Standing in this very place, i proudly accepted your nomination for president of the United States. And with your help and with the votes of millions of americans, we won a great victory in 1968. Tonight, i again proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States. And let us pledge ourselves to win an even greater victory this november, in 1972. [applause] i congratulate chairman ford, i congratulate chairman dole, and armstrong and the hundreds of others who have laid the foundation for that victory by their work at this great convention. Our platform is a Dynamic Program for peace in the world. And speaking in a very personal sense, i express my deep gratitude and this convention for the tributes you have paid to the best campaigner in the nixon family, my wife pat. In honoring her, you have honored millions of women in america who have contributed in the past, and will contribute in the future, so very much to better government in this country. And again, as i did last night when i was not at the convention, express the appreciation of all of the delegates and of all america for letting us see Young America at its best and our convention. The four more years four more years as i express my appreciation to you, i want to say that you have inspired us with your enthusiasm, with your intelligence, with your dedication at this convention. You have made us realize that this is a year when we can prove the experts predictions wrong because we can set as our goal winning a majority of the new voters for our ticket this november. [applause] and i pledge to you, i pledge to you all of the new voters in america who are listening on television and listening here in this Convention Hall, but i will do everything that i can over these next four years to make your support me one that you can be proud of. Because as i said to you last night, and i feel it very deeply in my heart, years from now i want you to look back and be able to say that your first vote was one of the best votes you ever cast in your life. [applause] mister chairman, i congratulate the delegates to this convention for renominating as my running mate the man who has just so eloquently and graciously introduced me, Vice President ted agnew. I thought he was the best man for the job four years ago. I think he is the best man for the job today. Im not going to change my mind tomorrow. [applause] and finally, as the Vice President has indicated, you have demonstrated to the nation that we can have an open convention without dividing america americans into quotas. Let us commit ourselves to root out every vestige of discrimination in this country of ours. But my fellow americans, the way to end discrimination against some is not to begin discrimination against others. Dividing ourselves into quotas is totally alien to the american tradition. Americans dont want to be part of a quota, they want to be part of america. This nation proudly calls itself the United States of america. Lets reject any philosophy that would make us the divided people of america. [applause] and that spirit, i address you tonight, my fellow americans, not as a partition of party, which would divide us, but as a partisan of principles, which can unite us. Six weeks ago, our opponents and their convention rejected many of the great principles of the democratic party. To those millions who have been driven out of their home in the democratic party, we say come home. We say come home not to a neither party, but we say come home to the great principles we americans believe in together. [applause] and i ask you, my fellow americans, tonight, to join us not in a coalition held together only by a desire to gain power. I ask you to join us as members of a new american majority found together by our common ideals. [applause] i ask everyone listening to me tonight, democrats, republicans, independents, to join our new majority, not on the basis of the party label you wear in your lapel, but on the basis of what you believe in your hearts. And in asking for your support, i shall not dwell on the record of our administration, which has been praised perhaps too generously by others at this convention. We have made great progress in these past four years. It can truly be said that we have changed america and that america has changed to the world. [applause] as a result of what we have done, America Today is a better place and the world is a safer place to live in then was the case four years ago. We can be proud of that record, but we shall never be satisfied. A record is not something to stand on, it is something to build on. [applause] and tonight, i do not ask you to join our new majority because of what we have done in the past. I ask your support of the principles i believe should determine americas future. The choice, the choice in this election is not between radical change and no change. The choice in this election is between change that works and change that wont work. [applause] i begin with an article of faith. It has become fashionable in recent years to point out what is wrong with what is called the american system. The critics contend it is so unfair, so corrupt, so im just, that we should teared down and substitute Something Else in its place. I totally disagree. I believe in the american system. [applause] i have traveled to 80 countries in the past 25 years, and i have seen communist systems, i have seen socialist systems, i have seen systems that are half socialist and have free. Every time i come home to america, i realize how fortunate we are to live in this great and good country. [applause] every time, i am reminded that we have more freedom, more opportunity, more prosperity than any people in the world. But we have the highest rate of growth of any industrial nation. That americans