Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History (145 page)

The stakes are high this year and the choice is crucial, for the differences between the two candidates are as deep and wide as they have ever been in our long history.

Not only two very different men, but two very different ideas of the future will be voted on this election day.

And what it all comes down to is this: my opponent’s view of the world sees a long, slow decline for our country, an inevitable fall mandated by impersonal historical forces.

But America is not in decline. America is a rising nation.

He sees America as another pleasant country on the UN roll call, somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe. And I see America as the leader, a unique nation with a special role in the world.

And this has been called the American century, because in it we were the dominant force for good in the world. We saved Europe, cured polio, went to the moon, and lit the world with our culture. And now we’re on the verge of a new century, and what country’s name will it bear? I say it will be another American century.

Our work is not done; our force is not spent.

There are those who say there isn’t much of a difference this year. But, America, don’t let ’em fool ya.

Two parties this year ask for your support. Both will speak of growth and peace. But only one has proved it can deliver. Two parties this year ask for your trust, but only one has earned it.

Eight years ago I stood here with Ronald Reagan, and we promised, together, to break with the past and return America to her greatness. Eight years later look at what the American people have produced: the highest level of economic growth in our entire history, and the lowest level of world tensions in more than fifty years.

Some say this isn’t an election about ideology, that it’s an election about competence. Well, it’s nice of them to want to play on our field. But this election isn’t only about competence, for competence is a narrow ideal. Competence makes the trains run on time but doesn’t know where they’re going. Competence is the creed of the technocrat who makes sure the gears mesh but doesn’t for a second understand the magic of the machine.

The truth is, this election is about the beliefs we share, the values that we honor, and the principles that we hold dear.

But, since someone brought up competence—consider the size of our triumph: a record number of Americans at work, a record high percentage of our people with jobs, a record high of new businesses, high rate of new businesses, a record high rate of real personal income.

These are facts. And one way you know our opponents know the facts is that to attack our record they have to misrepresent it. They call it a “Swiss cheese economy.” Well, that’s the way it may look to the three blind mice. But when they were in charge it was all holes and no cheese.

You know the litany. Inflation was 13 percent when we came in. We got it down to 4. Interest rates, interest rates were more than 21. And we cut them in half. Unemployment, unemployment was up and climbing, and now it’s the lowest in fourteen years.

My friends, eight years ago this economy was flat on its back—intensive
care. And we came in and gave it emergency treatment—got the temperature down by lowering regulation, and got the blood pressure down when we lowered taxes. And pretty soon the patient was up, back on his feet and stronger than ever.

And now who do we hear knocking on the door but the same doctors who made him sick. And they’re telling us to put them in charge of the case again. My friends, they’re lucky we don’t hit them with a malpractice suit!

We’ve created seventeen million new jobs the past five years, more than twice as many as Europe and Japan combined. And they’re good jobs. The majority of them created in the past six years paid an average of more than $22,000 a year. And someone better take “a message to Michael”: tell him that we have been creating good jobs at good wages. The fact is, they talk and we deliver. They promise and we perform.

And there are millions of young Americans in their twenties who barely remember the days of gas lines and unemployment lines. And now they’re marrying and starting careers. And to those young people I say, “You have the opportunity you deserve, and I’m not going to let them take it away from you.”

The leaders of this expansion have been the women of America, who helped create the new jobs and filled two out of every three of them. And to the women of America I say, “You know better than anyone that equality begins with economic empowerment. You’re gaining economic power, and I’m not going to let them take it away from you.”

There are millions of Americans who were brutalized by inflation. We arrested it, and we’re not going to let it out on furlough. And we’re going to keep that Social Security trust fund sound and out of reach of the big spenders. To America’s elderly I say, “Once again you have the security that is your right, and I’m not going to let them take it away from you.”

I know the liberal Democrats are worried about the economy. They’re worried it’s going to remain strong. And they’re right, it is, with the right leadership it will remain strong.

But let’s be frank. Things aren’t perfect in this country. There are people who haven’t tasted the fruits of the expansion. I’ve talked to farmers about the bills they can’t pay. And I’ve been to the factories that feel the strain of change. And I’ve seen the urban children who play amid the shattered glass and the shattered lives. And there are the homeless. And you know, it doesn’t do any good to debate endlessly which policy mistake of the seventies is responsible. They’re there. And we have to help them.

But what we must remember if we’re to be responsible, and compassionate, is that economic growth is the key to our endeavors.

I want growth that stays, that broadens, that touches, finally, all Americans, from the hollows of Kentucky to the sunlit streets of Denver, from the suburbs of Chicago to the broad avenues of New York, and from the oil fields of Oklahoma to the farms of the Great Plains.

And can we do it? Of course we can. We know how. We’ve done it. And if we continue to grow at our current rate, we will be able to produce thirty million jobs in the next eight years. And we will do it—by maintaining our commitment to free and fair trade, by keeping government spending down, and by keeping taxes down.

Our economic life is not the only test of our success. One issue overwhelms all the others, and that’s the issue of peace.

And look at the world on this bright August night. The spirit of democracy is sweeping the Pacific rim. China feels the winds of change. New democracies assert themselves in South America. And one by one the unfree places fall, not to the force of arms but to the force of an idea: freedom works.

And we have a new relationship with the Soviet Union—the INF treaty, the beginning of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the beginning of the end of the Soviet proxy war in Angola, and with it the independence of Namibia. Iran and Iraq move toward peace.

It’s a watershed. It is no accident.

