necessary. We are awed
-- and rightly so -- by the forces of destruction at loose in the world
in this nuclear era. But neither can we be naive or foolish. Four times
in my lifetime America has gone to war, bleeding the lives of its young
men into the sands of island beachheads, the fields of Europe, and the
jungles and rice paddies of Asia. We know only too well that war comes
not when the forces of freedom are strong; it is when they are weak that
tyrants are tempted.
We simply
cannot learn these lessons the hard way again without risking our
destruction.
Of all -- Of
all -- Of all the objectives we seek, first and foremost is the
establishment of lasting world peace. We must always stand ready to
negotiate in good faith, ready to pursue any reasonable avenue that
holds forth the promise of lessening tensions and furthering the
prospects of peace. But let our friends and those who may wish us ill
take note: the United States has an obligation to its citizens and to
the people of the world never to let those who would destroy freedom
dictate the future course of life on this planet.
I would regard
-- I would regard my election as proof that we have renewed our resolve
to preserve world peace and freedom -- that this nation will once again
be strong enough to do that.
Now this
evening -- this evening marks the last step, save one, of a campaign
that has taken Nancy and me from one end of this great nation to the
other, over many months and thousands and thousands of miles. There are
those who question the way we choose a President, who say that our
process imposes difficult and exhausting burdens on those who seek the
office. I have not found it so.
It is -- It is
-- It’s impossible to capture in words the splendor of this vast
continent which God has granted as our portion of His creation. There
are no words to express the extraordinary strength and character of this
breed of people we call American.
Everywhere --
Everywhere, we've met thousands of Democrats, Independents, and
Republicans from all economic conditions, all walks of life, bound
together in that community of shared values of family, work,
neighborhood, peace, and freedom. They're concerned, yes. They're not
frightened. They're disturbed, but not dismayed. They are the kind of
men and women Tom Paine had in mind when he wrote, during the darkest
days of the American Revolution, "We have it in our power to begin the
world over again."
Nearly --
Nearly 150 years after Tom Paine wrote those words, an American
President told the generation of the Great Depression that it had a
"rendezvous with destiny." I believe this generation of Americans today
also has a rendezvous with destiny.
Tonight --
Tonight, let us dedicate ourselves to renewing the American compact. I
ask you not simply to "trust me," but to trust your values -- our values
-- and to hold me responsible for living up to them. I ask you to trust
that American spirit which knows no ethnic, religious, social,
political, regional, or economic boundaries; the spirit that burned with
zeal in the hearts of millions of immigrants from every corner of the
earth who came here in search of freedom.
Some say that
spirit no longer exists. But I've seen it. I've felt it -- all across
this land; in the big cities, the small towns and in rural America. It's
still there ready to blaze into life if you and I are willing to do what
has to be done
We -- we have
to do
the practical things, the down-to-earth things such as
creating policies that will stimulate our economy, increase
productivity, and put America back to work. The time is now to limit
federal spending, to insist on a stable monetary reform and to free
ourselves from imported oil.
The time --
The time is now to
resolve that the
basis of a firm and principled foreign policy is one that takes the
world as it is and seeks to change it by leadership and example; not by
harangue, harassment, or wishful thinking.
The time now
-- is now -- The time is now to say that we shall seek new friendships
and expand others and improve others, that we shall not do so by
breaking our word or casting aside old friends and allies.
And, the time
is now to redeem promises once made to the American people by another
candidate, in another time, and another place. He said,
"For three
long years I have been going up and down this country preaching that
government -- federal, state, and local -- costs too much. I shall
not stop that preaching. As an immediate program of action, we must
abolish useful -- useless offices. We must eliminate unnecessary
functions of government. We must consolidate subdivisions of
government and, like the private citizen, give up luxuries which we
can no longer afford."
And then he
said, "I propose to you, my friends, and through you that government of
all kinds, big and little be made solvent and that the example be set by
the President of the United States and his Cabinet."
End of quote.
That was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's words as he accepted
the Democratic nomination for President in 1932.
The time --
The time is now, my fellow Americans, to recapture our destiny, to take
it into our own hands. And to do this will take away many of us -- or
will take many of us working together. I ask you tonight all over this
land to volunteer your help in this cause so that we can carry our
message throughout the land.
Isn't it time
that we, the people, carry out those un-kept promises? That we pledge to
each other and to all America on this July day -- 48 years later -- that
now we intend to do just that.
I -- I have --
I have thought of something that's not a part of my speech and worried
over whether I should do it. Can we doubt that only a Divine Providence
placed this land, this island of freedom, here as a refuge for all those
people in the world who yearn to breathe free? Jews and Christians
enduring persecution behind the Iron Curtain; the boat people of
Southeast Asia, of Cuba, and of Haiti; the victims of drought and famine
in Africa; the freedom fighters in Afghanistan; and our own countrymen
held in savage captivity.
I'll confess
that I've been a little afraid to suggest what I'm going to suggest.
I'm more
afraid not to.
Can we begin
our crusade joined together in a moment of silent prayer?
God bless
America.
Thank you. |