have more jobs and higher wages than in any other country in the world. That our rate of inflation is less than that of any and a strip nation. That the incomparable productivity of americas farmers has made it possible for us to launch a winning war against hunger in the United States. And that the productivity of our farmers also makes us the best that people in the world with the lowest percentage of the Family Budget going to food of any country in the world. [applause] we can be very grateful in this country that the people on welfare in america would be rich in most of the nations of the world today. [applause] now my fellow americans, in pointing out those things, we do not overlook the fact that our system has its problems. Our administration, as you know, as provided the biggest tax cut in history, but taxes are still too high. That is why one of the goals of our next administration is to reduce the property tax, which is such an unfair and heavy burden on the poor, the elderly, the wage earner, be farmer, and those on fixed incomes. As all of you know, we have cut inflation in half in this administration, but we have got to cut it further. We must credit further so that we can continue to expand on the greatest accomplishment of our new economic policy. For the first time in five years, wage increases in america are not being eaten up by price increases. [applause] as a result of the millions of new jobs created by our new economic policies, unemployment today in america is less than the peacetime average of the sixties, but we must continue the unparalleled increase in new jobs so that we can achieve the great goal of our new prosperity, a job for every american who wants to work, without war and without inflation. The way to reach this goal is to stay on the new road we have charted to move America Forward and not to take a sharp detour to the left, which would lead to a dead end for the hopes of the American People. [applause] this points up one of the clear choices in this campaign. Our opponents believe in a different philosophy. There is the politics of paternalism, where master planners in washington make decisions for people. Ours is the politics of people, where people make decisions for themselves. [applause] a proposal that they have made to pay 1000 dollars to every person in america insults the intelligence of the American Voters. Because you know that every politicians promise has a price, the taxpayer pays the bill. The American People are not going to be taken in by any scheme or government gives money with one hand and then takes it away with the other. [applause] their platform promises everything to everybody, but hadnt increased net in the budget of 144 billion dollars. But listen to what it means to you, the taxpayers of the country. That would mean an increase of 50 in what the taxpayers of america pay. I oppose any new spending programs which will increase the tax burden on the already overburdened american taxpayer. And they have proposed legislation, which would at 82 Million People to the welfare rolls. I say that instead of providing incentives for millions of more americans to go on welfare, we need a program which will provide incentives for people to get off of welfare and to get to work. [applause] we believe that it is wrong for anyone to receive more on welfare than for someone who works. Let us be generous to those who cant work without increasing the tax burden of those who do work. And while we are talking about welfare, let us quit treating our Senior Citizens in this country like welfare recipients. They have worked hard all of their lives to build america. And as the builders of america they have not asked pray handout. What they asked for is what they have earned, and that is retirement in dignity and self respect. Lets give that to our Senior Citizens. [applause] now, when you add up the cost of all of the programs our opponents and proposed, you reach only one conclusion they would destroy the system which has made america number one in the world economically. Listen to these facts americans today pay one third of all of their income in taxes. If their programs were adopted, americans would pay over one half of what they earn in taxes. This means that if their programs are adopted, american wage earners would be working more for the government then they would for themselves. Once we cross this line, we cannot turn back because the incentive which makes the American Economic system the most productive in the world would be destroyed. There is is not a new approach. It has been tried before in countries abroad, and i can tell you that those who have tried it have lived to regret it. We cannot and we will not let them do this to america. [applause] let us always be true to the principle that has made america the worlds most prosperous nation, that here in america a person should get what he works for and work for what he gets. Let me illustrate the difference in our philosophies. Because of our free economic system, what we have done is to build a great building of economic wealth and money in america. It is by far the tallest building in the world and we are still adding to it. Now because some of the windows are broken, they say tara down and start again. We say replace the windows and keep building. That is the difference. [applause] let me turn now to a second area where my beliefs are totally different from those of our opponents. Four years ago, crime was rising all over america at an unprecedented rate. Even our Nations Capital was called the crime capital of the world. I pledged to stop the rising crime. In order to keep that pledge, i promised in the Election Campaign that i would appoint judges to the federal courts and particularly to the Supreme Court, who would