Transcripts For CSPAN Speeches From 1980 Political Conventions 20240712

American hostages in iran failed. The Winter Olympics were held in lake placid, new york and Mount Saint Helens a ruptured. This was the backdrop for the political that conventions that year and speeches made by Ronald Reagan and jimmy carter. By the time Ronald Reagan ran for president , he had served two terms as governor of california in had an early career entertainment and became the president of the screen actors guild. Ronald reagan ended his expectancies acceptance speech with a moment of silent prayer. Pres. Reagan thank you very much. Thank you. [chanting] youre singing our song. Define myself for the first time myong time in a movie first thrill tonight was to find myself for the first time in a long time in a movie on prime time. [applause] as you can imagine, is the second big thrill. Chairman, mr. Vice president 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 president of the United States. [applause] [applause] pres. Reagan 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 the city. [applause] and i thank you for your response to my recommendation as george bush for Vice President. Im very proud of our party tonight. Has shown toon allamerica a party united with positive programs for solving the nations 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. [applause] had a quarrelve or two, but only the method of obtaining a goal. There was no argument here about the goal. Establish a, i will liaison with the 50 governors to encourage them to eliminate wherever it exists discrimination against women. [applause] i will monitor federal laws to ensure their implementation and add statutes if needed. I wantan anything else, 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 Affiliations who is a member of this community of shared values. Have before in our history americans been called upon to face three grave threats to our very existence, everyone of which could destroy us. We face a disintegrating economy, a weakened defense and an Energy Policy. Is the direct personal and moral responsibility of Democratic Party leadership in the white house and in the congress for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us. [applause] they tell us theyve done the most that can humanely be done. They said the United States has had its day in the sun, it has passed its zenith, but 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. [applause] the American People are the most generous on earth, who created the highest standard of living. Im 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. [applause] 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 of purpose. We have come together here because the American People deserve better from those to whom they entrust our nations highest offices, and we stand united [applause] 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. But leaders on many levels, back in 1976, mr. Carter said trust me. And a lot of people dead, 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 hopelessly 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 on national defense. Government asks us to hope and dream on one man, that we trust what he does for us. My government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties. [applause] the trust is where it belongs, in the people. A responsibility to live up to belongs, in its leaders. That relationship between the people and their elected leaders is a special compact. 360 years ago in 1620, a group of families went across a mighty ocean. 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. The voluntary binding up of free people to live under the law set the pattern for what was to come. Thentury and a half later, descendents of those people pledged their lives, their fortunes, and there honor to found this nation. Some forfeited their fortunes and their lives. None sacrificed on her. Sacrificed honor. [applause] four score and seven years later, Abraham Lincoln called on the people of america to renew their dedication and commitment to a government of, four, and by the people. It once again time to renew our compact of freedom . To pledge to each other [applause] 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 . Let us make this a new beginning. Let us make a commitment to care teach ouredy, to children the virtues handed down to us by our families, to have the courage to defend those values and virtues and the willingness to sacrifice for them. To restore the american spirit of voluntary service, cooperation, pride in community initiatives, a spirit that flows like a mighty river through the history of our nation. As your nominee, i pledge to you to restore confederal government the capacity restore to the federal government the capacity to do the peoples work without dominating their lives. [applause] i pledge to you a government that will not only work well, but wisely. Tempered by prudence and willingness to do good, balanced by the knowledge that government is never more dangerous than when our desire to have heaven us to its power to harm us. The first republican president once said, while the people return their virtue and 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 has happened in the last three and a half years, he might hedge a little on that statement. [applause] but with the virtues that are our legacy as a free people and with the vigilance that sustains liberty, we have time to use our renewed compact to overcome the injuries 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. Partart inflation, one high unemployment, one part recession, one part runaway taxes, one part deficit spending, seasoned with an energy crisis. It is an economic stew that has turned the national stomach. [applause] 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 it is all somehow their fault. We do not have inflation because, as mr. Carter says, we lived too well. The head of the government that has refused to live within its mean and has in the last few days told us this coming years deficit will be 60 billion theres the point that finger at business and labor, both of which have been engaged in a losing struggle trying to stay even. [applause] our taxes higher taxes we