George w. Bush excessive emanation at the 1992 Republican National convention in houston. President bush lost the president ial election to democrat, bill clinton. Ross perot finished third. [cheering and applause] george h. W. Bush thank you so much. George h. W. Bush thank you so much. Thank you very, very much. Thank you so much. Thank you. [cheering and applause] this is fantastic. Thank you all very, very much. Lets go to work. Thank you. Much. You so thank you. And i am proud to receive, and i am honored to accept your nomination for president of the United States. [cheering and applause] and may i thank my dear friend and our great leader, bob dole, for that wonderful introduction. [cheering and applause] and, let me say this, this nomination is not for me alone. It is for the ideas, principles and values that we stand for. And my job has been made easier by a leader who has taken a lot of unfair criticism, with grace and humor, the Vice President of the United States, dan quayle. And i am very grateful to him. I want to talk tonight about the sharp choice that i intend to offer americans this fall, a choice between different agendas, different directions, and yes, a choice about the character of the man you want to lead this nation. I know that americans have many questions about our economy, about our countrys future, even questions about me. And ill answer them tonight. And first, i feel great. [cheering and applause] and im heartened im heartened by the polls, the ones that say i look better in my jogging shorts than the governor of arkansas. [cheering and applause] four years ago, i spoke about missions, for my life and for our country. I spoke of one Urgent Mission defending our security and promoting the american ideal abroad. Just pause for a moment to reflect on what weve done. Germany has united, and a slab of the berlin wall sits right outside this astrodome. [cheering and applause] arabs and israelis now sit face to face and talk peace, and every hostage held in lebanon is free. [cheering and applause] the conflict in el salvador is over, and free elections brought democracy to nicaragua. [cheering and applause] black and White South Africans cheered each other at the olympics. The soviet union can only be found in history books. The captive nations of Eastern Europe and the baltics are captive no more. And today, on the rural streets of poland, merchants sell cans of air labelled the last breath of communism. [cheering and applause] and if i had stood before you four years ago and described this as the world we would help to build, you would have said, george bush, you must have been smoking something, and you must have inhaled. [cheering and applause] [chanting] this convention is the first at which an american president can say, the cold war is over, and freedom finished first. [chants of u. S. A. ] [cheering and applause] weve a lot to be proud of. A lot. Some want to rewrite history, want to skip over the struggle, claim the outcome was inevitable. And while the u. S. Postwar strategy was largely bipartisan, the fact remains that the liberal, mcgovern wing of the other party, including my opponent, consistently made the wrong choices. [cheering and applause] in the 1970s, they wanted a hollow army. We wanted a strong fighting force. In the 1980s, and you remember this one, in the 1980s they wanted a nuclear freeze, and we insisted on peace through strength. [cheering and applause] and from from angola to central america, they said, lets negotiate, deliberate, procrastinate. And we said, just stand up for freedom. [applause] and now, the cold war is over and they claim, hey, we were with you all the way. [booing] no. Their behavior really, their behavior reminds me of the old con mans advice to the new kid. He said, son, if youre being run out of town, just get out in front and make it look like a parade. [cheering and applause] well, make no mistake, the demise of communism wasnt a sure thing. It took the strong leadership of president s from both parties, including republicans like richard nixon, and gerald ford, and ronald reagan. [cheering and applause] and without their vision and the support of the American People, the soviet union would be a strong superpower today, and wed be facing a Nuclear Threat tonight. My opponents say i spend too much time on Foreign Policy, as if it didnt matter that schoolchildren once hid under their desks in drills to prepare for nuclear war. I saw the chance to rid our childrens dreams of the nuclear nightmare, and i did. [cheering and applause] [chants of u. S. A. ] over the past four years, more people have breathed the fresh air of freedom than in all of human history. I saw a chance to help, and i did. [cheering and applause] and these were the two defining opportunities not of a year, not of a decade, but of an entire span of human history. I seized those opportunities for our kids and our grandkids, and i make no apologies for that. [cheering and applause] now, the soviet bear may be gone, but there are still wolves in the woods. And we saw that when Saddam Hussein invaded kuwait. The mideast might have become a nuclear powderkeg, our Energy Supplies held hostage. So we did what was right and what was necessary. We destroyed a threat, freed a people, and locked a tyrant in the prison of his own country. [cheering and applause] [chants of we want george] well, what about the leader of the Arkansas National guard, the man who hopes to be commanderinchief . While i bit the bullet and he bit his nails. Two days two days [cheering and applause] two days listen to this now, two days after congress followed my lead, my opponent said this, and i quote directly, i guess i would have voted with the majority if it was a close vote. But i agree with the arguments the minority made. Booing] now, sounds to me like his policy can be summed up by a road sign hes probably seen on his bus tour, slippery when wet. [cheering and applause] look, this is serious business. Think about the impact of