recognize that the first civil right of every american is to be free from domestic violence. [applause] i have kept that promise. I am proud of the appointments i have made to the courts, and particularly proud of those i have made to the Supreme Court of the United States. And i pledge again tonight, as i did four years ago, that whenever i have the opportunity to make more appointments to the courts, i shall continue to appoint judges who share my philosophy that we must strengthen the peace forces as against the criminal forces in the United States. [applause] we have launched an allout offensive against crime, against narcotics, against permissiveness in our country. I want the peace officers across america to know that they have the total backing of their president in their fight against crime. [applause] my fellow americans, as we move toward peace abroad, i ask you to support our programs which will keep the peace at home. [applause] now, i turn to an issue of overriding importance, not only to this election, but for generations to come. The progress we have made in building a new structure of peace in the world. Peace is too important for partisanship. There have been five president s in my political lifetime. Franklin d. Roosevelt, harry truman, dwight eisenhower, john f. Kennedy and lyndon johnson. They had differences on some issues, but they were united in their belief that where the security of america or the peace of the world is involved, we are not republicans, we are not democrats, we are americans, first, last, and always. [applause] these five president s were united in their total opposition to isolation for america, and in their belief, that the interests of the United States and the interests of world peace require that america be Strong Enough and intelligent enough to assume the responsibilities of leadership in the world. They were united in the conviction that the United States should have a defense second to none in the world. They were all men who hated war and were dedicated to peace. But not one of these five men, and no president in our history, believed that america should ask an enemy for peace on terms that would betray our allies and destroy respect for the United States all over the world. Yeah [applause] as your president , i pledge that i shall always uphold that proud bipartisan tradition. Standing in this Convention Hall four years ago, i pledged to seek an honorable and to the war in vietnam. We have made great progress toward that end. We have brought over half 1 million men home and more will be coming home. We have ended americas Ground Combat role. No draftys are being sent to vietnam. We have reduced our casualties by 98 . We have gone the extra mile. In fact, we have gone tens of thousands of miles trying to seek a negotiated settlement of the war. We have offered a ceasefire, a total withdrawal of all american forces, an exchange of all prisoners of war, internationally supervised free elections with the communist participating in the elections and in the supervisions. There are three things, however, that we have not and that we will not offer. We will never abandon our prisoners of war. [applause] second, we will not join our enemies in imposing a communist government on our allies, the 17 Million People of South Vietnam. [applause] and we will never stay in the honor of the United States of america. [applause] now i realize that many, particularly in this political year, wonder why we insist on an honorable peace in vietnam. From my political standpoint, they suggest that since i was not an office went over a half 1 million american men were sent there, but i should end the war by agreeing to impose a communist government on the people of South Vietnam and just blame the whole catastrophe on my predecessors. This might be good politics, but it would be disastrous to the cause of peace in the world. If, at this time, we betray our allies, it will discourage our friends abroad and it will encourage our enemies to engage in aggression. In areas, like the middle east, which are danger areas, small nations who rely on the friendship and support of the United States would be in deadly jeopardy. But to our friends and allies in europe, asia, the middle east, and latin america, i say the United States will continue its great bipartisan tradition to stand by our friends and never to desert them. [applause] now in discussing vietnam, i have noted that in this Election Year there has been a great deal of talk about providing amnesty for those few hundred americans who chose to desert their country rather than to serve in vietnam. I think its time we put the emphasis where it belongs. The real heroes are two and a half million Young Americans who chose to serve their country rather than deserve it. [applause] and i say to you tonight, in these times when there is so much of a tendency to run down those who have served america in the past and who served today, lets give those who serve in our armed forces and those who have served in vietnam the earner and the respect that they deserve and that they have earned. The honor and the respect that they deserve and that they have earned. Finally, in this connection, let one thing be clearly understood in this Election Campaign. The American People will not tolerate any attempt by our enemies to interfere in the cherished right of the American Voter to make his own decision with regard to what is best for america without outside intervention. [applause] now it is understandable that vietnam has been a major concern and foreign policy, but we have not allowed the warm vietnam to paralyze our capacity to initiate historic new policies to construct construct a lasting and just peace in the world. And when the history of this period is written, i bel