are told are somehow good for us, as if when government spends our money, it isnt inflationary, but when we spend it, it is. [applause] those who preside over the worst Energy Shortage in our history tell us to use less so that will run out of oil, gasoline, and natural gas a little more slowly. Desirable, ofs course, but we mustnt waste energy, but conservation isnt the sole answer to our energy needs. America must get to work producing more energy. [applause] the Republican Program for solving economic programs is based on growth and productivity. Large amounts of oil and natural gas lay beneath our land and off our shores and touched because the present administration seems the American People would rather see more regulation, taxes, and controls the more energy. Coa offers a greatl potential, so coal offers great , produced under rigorous standards. Foriding enough electricity millions of jobs and homes, it must not be thwarted by a minority opposed to Economic Growth which finds friendly ears and regulatory agencies for obstructionist campaigns. Make no mistake, we will not correct permit the safety of our people or 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 acute, yet all we hear from leadership are the same proposals for more government tinkering, medlin, and 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 . With where we are today and say keep up the good work . No. Can anyone look at our reduced standing in the world today and say lets have four more years of this . I believe the American People are going to answer these questions as youve answered them in the first week of november and their answer will enough. Eve had [applause] and then, it will be up to us to getting next january 20 to offer 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 essential. [applause] it is essential that we maintain the Forward Momentum of Economic Growth and of the strength of the safety net between those in our society who need help. We also believe it is essential the integrity of all aspects of Social Security be prefer preserved. [applause] essentials, it is clear our federal government is overgrown and overweight. Indeed, it is time our government should go on a diet. [applause] therefore, my first act as chief executive will be to impose an immediate and thorough freeze on federal hiring. [applause] then, we are going to enlist the very best minds from business, to conduct aatever detailed review of every department, bureau, and agency that lives by federal appropriation. [applause] and enlist the help and ideas of many dedicated and hardworking Government Employees at all levels who want a more Efficient Government just as much as the rest of us do. [applause] i know that many of them are demoralized by the confusion in their work as the result of failed policies. We instructions to the group enlist will be simple and direct. We will remind them that Government Programs exist from the american taxpayer and are paid for by money from american programs mustand have waste eliminated or must go. [applause] by executive order where possible, congressional action as necessary. Turneding that can be over to state and local government will be turned over to state and local government, along [applause] along with the Funding Sources to pay for it. Toare going to put an end the money merrygoround where our money becomes washingtons to be spent by states and cities exactly the way 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. End togoing to put an the notion that the american taxpayer exists to fund the federal government. The federal government, the federal government exists to serve the American People. [applause] on january 20, we are going to reestablish that truce. We will initiate actions to get substantial relief or taxing paying citizens and actions to put people back to work. None of this will be based on any new form of monetary tinkering or fiscal sleight of hand. We will apply to government the common sense we all using our daily lives. In our daily lives. Work and family are the center of our lives. The foundation of our dignity as a free people. When we deprive people of what theyve earned or take away their jobs, we destroyed their dignity and undermines their families. We cant support families unless there are jobs and they cant have jobs and less people have money to invest and the faith to invest it. [applause] these are concepts that stem from an Economic System that for more than 200 years has helped us master a continent, creating a previously undreamed of prosperity for our people, and millions around the globe and that system will service in the future if our government will stop ignoring the basic values on which it was built and stop betraying the trust and goodwill who keeperican workers it going. [applause] the American People are carrying the heaviest peacetime tax burden in our nations history and it will grow heavier under present law next january. Taxing ourselves into economic exhaustion and stagnation, crushing our ability to save, invest, and produce. This must stop. Hauled this destruction and restore sanity to our system. Ive long advocated a 30 reduction in income tax rate over a period of three years. This reduction [applause] this tax reduction will begin with a 10 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 shouldnt 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 taxes in order to get equipment. [applause] 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 first task of national set realisticto and honest priorities in our policies and budget, and i pledge my administration will do that. When i talk of tax cuts, im reminded every major tax cut in this century has strength in the economy, generated renewed productivity, and in it new revenues for the government by creating new investment, new jobs, and more commerce among our people. Haspresent administration been forced by us republicans to play follow the leader with regard to a tax cut. We mustelection year, take with a proverbial grain of salt and tax cut proposed by those who have already given us the greatest single tax increasing our nations history. [applause] and tell us we must also do with less, have they thought of those who have always