Conventions are considered to have delivered the best speeches of their political careers. Cuomo, anddan, mario annrichards in 1988 richards in 1988. Barbara jordan became the first black woman to give the keynote address to the dnc. She received a law degree edit with the first black woman to serve in the u. S. Senate. She talked political ethics at the university of texas in austin entered the on immigration reform. She spoke to delegates in new york city. [applause] [applause] ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen. [applause] are neither ladies nor are you gentlemen. Gentlemen, in case you do not know it, may i now present our second keynote speaker, the honorable Barbara Jordan, democrat of houston, texas. [applause] Barbara Jordan thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for a very warm reception. 144 years ago that members of the Democratic Party first led a convention to select a president ial candidate. Since that time, democrats have continued to go to been once every four years and draft a Party Platform and nominate a president ial candidate. Is aeeting this week continuation of that tradition. But there is Something Different about tonight. There is Something Special about tonight. What is different . What is special . Jordan, ma keynote am a keynote speaker. [applause] a lot of years have passed since 1832, and during that time it would have been most unusual for any National Political party to ask a Barbara Jordan to deliver a keynote address, but tonight, am. In here i i feel notwithstanding the past that my presence here is one additional bit of evidence that the American Dream need not forever be deferred. [applause] now that i have this grand distinction, what in the world am i supposed to say . I could easily spend this time thesing the a complement accomplishments of this party and attacking the republicans, but i do not choose to do that. I could list the many problems which america has, the list of problems that cause people to feel cynical, angry, frustrated. Problems which include lack of integrity in government, the feeling that the individual no ofger counts, the reality material and spiritual poverty, the feeling that the grand american experiment is failing or has failed. , could recite these problems and then i could sit down and offer no solutions, but i do not choose to do that either. The citizens of america expect more. They deserve and they want more then a recital of problems. We are a people in a quandary about the president the present. We are a people in search of our future. Of ae a people in Search National community. We are a people trying not only to solve problems of the present, unemployment, inflation , but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of america. Fulfill ourpting to National Purpose to create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal. [applause] throughout our history, when people have looked for new ways to solve our problems and uphold the principles of this nation, many times they have turned to political parties. They have often turned to the Democratic Party. What is it . What is it about the Democratic Party that makes it the instrument that people use when they search for ways to shape their future . I believe the answer to that concept ofes in our governing. Our concept of governing is derived from our view of people. Rooted inncept deeply a set of beliefs firmly etched in the National Conscience of all of us. What are these beliefs . In equalitylieve for all and privileges for non none. [applause] belief that each american regardless of standing inas equal the public forum, all of us. [applause] we believe this idea so an inclusivee rather than exclusive party. Let everybody come. [applause] accident that most of those immigrating to america in the 19th century identified with the Democratic Party. Party a heterogeneous made up of americans of diverse backgrounds. We believe that the people are the source of all governmental of thethat the Authority People is to be extended, not restricted. [applause] , this can be accomplished only by providing each citizen with every opportunity to participate in the management of the government. They must have that. We believe. The government, which represents the authority of all of the people, not just one interest group, but all of the people, as an obligation to underscore actively seek to remove those obstacles which wouldve mock individual emanatingt, obstacles from race, sex, economic condition. The government must remove them. Seek to remove them. [applause] , we are a party of innovations. Traditions,ject our but we are willing to adapt to changing circumstances when change we must. We are willing to suffer the discomfort of change in order to achieve a Better Future. We have a positive vision of the future founded on the belief that the gap between the promise and the reality of america can one day be finally closed. We believe that. [applause] this, my friends, is the bedrock of our concept of governing. This is a part of the reason why americans have turned to the Democratic Party. These are the foundations upon which a National Community can be built. Theseall understand that Guiding Principles cannot be discarded for shortterm political gains. They represent what this country is all about. They are indigenous to the american idea, and these are principles which are not negotiable. [applause] in other times, i could stand here and give this kind of exposition on the belief of the Democratic Party, and that would be enough. Today, that is not enough. People want more. That is not sufficient reason for the majority of the people of this country to decide to vote democratic. We have made mistakes. We realize that. We admit our mistakes. In our haste to do all things for all people, we did not foresee the full consequences of other actions, and when the people raised their voices, we did not hear. But our deafness was only a temporary condition, and not an irreversible condition. [applause] even as i stand here and admit that we have made mistakes, i still believe that as the people of america sit in judgment on each party, they will recognize that our mistakes were mistakes of the heart. They will recognize that. [applause] now, we must look to the future. Voice of thehe people at a recognize their common sense. If we do not, we not only blaspheme our political heritage. We ignored the common ties that bind all americans. Many fear the future. Many are distrustful of their leaders and believe their voices are never heard. To satisfy their wantse once, private come at their private interests. This is the great danger america faces, that we will seek to be one nation and instead become an election of interest groups. Region against region, individual against individual, each seeking to satisfy private wants. If that happens, who then will speak for america . Who then will speak for the common good . This is the question which must 1976. Wered in are we to be one people bound together by common spirit, endeavor, orcommon will be become a divided nation . Uncertainty, we the future. The newnot become puritans and reject our society. We must address and master the future together. It can be done. If we restore the belief that we share a sense of National Community, that we share a Common National endeavor, it can be done. ,here is no executive order there is no law that get it required the American People to form a National Community. This we must do as individuals, and if we do it as individuals, there is no president of the United States who can veto that decision. [applause] as a first step, as a first step, we must restore our belief in ourselves. We are a generous people, so why can we not be generous with each other . We need to take to heart the words spoken by Thomas Jefferson restore the social intercourse, let us restore to social intercourse that horn to harmony without which liberty and even life are but things. I nation is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for holding the common good. A