our Foreign Policy failures the last time the democrats controlled both ends of pennsylvania avenue. Gas lines. Grain embargoes. American hostages blindfolded. There will be more Foreign Policy challenges like kuwait in the next four years. Terrorists and aggressors to stand up to, dangerous weapons to be controlled and destroyed. And freedoms fight is not finished. And i look forward to being the first president to visit a free, democratic cuba. [cheering and applause] [chants of we want bush] who will lead the world in the face of these challenges . Not my opponent. In his acceptance speech, he devoted just 65 seconds to telling us about the world. And then, he said that america was, and i quote again, i want to be fair and factual, i quote, being ridiculed everywhere. Well, tell that to the people around the world for whom america is still a dream. Tell that to leaders around the world from whom america commands respect. [cheering and applause] ridiculed . Ridiculed . Tell that to the men and women of desert storm. [cheering and applause] let me [chants of u. S. A. ] let me make an aside comment here, because of what youve been reading in the paper. This is a political year, but theres a lot of danger in the world. And you can be sure, i will never let politics interfere with a Foreign Policy decision. Forget the election. I will do right, what is right for the National Security of the United States of america. And that is a pledge from my heart. [cheering and applause] 50 years ago this summer, i was 18 years of age. I see some young people in the audience tonight, and i remember how i felt in those days [cheering and applause] and i believed deeply in this country, and we were faced with a world war. And so i made a decision, to go off and fight a battle much different from political battles. And i was scared, but i was willing. I was young, but i was ready. I had barely lived, when i began to watch men die. I began to see the special place of america in the world, and i began to see, even then, that the world would become a much smaller place, and far away places could become more and more like america. And 50 years later, after change of almost biblical proportions, we know that when freedom grows, america grows. And just as a Strong America means a safer world, we have learned that a safer world means a stronger america. [cheering and applause] this election this election is about change, but thats not unusual, because the American Revolution is never ending. Today, the pace of change is accelerating. We face new opportunities and new challenges. And the question is who do you trust to make change work for you . [cheering and applause] my opponent my opponent [chants of george bush] my opponent says america is a nation in decline. Of our economy, he says, we are somewhere on the list beneath germany, heading south toward sri lanka. Well, dont let anyone tell you that america is secondrate, especially somebody running for president. [cheering and applause] maybe he hasnt heard that we are still the Worlds Largest economy. No other nation sells more outside its borders. The germans, the british, the japanese cant tough the productivity of you the American Worker and the american farmer. [cheering and applause] my opponent wont mention that. He wont remind you that Interest Rates are the lowest theyve been in 20 years, and millions of americans have refinanced their homes. [cheering and applause] and you just wont hear that inflation the thief of the middleclass has been locked in a maximum security prison. And you dont hear much about this good news, because the media also tends to focus only on the bad. And when the berlin wall fell, i half expected to see a headline wall falls, three Border Guards lose jobs. [cheering and applause] and underneath it, it probably says, clinton blames bush. [cheering and applause] [laughter] you dont hear a lot about progress in america. So let me tell you about some good things weve done together. Just two weeks ago, all three nations of north america agreed to trade freely from manitoba to mexico. This will bring good jobs to main street usa. [cheering and applause] we passed the americans with disabilities act, bringing 43 Million People into the economic mainstream and i must say, it is about time. [cheering and applause] our children will breathe easier because of our new clean air pact. We are rebuilding our roads, providing jobs for more than half a million americans. And we passed a child care law, and we took a stand for family values by saying that when it comes to raising children, government doesnt know best, parents know best. [cheering and applause] i have fought against prejudice and antisemitism all my life. And i am proud that we strengthened our civil rights laws, and we did it without resorting to quotas. [cheering and applause] one more thing of vital importance to all. Today, cocaine use has fallen by 60 among young people. To the teenagers, the parents and volunteers who are helping us battle the scourge of drugs in america we say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. [cheering and applause] do i want to do more . You bet. Nothing hurts me more than to meet with soldiers home from the persian gulf who cant find a job, or workers who have a job, but worry that the next day will bring a pink slip. And what about parents who scrape and struggle to send their kids to college, only to find them back living at home, because they cant get work . The world is in transition, and we are feeling that transition in our homes. The defining challenge of the 1990s is to win the economic competition. To win the peace, we must be a military superpower, an economic superpower, and an export superpower. [cheering and applause] in this election, youll hear two versions of how to do this. Theirs is to look inward, and protect what we already have. Ours is to look forward, to open new markets, prepare our people to compete, to restore our social fabric, to save and invest so we can