had less, especially the minorities. This is like telling them just as they step on the first rung of the lateral of opportunity, the latter is being pulled out from under them. That might be the democratic leaderships message to the minorities, but it will not be our message. Hours will be we have to move ahead, but were are 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 had a fair chance to learn new skills, hold a decent job, or secure for themselves and their families a share in the prosperity of this nation. It is time to put america back to work, to make our cities and and townse our cities resound with the confident voices of men and women of all races, nationalities, and fades, bringing face, bringing home a paycheck of honest money. [applause] for those without skills, we will find a way to get new skills. For those without opportunities, we will stimulate opportunities in the inner cities where they live. We will restore hope and make America Great again. [applause] when we move from Domestic Affairs and test our eyes a broad, we see an equally sorry chapter in the record of the present administration. A soviet combat brigade trains in cuba 90 miles from our shores. A soviet army of invasion occupies afghanistan, further threatening vital interests in the middle east. Americas defense strength is at its lowest ebb in a generation while the soviet union is vastly outspending in strategic and conventional arms. Our european allies, looking nervously at the growing menace from the east, turn to us for leadership and failed to find it. 50 of our, more than 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. Adversary large and small test our will and seek to confound our resolve, but we are given weakness when you need strength. Vacillation when the times demand furnace furnace. Ss, the cartermne administration lives in the world of makebelieve. Regardless of what will happen yesterday or tomorrow but you and i live in the real world were disasters are overtaking allegation without response from washington. This is makebelieve self deceit and above all transparent hypocrisy. For example [applause] carter says he supports the volunteer army, but lets military pay slips so low that many enlisted personnel are ineligible for food stamps eligible for food stamps. Reenlistment rates dropped and after he filed fought all week against proposed pay increase for our men and women in the military, hes been helicoptered to the uss nimitz returning from the indian ocean and told the crew of that ship he advocated better pay for them and their comrades. Where did he really stand now that he stands back on shore . [applause] ill tell you where i stand. I do not favor a peacetime draft a registration [applause] but i do favor pay and benefit levels that will attract and keep highly motivated men and women in our volunteer forces. [applause] and back them up with inactive reserve trained and ready wit h an active reserve, trained if necessary. There may be a sailor at the helm of the ship of states, but the ship has no rudder. Decisions are made almost in comic fashion. Theis not embarrassed when leadership handed a propaganda victory to the enemies of israel votelaimed the american was the result of a failure of communication between the president , the secretary of state, and u. N. Ambassador . Who does not really growing sense of unease as our allies facing instances of confused administrations reluctantly conclude america is unwilling or unable to fulfill its obligations as leader of the free world . Who does not feel 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 . [applause] the administration which has brought us to this state is seeking your endorsement for weakness,years of 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 responsibility of the president of the United States in working for peace to ensure the safety of our people cannot be successfully threatened by a hostile foreign power. As president , fulfilling that responsibility will be my number one priority. [applause] we are not a warlike people. Quite the opposite. We always seek to live in peace. With greato force reluctance and only after weve determined it is absolutely necessary. We cannot be naive or foolish. Four times in my lifetime, theica has gone to war, fields of europe, island beachheads, and the jungle 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. [applause] [chanting] 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 reasonable avenues that hold forth the promise of furthering the prospects of peace. Let our friends and those who may wish us ill take note. Has anted states obligation to its citizens and the people of the world never to let those who would destroy freedom dictate the future course of life on this planet. [applause] i would regard my election as proof we have renewed our resolve to reserve world peace and freedom, that this nation will once again be Strong Enough to do that. Last stepng marks the of the campaign that has taken in cme from one end of this great nation to the other over many months and thousands of miles. There are those who question the way we choose a president who say our process imposes difficult and exhausting burdens on those who seek the office. I have not found it so. [applause] its impossible to capture in words the splendor of this vast continent which god has granted us portion of his creation. There are no words to express the extraordinary strength and character of this breed of people we call american. Everywhere [applause] everywhere, weve 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 are concerned, yes. They are disturbed, but not dismayed. Men and the kind of women thomas payne had in mind when he wrote during the darkest revolution,american we have it in our power to begin the world over again. [applause] nearly 150 years after thomas payne 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. [applause] 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 hold me responsible for living up to them. I ask you to trust that american ethnic,hich knows no political, regional, or economic boundary, beating in the hearts of millions of immigrants over the earth who came here and search for freedom. Some say that spirit