Have come to this country with nothing, nothing but hope. Today, one of their sons stands before you with the opportunity to be president of the United States top ladies and gentlemen, it is with honor, pride, and with love that i give you michael f dukakis. [applause] america by neil diamond playing] [applause] [applause] [applause] [crowd chanting] gov. Dukakis mr. Chairman. A few months ago when Olympia Dukakis in front of about a billion and a half Television Viewers all over the world raised that oscar over her head and said, ok, michael, lets go, she wasnt kidding. [applause] kitty and i are kitty and i are grateful to her for that wonderful introduction and grateful to all of you for making this possible. This is a wonderful evening for us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. [applause] my fellow democrats. My fellow americans. Sixteen months ago, when i announced my candidacy for the presidency of the United States, i said this campaign would be a marathon. Tonight,
Give a warm welcome to the stage. [applause]. I hope you are having as much fun as i am at this festival. [applause]. I think of students in college a few of you were in college a few years ago as the best thing to do is to take the teacher not the course and here i think of things to take these incredible authors and be in a room with them. Whatever theyre talking about. The only problem is there is someone in every room. That you want to be with. I think you heard from them all at one point or another. They have also done some the other interesting things. American shots. He is the cn and historian. He has a little bit of basement studio and envy of john meacham. Whos got that at msnbc. Of course the great tester in 1919. Just a transformative book that is so important. Many of us know him from his basement with morning joe. The assignment is to talk about who is your favorite historical figure. I want to make that a free and fun thing. Maybe later we would get into other elements. W
Of the museum at the corner of third and Chestnut Street in old city philadelphia. Philadelphia was the headquarters of the revolution. This is where delegates came. This is where the protest against british oppression first mounted. This is where the declaration of independence was written. So this really is the most central element of the American Revolution, the birth of our nation, which is why this museum is located here. Just down the street from me is the first bank of the states. Alexander hamiltons branch bank when he launched our nations banking system. It is also the first building constructed by the United States of america. So we, truly, are where the nation began, and it is the right place to tell the entire story of the American Revolution. It is our mission in this museum. Behind me, you see cannons from the era. These are part of the city of philadelphias collection. Every one of these canons is old enough that it could have been used to fight the revolution. Behind me
Oppressed for their nationality, their tribe, their religion, their color. A warrior in his lifelong commitment to engaging in good trouble to break down the forces of separation, especially in this nation of ours. To challenge those who would claim incense in their actions, designed to maintain a Caste Society based on race, and address the systems of exclusion from full participation and the freedoms guaranteed by our constitution, especially participation in the vote. A prophet who spoke of your will that we become the beloved community here on earth. A beloved community he has now joined among the community of saints, the cloud of witnesses to your love and your truth. In all this johns work must now be our own. Bless the members of this chamber with the courage and wisdom to address the ongoing challenges that john lewis encountered his entire life. Help them, help us all to bring forth the beloved community in our midst where all men and women might live together in the land of t
How did the revolution survive its darkest hour . Because, of course, while all of this lofty language about liberty and rights and creating constitutions and remember the ladies is going on, the Largest Overseas expedition in european history is headed towards new york. So the mural that you see beside me here is an eyewitness depiction, which weve blown up as a mural, showing 5000 british warships and about 6,000 british and hessian troops in landing boats about to land on manhattan baynd in kept bay kips on september 15, 1776. At the time, one of the soldiers saw the ships gathering in new york harbor and later said i thought all london was afloat. So, it was one thing to declare independence, to tear down the king, to declare that you are now living in the American Revolution, but to actually achieve american independence was going to be an effort of many, many more years of struggle. And the first thing americans had to do was just survive the onslaught that was coming in the form