win. [cheering and applause] we believe that now that the world looks more like america, it is time for america to look more like herself. And so, we offer a philosophy that puts faith in the individual, not the bureaucracy. A philosophy that empowers people to do their best, so america can be at its best. In a world that is safer and freer, this is how we will build an america that is stronger, safer, and more secure. We start with a simple fact government is too big and spends too much. [cheering and applause] and i have asked congress to put a lid on mandatory spending, except social security. And ive proposed doing away with over 200 programs and 4,000 wasteful projects and to freeze all other spending. [cheering and applause] the gridlock Democrat Congress has said, no. [crowd booing] so, beginning tonight, i will enforce the spending freeze on my own. And if Congress Sends me a bill spending more than i asked for in my budget, i will veto it fast. [cheering and applause] veto it fast faster than copies of millies book sold. Now, Congress Wont cut spending, but refuses to give the president the power to eliminate pork barrel projects that waste your money. 43 governors have that power. So i ask you, the American People, give me a congress that will give me the lineitem veto. [cheering and applause] let me tell you about a recent battle fought with congress, a battle in which i was aided by bob michael and his troops, and bob dole and his. This spring, i worked day and night to get twothirds of the house members to approve a balanced Budget Amendment to the constitution. We almost had it, but we lost by just nine votes. Now, listen how. Just before the vote, the liberal leaders of congress convinced 12 members, who cosponsored the bill, to switch sides and vote no. Keep in mind, they voted against a bill they had already put their names on. Something fishy is going on. [cheering and applause] and look at my opponent on this issue. Look at my opponent. He says hes for balanced budgets, but he came out against the amendment. Hes like that on a lot of issues first one side, then the other. Hes been spotted in more places than elvis presley. [cheering and applause] after all these years, congress has become pretty creative at finding ways to waste your money. So we need to be just as creative at finding ways to stop them. I have a brand new idea. Taxpayers should be given the right to check a box on their tax returns, so that up to 10 of their payments can go for one purpose alone to reduce the national debt. [cheering and applause] but we also need to make sure we need to make sure that congress doesnt just turn around and borrow more money, to spend more money. And so, i will require that, for every tax dollar set aside to cut the debt, the ceilings on spending will be cut by an equal amount. [cheering and applause] and that way, we will cut both debt and spending, and take a whack out of the budget deficit. [cheering and applause] my feelings about Big Government come from my experience. I spent half my adult life in the private sector. My opponent has a different experience. Hes been in government nearly all his life. His passion to expand government knows no bounds. And hes already proposed and listen to this carefully he has already proposed 220 billion in new spending, along with the biggest tax increase in history, 150 billion thats just to start. [crowd booing] he says he wants to tax the rich, but, folks, he defines rich as anyone who has a job. [laughter] [cheering and applause] youve heard of the separations of powers. Well, my opponent practices a different theory the power of separations. Government has the power to separate you from your wallet. Well, let me say this, when it comes to taxes, ive learned the hard way. Theres an old saying, good judgment comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgment. I agree to a hard bargain. One tax increase one time in return for the toughest spending limits ever. It was a mistake to go along with the democratic tax increase. [applause] it. I admit who do you trust in this election . Someone who raises taxes one time or the other candidate who raises taxes and fees 128 times and enjoyed it every time . [chanting we want george ] ok. Next january, i will propose to further reduce taxes across the board provided we pay for these cuts with specific spending reductions that i consider appropriate so that we do not increase the deficit. I will also continue to fight to increase the personal exemption and to create jobs by winning a cut in Capital Gains taxes. [applause] that will especially help Small Businesses. Twol businesses create thirds of the new jobs in america. But my opponents plan for Small Business is clear, present, and dangerous. Besides new income taxes, his plan will lead to a new payroll tax to pay for a government takeover of health care, and another new tax to pay for training. That is just the beginning. If he gets his way, Hardware Stores all across america will have a new sign up closed for despair. And i guess youd say his plan really is elvis economics america will be checking into the heartbreak hotel. [applause] george a stubby bush George H W Bush i believe that Small Business needs relief from taxation, regulation, and litigation. Thus, i will extend for one year the freeze on paperwork and unnecessary federal regulation that i imposed last winter. There is no reason that federal regulation should live longer than my friend, george burns. I will issue an order to get rid of any rule whose time has come, and gone. I see something happening in our towns and neighborhoods. Sharp lawyers are running wild. Doctors are afraid to Practice Medicine and some moms and pops wont even Coach Little League anymore. Andust sue each other less care for each other more. [applause] [applause cheers] george h. W. Bush im fighting to reform our legal system, to put an end to crazy lawsuits. If that means climbing into the ring with the trail lawyers, well, let me just