no longer exists, but ive seen it. All acrosst, this land in the cities, towns, and in rural america. It is still there, ready to blaze into life if you and i are willing to do what has to be done. [applause] we have to do the practical thing, the downtoearth 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, insist on a stable Monetary Program to free ourselves from imported oil. [applause] 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 is now. The time is now to say that we shall seek new friendships and expand others and improve others. But we shall not do so by breaking our word or casting aside old friends and allies. [applause] 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 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 roosevelts words as he accepted the democratic nomination for president in 1932. [applause] the time is now, my fellow americans, to recapture our destiny, to take it into our own hands. And to do this 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. Isnt it time that we the people carry out those unkept promises that we pledged to each other and to all america on this july day, 48 years later, that now, we intend to do just that. [applause] [cheers] i have thought of something that is not a part of my speech. I am 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 of those people in the world who yearn to breathe free . Jews and christians enduring prosecution behind the iron curtain. The people of southeast asia, cuba, and haiti, the victims of drought, famine in africa, the Freedom Fighters in afghanistan, and our own countrymen, held in savage captivity. I will confess that i have been a little afraid to suggest what im going to suggest. I am more afraid not to. Can we begin our crusade, join together in a moment of silent prayer . God bless america. Thank you. [applause] [cheers] jimmy carter was president when he spoke to the Democratic National convention in 1980, looking for a second term. By that time, he had already been governor of georgia, studied engineering in college, ran his familys peanut farm, and served on submarines in the u. S. Navy. Since leaving the white house, mr. Carter and his wife rosalynn have volunteered with habitat for humanity to build homes for families. And he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing human rights by founding the carter center. Jimmy carter accepted his partys nomination in new york city. Pres. Carter fellow democrats, fellow citizens, i thank you for the nomination you have offered me. [applause] and i especially thank you for choosing, as my running mate, the best partner any president ever had, walter mondale. [applause] with gratitude and determination, i accept your nomination. [applause] and i am proud to run on the progressive and sound platform that you have hammered out at this convention. [applause] we ran a campaign that defines the real issues. A campaign that responded to the intelligence of the American People. A campaign that talked sense. We are going to beat the republicans in november. [applause] we will win, because we have a party of a great president who knew how to get reelected. Franklin delano roosevelt. [applause] and we are the party of a courageous fighter who knew how to give them hell, harry truman. [applause] and as truman said, he just told the truth, and they thought it was hell. And we are a party of a gallant man, John Fitzgerald kennedy. [applause] and were the party of a great leader, Lyndon Baines johnson. [applause] and the party of a great man who should have been president , who would have been one of the greatest president s in history. [applause] i have appreciated what this convention is offering. A great man who epitomizes the Democratic Party. And i would like to say that we are also the party of governor jerry brown and senator edward kennedy. [applause] i would like to say a personal word to senator kennedy. Ted, you are a tough competitor and a superb campaigner, i can attest to that. [applause] your speech before this convention was a magnificent statement of what the Democratic Party is and what it means to the people of this country. And while a Democratic Victory is so important this year, i reach out to you tonight, and i reach out to all of those in your passionate campaigns. Ted, your party needs you. And i need you. [applause] and i need your idealism and your dedication working for us. There is no doubt that even Greater Service lies ahead of you. And we are grateful to you. And to have your Strong Partnership now. And the larger call to which your whole life has been dedicated. I thank you for your support. We will make great partners this fall in whipping the republicans. [applause] we are democrats. And we have had our differences. But we share a bright vision of americas future, a vision of a good life for all of our people, a vision of a secure nation, a just society, a peaceful world, a strong america, confident and proud and united. And we have the memory of Franklin Roosevelt 40 years ago, when he said that there are times in our history when concern over our personal lives are overshadowed by our concern of what will happen to the country we have known. This is such a time. [applause] and i can tell you that this choice to be made this year can transform our own personal lives and the lives of our country as well. During the last president ial campaign, i crisscrossed this i went to thousands and thousands of people, housewives and farmers, teachers business leaders, workers, the elderly and the poor, people of every race and background and walk of life. It was a powerful experience. A total immersion in the human reality of america. And i have now had another kind of total immersion being president of the United States of america. Let me talk for a moment about what that job is like and what i have learned from it. I have learned that some of the most complex and difficult tasks come before me in the oval office. No easy answers are found there, because no easy questions come there. Ive learned that, for a president , experience is the best guide for the right decisions. I am wiser than i was four years ago. [applause] and ive learned that there presidency is a place of some passion. My