It happened when we acted on the ancient knowledge that strength and clarity lead to peace; weakness and ambivalence lead to war. You see, weakness tempts aggressors. Strength stops them. I will not allow this country to be made weak again. Never.

The tremors in the Soviet world continue. The hard earth there has not yet settled. Perhaps what is happening will change our world forever. And perhaps not. A prudent skepticism is in order. And so is hope. But either way, we’re in an unprecedented position to change the nature of our relationship. Not by preemptive concession, but by keeping our strength. Not by yielding up defense systems with nothing won in return, but by hard, cool engagement in the tug and pull of diplomacy.

My life has been lived in the shadow of war; I almost lost my life in one.

And I hate war. Love peace. And we have peace. And I am not going to let anyone take it away from us.

Our economy is strong but not invulnerable, and the peace is broad but can be broken. And now we must decide. We will surely have change this year, but will it be change that moves us forward, or change that risks retreat?

In 1940, when I was barely more than a boy, Franklin Roosevelt said we shouldn’t change horses in midstream. My friends, these days the
world moves even more quickly, and now, after two great terms, a switch will be made. But when you have to change horses in midstream, doesn’t it make sense to switch to one who’s going the same way?

An election that’s about ideas and values is also about philosophy. And I have one.

At the bright center is the individual. And radiating out from him or her is the family, the essential unit of closeness and of love. For it’s the family that communicates to our children—to the twenty-first century—our culture, our religious faith, our traditions and history.

From the individual to the family to the community, and then on out to the town, to the church and the school, and, still echoing out, to the country, the state, and the nation—each doing only what it does well, and no more. And I believe that power must always be kept close to the individual, close to the hands that raise the family and run the home.

I am guided by certain traditions. One is that there’s a God and he is good, and his love, while free, has a self-imposed cost; we must be good to one another.

I believe in another tradition that is, by now, imbedded in the national soul. It’s that learning is good in and of itself. You know, the mothers of the Jewish ghettos of the East would pour honey on a book so the children would know that learning is sweet. And the parents who settled hungry Kansas would take their children in from the fields when a teacher came. That is our history.

And there is another tradition. And that’s the idea of community—a beautiful word with a big meaning, though liberal Democrats have an odd view of it. They see “community” as a limited cluster of interest groups, locked in odd conformity. And in this view, the country waits passive while Washington sets the rules.

But that’s not what community means, not to me. For we are a nation of communities, of thousands and tens of thousands of ethnic, religious, social, business, labor union, neighborhood, regional, and other organizations, all of them varied, voluntary, and unique.

This is America: the Knights of Columbus, the Grange, Hadassah, the Disabled American Veterans, the Order of Ahepa, the Business and Professional Women of America, the union hall, the Bible study group, LULAC, Holy Name—a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.

Does government have a place? Yes. Government is part of the nation of communities—not the whole, just a part.

And I don’t hate government. A government that remembers that the people are its master is a good and needed thing.

And I respect old-fashioned common sense, and I have no great love for the imaginings of the social planners. You see, I like what’s been tested and found to be true. For instance:

Should public school teachers be required to lead our children in the Pledge of Allegiance? My opponent says no—and I say yes.

Should society be allowed to impose the death penalty on those who commit crimes of extraordinary cruelty and violence? My opponent says no—but I say yes.

And should our children have the right to say a voluntary prayer, or even observe a moment of silence in the schools? My opponent says no—but I say yes.

And should free men and women have the right to own a gun to protect their home? My opponent says no—but I say yes.

And is it right to believe in the sanctity of life and protect the lives of innocent children? My opponent says no—but I say yes. You see we must change—we’ve got to change from abortion to adoption. And let me tell you this—Barbara and I have an adopted granddaughter. On the day of her christening we wept with joy. I thank God that her parents chose life.

I’m the one who believes it is a scandal to give a weekend furlough to a hardened first-degree killer who hasn’t even served enough time to be eligible for parole.

I’m the one who says a drug dealer who is responsible for the death of a policeman should be subject to capital punishment.

And I’m the one who will not raise taxes. My opponent now says he’ll raise them as a last resort, or a third resort. But when a politician talks like that, you know that’s one resort he’ll be checking into. And I—my opponent won’t rule out raising taxes. But I will, and the Congress will push me to raise taxes, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again. And I’ll say to them, Read my lips, no new taxes.

Let me tell you more about the mission on jobs. My mission is: thirty in eight—thirty million jobs in the next eight years.

Every one of our children deserves a first-rate school. The liberal Democrats want power in the hands of the federal government, and I want power in the hands of the parents. And I will encourage merit schools. I will give more kids a Head Start. And I’ll make it easier to save for college.

I want a drug-free America, and this will not be easy to achieve. But I want to enlist the help of some people who are rarely included. Tonight I challenge the young people of our country to shut down the drug dealers around the world. Unite with us, work with us.

Zero tolerance isn’t just a policy; it’s an attitude. Tell them what you think of people who underwrite the dealers who put poison in our society. And while you’re doing that, my administration will be telling the dealers, “Whatever we have to do we’ll do, but your day is over, you are history.”

I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure the disabled are included in the mainstream. For too long they’ve been left out. But they’re not going to be left out any more.

And I am going to stop ocean dumping. Our beaches should not be garbage dumps, and our harbors should not be cesspools. And I’m going to have the FBI trace the medical wastes, and we’re going to punish the people who dump those infected needles into our oceans, lakes, and rivers.

Let’s clean the air. We must reduce the harm done by acid rain.

And I’ll put incentives back into the domestic energy industry, for I know from personal experience there is no security for the United States in further dependence on foreign oil.