say, round one starts tonight. [applause] george h. W. Bush after all, my opponents campaign is being backed by practically every trial lawyer who ever wore a tasselled loafer. [laughter] hes not in the ring with them, hes in the tank. There are other things we need to do to get out economy up to speed, prepare our kids for the next century. We must have new incentives for research and new training for workers. Small businesses need capital and credit. Jobs. E workers need new i have a plan to provide Affordable Health care for every american, controlling costs by cutting paperwork and lawsuits, and expanding coverage to the poorest of the poor. We do not need my opponents plan for a massive government takeover of health care, which would ration care and deny you the right to choose a doctor. [applause] who wants health care who wants health care with a system with the efficiency of the House Post Office and the compassion of the kgb . [applause] what about ourh schools . What about our schools . My opponent and i both want to change the way our kids learn. He wants to change our schools a little bit and i want to change them a lot. Take the issue of whether parents should be able to choose the best school for their kids. My opponent says thats okay, as long as the school is run by government and i say every parent and child should have a real choice of schools, public, private or religious. [applause] george h. W. Bush so we have a clear choice to fix our problem. Do we turn to the tattered blanket of bureaucracy that other nations are tossing away . Or do we give our people the freedom and incentives to build security for themselves . Heres what im fighting for open markets for american products; lower government spending; tax relief; opportunities for Small Business, legal and health newrm, job training and schools built on competition, ready for the 21st century. Why are these proposals not in effect today . Only one reason. The gridlock democratic congress. A very good idea. A very good idea. I know americans are tired of the blame game, tired of people in washington acting like the candidates for the next episode tired of their candidates acting like the next episode of american gladiator. A very good idea. A very good idea. Here is what i am fighting for. Our policies have not failed, they havent even been tried. Americans one jobs. On january 28, i put before congress a plan to create jobs. If it had been passed, bakhtin back then, 500,000 more americans would be at work right now. But in addition that in a nation that demands action, congress has become the master of inaction. It has not always been this way. I heard president ford tonight. I served in congress 22 years ago under him. And back then, we cooperated. We didnt get personal, we put the people above everything else. Heck, we didnt even own blowdryers back in those days. At my first inauguration, i said that people didnt send us to bicker. I extended my hand, and i think the American People know this, i extended my hand to the congressional leaders, the democratic leaders, and they bit it. The house leadership has not changed in 38 years. It is a body caught in in a hopelessly tangled web of pacs, perks, privileges, partnership and paralysis. [applause] every day. Every day. Congress puts politics ahead of principle and above part about progress. Let me give you just one example. February 20, 1991. It was at the height of the gulf war. , i askedery same day american pilots to risk their lives to fly missions over baghdad. Strengthen ouro Economic Security for the future so that very same day, i introduced a new Domestic Energy strategy that would cut our dependence on foreign oil by 7 Million Barrels a day. How many days did it take to end the gulf war . 43. How many did it take congress to Energy Strategy . 532 and still counting. I have written stationary bikes that can move faster than the United States house of representatives and the United States senate controlled by the democrat leadership. All right, you wait. Where does my opponent stand with congress . Theirnew york, at convention, they kept the congressional leaders away from the podium, hidden away. They did not want america to hear from the people who really make the decisions and they had them for a very good reason. Because the American People would recognize a dangerous combination. A rubber check congress and a rubberstamp president. [applause] governor clinton and Congress Know that youve caught on to their lingo. They know when they uh oh. Ding, you say so now they have a new word, investment. They want to invest 220 billion more of your money. But i want you to keep it. [applause] governor clinton and Congress Want to put through the largest tax increase in history but i will not let that happen. Congressinton and dont want the kids to have the option of praying in school but i do. [applause] clinton and congress dont want to close legal loopholes and keep criminals behind bars but i will. [applause] george h. W. Bush clinton and congress will stack this judiciary with liberal judges who write laws they can get approved by the voters. Even says mario cuomo belongs on the supreme court. Wait a minute. Idea, if youad in judicial restraint, you probably should be happy. After all, the good governor of new york can make up his mind between chocolate and vanilla at baskinrobbins. If he is there, we wont have another Court Decision for another 35 years. Aybe that is all right are my opponent and Congress Really in cahoots . Look at one important question should we limit the terms of congress . Governor clinton says no. Congress says no. And i say yes. We tried this. We tried this once before. Combining the democratic governor of a small Southern State with a very liberal Vice President and a democratic congress. American doesnt need carter ii. We do not want to take america back to those days of malaise. Americans want to know wheres proof that we will have better days in washington . Ill give you 150 reasons. Thats how many members of congress are expected to leave washington this year. Some are tainted by scandal. The voters have bounced them the way they bounced their own checks. But others are good members republican and democrat. And they agree with me. The place just doesnt work anymore. 