own heart is burdened for the troubled americans, the poor, the jobless, and the afflicted. They have become part of me. My thoughts and my prayers for our hostages in iran, as if they were my own sons and daughters. [applause] the life of every human being on earth can depend on the experience and judgment and vigilance of the person in the oval office. The president s responsibility and his powerful instructions power for destruction are awesome. The power is greatest where the stakes are highest, in matters of war and peace. And i have learned something else, something that i have come to see with extraordinary clarity. Above all, i must look ahead. Because the president of the United States is a steward of the nations destiny. He must protect our children. And the children they will have. And the children of generations to follow. He must speak and act for them. That is his burden and his glory. And that is why the president cannot yield to the shortsighted demands, no matter how rich or powerful the special interests might be that make those demands. [applause] and that is why a president cannot bend to the passion of the moment. However popular they might be. That is why the president must sometimes ask for sacrifice when his listeners would rather hear the promise of comfort. The president is a servant of today, but his true constituency is the future. That is why the election of 1980 is so important. [applause] some have said it makes no difference who wins this election. They are wrong. [applause] this election is a stark choice between two men, two parties, two sharply different pictures of what america is and what the world is. But it is more than that. It is a choice between two futures. [applause] the year 2000 is just less than 20 years away, just four president ial elections after this one. Children born this year will come of age in the 21st century. The time to shape the world of the year 2000 is now. The decisions of the next few years will set our course, an irreversible course, and the most important of all choices will be made by the American People at the polls less than 3 months from tonight. [applause] the choice could not be more clear nor the consequences more crucial. In one of the futures we can choose, the future that you and i have been building together, i see security and justice and peace. I see a future of economic security, security that will come from tapping our own great resources of oil and gas, coal and sunlight, and from building the tools and technology and factories for a revitalized economy based on jobs and stable prices for everyone. [applause] and i see a future of justice, the justice of good jobs, Decent Health care, quality education, a full opportunity for all people, regardless of color or language or religion. The simple human justice of equal rights for all men and for all women, guaranteed equal rights at last under the constitution of the United States of america. [applause] and i see a future of peace, a peace born of wisdom and based on a fairness toward all countries of the world, a peace guaranteed both by American Military strength and by american moral strength as well. [applause] that is the future i want for all people, a future of confidence and hope and a good life. Its the future america must choose, and, with your help and with your commitment, it is the future america will choose. [applause] but there is another possible future. In that other future, i see despair. Despair of millions who would struggle for equal opportunity and a better life and struggle alone. And i see surrender, the surrender of our Energy Future to the merchants of oil, the surrender of our Economic Future to a bizarre program of massive tax cuts for the rich, service cuts for the poor, and massive inflation for everyone. And i see risk, the risk of international confrontation, the risk of an uncontrollable, unaffordable, and unwinnable nuclear arms race. [applause] no one, democrat or republican either, consciously seeks such a future, and i do not claim that my opponent does. But i do question the disturbing commitments and policies already made by him and by those with him who have now captured control of the republican party. [applause] the consequences of those commitments and policies would drive us down the wrong road. Its up to all of us to make sure america rejects this alarming and even perilous destiny. The only way to build a Better Future is to start with the realities of the present. But while we democrats grapple with the real challenges of a real world, others talk about a world of tinsel and makebelieve. Lets look for a moment at their makebelieve world. In their fantasy america, innercity people and farm workers and laborers do not exist. Women, like children, are to be seen but not heard. [applause] the problems of working women are simply ignored. The elderly do not need medicare. The young do not need more help in getting a better education. Workers do not require the guarantee of a healthy and a safe place to work. In their fantasy world, all the complex global changes of the world since world war ii have never happened. In their fantasy america, all problems have simple solutions, simple and wrong. [applause] its a makebelieve world, a world of good guys and bad guys, where some politicians shoot first and ask questions later. [applause] no hard choices, no sacrifice, no tough decisions. It sounds too good to be true. And it is. [applause] the path of fantasy leads to irresponsibility. The path of reality leads to hope and peace. The two paths could not be more different, nor could the futures to which they lead. Lets take a hard look at the consequences of our choice. You and i have been working toward a more secure future by rebuilding our military strength, steadily, carefully, and responsibly. The republicans talk about military strength, but they were in office for 8 out of the last 11 years, and, in the face of a growing soviet threat, they steadily cut real defense spending by more than a third. [applause] weve reversed the republican decline in defense. Every year since ive been president , weve had real increases in our commitment to a stronger nation, increases which are prudent and rational. There is no doubt that the United States of america can meet a threat from the soviet any threat from the soviet union. [applause] our modernized strategic forces, a revitalized nato, the trident submarine, the cruise missile, the Rapid Deployment force all these guarantee that we will never be second to any nation. [applause] deeds, not words. Fact, not fiction. We must and we will continue to build our own defenses. We must and we will continue to seek balanced reductions in nuclear arms. [applause] the new leaders of the republican party, in order to close the gap between their rhetoric and their record, have now promised to launch an allout nuclear arms race. This would negate any further effort to negotiate a strategic arms limitation agreement. There can be no winners in such an arms race, and all the people of the earth can be the losers. [applause] the republican nominee advocates abandoning arms control policies which have been important and supported by every democratic president since harry truman, and also by every republican president since dwight d. Eisenhower. This radical and irresponsible course would threaten our security and could put the whole world in peril. You and i must never let this come to pass. [applause] its simple to call for a new arms race, but when armed aggression threatens world peace, toughsounding talk like that is not enough. A president must act responsibly. When soviet troops invaded afghanistan, we moved quickly to take action. I suspended some grain sales to the soviet union. I called for draft registration. [booing] [shouting] and i joined wholeheartedly with the congress and with the u. S. Olympic committee and led more than 60 other nations in boycotting the big propaganda show in russia, the moscow olympics. [applause] the republican leader opposed two of these forceful but peaceful actions, and he waffled on the third. But when we asked him what he would do about aggression in southwest asia, he suggested blockading cuba. [laughter] even his running mate wouldnt go along with that. [applause] he doesnt seem to know what to do with the russians. Hes not sure if he wants to feed them or play with them or fight with them. [applause] as i look back at my first term, im grateful that weve had a country with a full 4 years of peace. [applause] and thats what were going to have for the next 4 years. Peace. [applause] its only common sense that if america is to stay secure and at peace, we must encourage others to be peaceful as well. As you know, weve helped in zimbabwerhodesia, where weve stood firm for Racial Justice and democracy. And we have also helped in the middle east. Some have criticized the camp david accords, and theyve criticized some delays in the implementation of the middle east peace treaty. Well, before i became president , there was no camp david accords, and there was no middle east peace treaty. [applause] before camp david, israel and egypt were poised across barbed wire, confronting each other with guns and tanks and planes. But afterward, they talked facetoface with each other across a peace table, and they also communicated through their own ambassadors in cairo and tel aviv. Now thats the kind of future were offering of peace to the middle east if the democrats are reelected in the fall. [applause] i am very proud that nearly half the aid that our country has ever given to israel in the 32 years of her existence has come during my administration. [applause] unlike our republican predecessors, we have never stopped nor slowed that aid to israel, and as long as i am president , we will never do so. [applause] our commitment is clear security and peace for israel, peace for all the peoples of the middle east. But if the world is to have a future of freedom as well as peace, america must continue to defend human rights. [applause] now listen to this the new Republican Leaders oppose our human rights policy. They want to scrap it. They seem to think its naive for america to stand up for and for and Freedom Freedom and democracy. Just what do they think we should stand up for . [applause] ask the former Political Prisoners who now live in freedom if we should abandon our stand on human rights. Ask the dissidents in the soviet union about our commitment to human rights. Ask the hungarian americans, ask the polish americans, listen to Pope John Paul ii. Ask those who are suffering for the sake of justice and liberty around the world. Ask the millions whove fled tyranny if america should stop speaking out for human principles. Ask the American People. I tell you that, as long as i am president , we will hold high the banner of human rights, and you can depend on it. [applause] here at home, the choice between the two futures is equally important. In the long run, nothing is more crucial to the future of america than energy. Nothing was so disastrously neglected in the past. Long after the 1973 arab oil embargo, the republicans in the white house had still done nothing to meet the threat to the National Security of our nation. Then, as now, their policy was dictated by the big Oil Companies. [applause] we democrats fought hard to rally our nation behind a comprehensive Energy Policy and a good program, a new foundation for challenging and exciting progress. Now, after 3 years of struggle, we have that program. The battle to secure americas Energy Future has been fully and finally joined. Americans have cooperated with dramatic results. Weve reversed decades of dangerous and growing dependence on foreign oil. We are now importing 20 less is 1. 