150 new members from both parties, will be coming to washington this fall. Everyone will have a fresh view of the american future. I pledge to the American People immediately after this election, i will meet with everyone of these members before they get attacked by the pack, overwhelmed by their staff and cornered by some camera crew. [applause] i will lay out my case for change, change that matters. Real change that makes a difference. Change that is right for america. There is a yearning in america. Is feeling that maybe it roots. Get back to our , somethings should change values are timeless. I believe in families that stick together, fathers who stick around. And i happen to believe very deeply in the worth of each individual human being born or unborn. [applause] i believe in teaching our kids the difference between what is wrong and right, teaching them respect for hard work and to love their neighbors. I believe that america will always have a special place in gods heart. As long as he has a special place in ours. Maybe that is why i have always believed that patriotism is not just a point of view. There are times in every Young Persons life when god introduces you to yourself. I remember such a time. It was back many years ago when i stood watch at 4 00 a. M. Up on thebridge of the submarine United States finback, u. S. S. Finback. I would stand there and look out on the blackness of the sky, broken only by the sparkling stars above and i would think about friends i lost, a country i loved, and about a girl named barbara. Those nights as clearly as any in my life. You know you can see things from up there that other people dont see. You can see storm clouds rise and then disappear. The first hint of the sun over the horizon and the first outline of the shore far away. Now i know that americans are uneasy today. There is anxious to talk around our kitchen tables. But from where i stand, i see not americas sunset but a sunrise and the world changes for which we sacrificed for a generation have finally come to pass and with them, a rare and torecedented opportunity pass this week cap of prosperity around our american table. Are we up to it . I know we are. As i travel our land, i meet veterans who once worked the turrets of a tank, and can now master the keyboards of hightech economy. I see teachers, blessed with the incredible american capacity for innovation, who are teaching our children a new way to learn, for a new century. And i meet parents, some working two jobs with hectic schedules, who still find new ways to teach old values to steady their kids in a turbulent world. What iseart from happening in america, not from those who profess a new passion for government but from those with an old and enduring faith in the humans potential. Those who understand that the genius of america is our capacity for rebirth and renewal. America is the land where the sun is always peeking over the horizon. Appeal to that unyielding, undying, undeniable americans. American spirit. I ask you to consider, now that the entire world is moving our way, why would we want to go back there way . I asked not just for your support from for my agenda but for your commitment to rebuild our nation by shaking up one institution that has withstood change for over four decades. In rolling away the at the other end of pennsylvania avenue so that the next four years we will match our accomplishments outside by building a stronger, safer, more secure america inside. 44 years ago, in another age of uncertainty, a different president embarked on a similar mission. His name was harry asked truman. As he stood before his party to accept their nomination, harry truman knew the freedom that i know this evening. To talk about what is right for america and let the chips fall where they may. Harry truman said this is more than a political call to arms. Give me your help not to win this newne but to win crusade and keep america safe and secure for its own people. You, join mey to in our new crusade to reap the rewards of our global victory, to win the peace so that we may make america safer and stronger for all of our people. May god bless you and may god bless the United States of america. Thank you very much. [applause] from George Washington to sunday webush, every feature the presidency. A weekly series exploring the president , their politics, policies and legacies. You are watching American History tv all weekend, every weekend on cspan three. The president our cover. Everysents biographies of president about the leadership skills that make for a successful presidency. In this president ial election year, as americans decide who should lead our country, this collection offers perspectives into the lives and events that forged each president s leadership style. To learn more about all our president s and the books featured historians, visit cspan. Org the presence, available in paperback, hardcover and ebook, wherever books are sold. American history tv is on cspan3, featuring museum tours, College Lectures and discussions on the presidency, the civil war and more. You can wash these in their entirety on cspan. Org history. Here is a quick look at one of our programs. Scientific studies dealing with the diseases of man were made by the Public Health service as early as 1886. These studies have expanded on the cause, method of spread and means of prevention of the disease is the most important ever performed. Among the most important ever performed. In 1901. Established in 1930, congress changed its name to the National Institute of health. At this famous institute in washington dc, most of the investigative work of the Public Health service is conducted. The diseases include a long list