5 Million Barrels of Oil Every Day less than the day i took office. [applause] and with our new Energy Policy now in place, we can discover more, produce more, create more, and conserve more energy, and we will use american resources, american technology, and millions of American Workers to do it with. [applause] now, what do the republicans propose . Basically, their Energy Program has two parts. The first part is to get rid of almost everything that weve done for the American Public in the last 3 years. They want to reduce or abolish the Synthetic Fuels program. They want to slash the solar energy incentives, the conservation programs, aid to mass transit, aid to elderly americans to help pay their fuel bills. They want to eliminate the 55mile speed limit. And while they are at it, the republicans would like to gut the clean air act. They never liked it to begin with. [applause] thats one part of their program. The other part is worse. To replace what we have built, this is what they propose to destroy the windfall profits tax and to unleash the Oil Companies and let them solve the Energy Problem for us. Thats it. [boos] thats it. That is their whole program. There is no more. Can this nation accept such an outrageous program . No. Pres. Carter no. We democrats will fight it every step of the way, and well begin tomorrow morning with a campaign for reelection in november. [applause] when i took office, i inherited a heavy load of serious economic problems besides energy, and weve met them all headon. Weve slashed government regulations and put Free Enterprise back into airlines, the trucking and the Financial Systems of our country, and were now doing the same thing for the railroads. This is the greatest change in the relationship between government and business since the new deal. [applause] weve increased our exports dramatically. Weve reversed the decline in the basic research and development, and we have created more than 8 million new jobs, the biggest increase in the history of our country. [applause] but the road is bumpy, and last years skyrocketing opec price increases have helped to trigger a worldwide inflation crisis. We took forceful action, and Interest Rates have now fallen, the dollar is stable, and, although we still have a battle on our hands, were struggling to bring inflation under control. We are now at the critical point, a turning point in the economic history of our country. But because we made the hard decisions, because we have guided our nation and its economy through a rough but essential period of transition, weve laid the groundwork for a new economic age. Our economic Renewal Program for the 1980s will meet our immediate need for jobs and attack the very same, longrange problem that caused unemployment and inflation in the first place. Itll move america simultaneously towards our five great economic goals lower inflation, better productivity, revitalization of american industry, energy security, and jobs. [applause] its time to put all america back to work but not in makework. In real work. [applause] and there is real work in modernizing American Industries and creating new industries for america as well. Here are just a few things well rebuild together and build together. New industries to turn our own coal and shale and Farm Products into fuel for our cars and trucks and to turn the light of the sun into heat and electricity for our homes. [applause] a modern Transportation System of railbeds and ports to make american coal into a powerful rival of opec oil. [applause] industries that will provide the convenience of futuristic Computer Technology and communications to serve millions of American Homes and offices and factories. Job training for workers displaced by economic changes. New investment pinpointed in regions and communities where jobs are needed most. Better mass transit in our cities and in between cities. And a whole new generation of american jobs to make homes and vehicles and buildings that will house us and move us in comfort with a lot less energy. [applause] this is important, too. I have no doubt that the ingenuity and dedication of the American People can make every single one of these things happen. We are talking about the United States of america. [applause] and those who count this country out as an economic superpower are going to find out just how wrong they are. [applause] were going to share in the exciting enterprise of making the 1980s a time of growth for america. The republican alternative is the biggest tax giveaway in history. They call it reagankemproth. I call it a free lunch that americans cannot afford. The republican tax Program Offers rebates to the rich, deprivation for the poor, and fierce inflation for all of us. [applause] their partys own Vice President ial nominee said that reagankemproth would result in an inflation rate of more than 30 . He called it voodoo economics. [laughter] [applause] he suddenly changed his mind toward the end of the republican convention, but he was right the first time. [applause] along with this gigantic tax cut, the new Republican Leaders promise to protect retirement and Health Programs and to have massive increases in defense spending and they claim they can balance the budget. If they are serious about these promises, and they say they are, then a close Analysis Shows that the entire rest of the government would have to be abolished, everything from education to farm programs, from the g. I. Bill to the night watchman at the lincoln and their budget would still be in the red. [applause] the only alternative would be to build more Printing Presses to print cheap money. Either way, the American People lose. But the American People will not stand for it. [applause] the Democratic Party has always embodied the hope of our people for justice, opportunity, and a better life, and weve worked in every way possible to strengthen the american family, to encourage selfreliance, and to follow the Old Testament admonition defend the poor and the fatherless. Give justice to the afflicted and needy. Weve struggled to assure that no child in america ever goes to bed hungry, that no elderly couple in america has to live in a substandard home, and that no young person in america is excluded from college because the family is poor. [applause] but what have the republicans proposed . Just an attack on everything that weve done in the achievement of social justice and decency that weve won in the last 50 years, ever since Franklin Delano roosevelts first term. They would make Social Security voluntary. They would reverse our progress on the minimum wage, full employment laws, safety in the work place, and a healthy environment. Lately, as you know, the republicans have been quoting democratic president s. But who can blame them . Would you rather quote Herbert Hoover or Franklin Delano roosevelt . [applause] would you rather quote Richard Nixon or John Fitzgerald kennedy . [applause] the republicans have always been the party of privilege, but this year their leaders have gone even further. In their platform, they have repudiated the best traditions of their own party. Where is the conscience of lincoln in the party of lincoln . Whats become of their traditional republican commitment to fiscal responsibility . Whats happened to their commitment to a safe and sane arms control . Now, i dont claim perfection for the Democratic Party. I dont claim that every decision that we have made has been right or popular. Certainly, theyve not all been easy. But i will say this weve been tested under fire. Weve neither ducked nor hidden. [applause] and weve tackled the Great Central issues of our time, the historic challenges of peace and energy, which have been ignored for years. Weve made tough decisions, and weve taken the heat for them. Weve made mistakes, and weve learned from them. But we have built the foundation now for a Better Future. Weve done something else, perhaps even more important. In good times and bad, in the valleys and on the peaks, weve told people the truth, the hard truth. [applause] the truth that sometimes hurts. One truth that we americans have learned is that our dream has been earned for progress and for peace. Look what our land has been through within our own memory. A Great Depression, a world war, a technological explosion, the civil rights revolution, the bitterness of vietnam, the shame of watergate, the twilight peace of nuclear terror. Through each of these momentous experiences, weve learned the hard way about the world and about ourselves. But weve matured and weve grown as a nation and weve grown stronger. Weve learned the uses and the limitations of power. Weve learned the beauty and responsibility of freedom. Weve learned the value and the obligation of justice. And we have learned the necessity of peace. Some would argue that to master these lessons is somehow to limit our potential. That is not so. A nation which knows its true strengths, which sees its true challenges, which understands legitimate constraints. That nation, our nation, is far stronger than one which takes refuge in Wishful Thinking or nostalgia. The Democratic Party, the American People, have understood these fundamental truths. All of us can sympathize with the desire for easy answers. Theres often the temptation to substitute idle dreams for hard reality. The new Republican Leaders are hoping that our nation will succumb to that temptation this year, but they profoundly misunderstand and underestimate the character of the American People. [applause] three weeks after pearl harbor, Winston Churchill came to north america, and he said, we have not journeyed all this way across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy. We americans have courage. Americans have always been on the cutting edge of change. Weve always looked forward with anticipation and confidence. I still want the same thing that all of you want a selfreliant neighborhood, strong families, work for the ablebodied and good medical care for the sick, opportunity for our youth and dignity for our old, equal rights and justice for all people. I want teachers eager to explain what a civilization really is. [applause] and i want students to understand their own needs and their own aims, but also the needs and yearnings of their neighbors. I want women free to pursue, without limit, the full life of what they want for themselves. [applause] i want our farmers growing crops to feed our nation and the world, secure in the knowledge that the family farm will thrive and with a fair return on the good work they do for all of us. I want workers to see meaning in the labor they perform and work enough to guarantee a job for every worker in this country. [applause] and i want the people in business free to pursue with boldness and freedom new ideas. And i want minority citizens fully to join the mainstream of american life. And i want, from the bottom of my heart, to remove the blight of racial and other discrimination from the face of our nation, and im determined to do it. [applause] i need for all of you to join me in fulfilling that vision. The choice, the choice between the two futures, could not be more clear. If we succumb to a dream world, then well wake up to a nightmare. But if we start with reality and fight to make our dreams a reality, then americans will have a good life, a life of meaning and purpose in a nation thats strong and secure. [applause] above all, i want us to be what the founders of our nation meant us to become the land of freedom, the land of peace, and the land of hope. Thank you very much. [applause] having a little trouble getting the balloons down, on top of your screen. One is dropping, the other is only partially opening. So we are getting us a kind of waterfall of balloons. [applause] president carter lost to Ronald Reagan in the general election with 49489 electoral votes. Cspan has covered every minute of every Political Convention since 1984. Our Video Library includes those and many more hours of archival conventions. As the Democratic National Convention Gets Underway this week, watch more of the Historical Convention speeches at cspan. Org campaign2020. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] live coverage of the Democratic National convention all week on cspan. Join us every night before the convention for memorable speeches from past conventions. Speakers speakc at republican conventions. Onay from 6 00 eastern only cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. Journalns washington carico every day, we are taking your calls live on air on the needs of the day, and we will discuss policy in issues that impact you. Coming up this morning, politicos Holly Otterbein previews the Democratic National convention tonight. Cofounder ofn, rootsaction. Org, group that supported Bernie Sanders in the primaries, discusses his groups role in campaign 2020. And nexgen americas Benjamin Wessel discusses his groups role in boosting the youth vote in support of joe biden. 7 00 eastern this morning. Also, our email newsletter, word for word, offers a synopsis of the days key events. Signup up to receive word for word at cspan. Org con