government is invigorated when each one of us is willing to theicipate in shaping ure of this nation their nation. Goodst define the common and begin again to shape a common future. Let each person do his or her part. If one citizen is unwilling to participate, all of us will suffer. For the american ideal, though it is shared by all of us, is realized in each one of us. [applause] and now, for those of us who are elected to officials of those who do, we call ourselves public servants. But i will tell you this. Must setlic servants an example for the rest of the nation. [applause] it is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and to uphold theple common good if we are derelict in upholding the common good. [applause] more is required. More is required of public slogans anden handshakes at press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future. If we promise as Public Officials, we must deliver. [applause] if we as Public Officials propose, we must produce. If we say to the American People, it is time for you to be sacrificial, sacrifice. If the public official stays that, we must be the first to give. We must be. [applause] again, if we make mistakes, we must be willing to admit them. We have to do that. [applause] do is strike a balance between the idea that the government should do everything and the idea, the belief that government ought to do nothing. Strike a balance. Aboutere be no illusions thisifficulty of forming kind of National Community. It is tough, difficult, not easy , but a spirit of harmony will survive in america only if each of us remembers that we share a common destiny. If each of us remembers when self interest and bitterness seem to prevail that we share a common destiny. I have confidence that we can form this kind of National Community. I have confidence that the Democratic Party can lead the way. I have that confidence. [applause] we cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the republic. There is no way to improve upon that, but what we can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny. Now, i began this speech by commenting to you on the uniqueness of a Barbara Jordan making a keynote address. Well, i am going to close my speech by quoting a republican president and i ask you that as you listen to these words of abraham lincoln, relate them to the concept of a National Community in which every last one of us participates as i would not be a slave, so i would not be a master. [applause] this expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy. Thank you. [applause] [applause] eight years later, mario cuomo delivered the keynote speech to democrats. He was governor of new york and went on to serve three terms. Earlier, cuomo tied for his class at law school. And was elected as Lieutenant Governor of new york. The 1984 Democratic National convention was held in san francisco. Gov. Cuomo thank you very much. On behalf of the great empire state and the whole family of new york, let me thank you for the great privilege of being able to address this convention. Please allow me to skip the stories and the poetry and the temptation to deal in nice but vague rhetoric. Let me instead use this valuable opportunity to deal immediately with the questions that should determine this election and that we all know are vital to the American People. Ten days ago, president reagan admitted that although some people in this country seemed to be doing well nowadays, others were unhappy, even worried, about themselves, their families, and their futures. The president said that he didnt understand that fear. He said, why, this country is a shining city on a hill. And the president is right. In many ways we are a shining city on a hill. But the hard truth is that not everyone is sharing in this citys splendor and glory. A shining city is perhaps all the president sees from the portico of the white house and the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well. But theres another city, theres another part to the shining city, the part where some people cant pay their mortgages, and most young people cant afford one, where students cant afford the education they need, and middleclass parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate. In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble, more and more people who need help but cant find it. Even worse, there are elderly people who tremble in the basements of the houses there. And there are people who sleep in the city streets, in the gutter, where the glitter doesnt show. There are ghettos where thousands of young people, without a job or an education, give their lives away to drug dealers every day. There is despair, mr. President , in the faces that you dont see, in the places that you dont visit in your shining city. In fact, mr. President , this is a nation [applause] mr. President you ought to know , that this nation is more a tale of two cities than it is just a shining city on a hill. [applause] maybe, maybe, mr. President , if you visited some more places, maybe if you went to appalachia where some people still live in sheds, maybe if you went to lackawanna where thousands of unemployed Steel Workers wonder why we subsidized foreign steel. [applause] maybe maybe, mr. President , if you stopped in at a shelter in chicago and spoke to the homeless there, maybe, mr. President , if you asked a woman who had been denied the help she needed to feed her children because you said you needed the money for a tax break for a millionaire or for a missile we couldnt afford to use. [applause] maybe maybe, mr. President. But im afraid not. Because the truth is, ladies and gentlemen, that this is how we were warned it would be. President reagan told us from the very beginning that he believed in a kind of social darwinism. Survival of the fittest. Government cant do everything, we were told, so it should settle for taking care of the strong and hope that economic ambition and charity will do the rest. Make the rich richer, and what falls from the table will be enough for the middle class and those who are trying desperately to work their way into the middle class. [applause] you know, the republicans called it trickledown when hoover tried it. Now they call it supply side. But its the same shining city for those relative few who are lucky enough to live in its good neighborhoods. But for the people who are excluded, for the people who are locked out, all they can do is stare from a distance at that citys glimmering towers. Its an old story. Its as old as our history. The difference between democrats and republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The republicans [applause] the republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail. [applause] the strong the strong, they tell us, will inherit the land. We democrats believe in something else. We democrats believe that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact, and we have more than once. [applause] ever since Franklin Roosevelt lifted himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its knees wagon train after wagon train to new frontiers of education, housing, peace, the whole family aboard, constantly reaching out to extend and enlarge that family, lifting them up into the wagon on the way, blacks and hispanics, and people of every ethnic group, and native americans all those struggling to build their families and claim some small share of america. For nearly 50 years we carried them all to new levels of comfort, and security, and dignity, even affluence. And remember this, some of us in this room today are here only because this nation had that kind of confidence. And it would be wrong to forget that. [applause] so, here we are at this convention to remind ourselves where we come from and to claim the future for ourselves and for our children. Today our great Democratic Party, which has saved this nation from depression, from fascism, from racism, from corruption, is called upon to do it again, this time to save the nation from confusion and division, from the threat of eventual fiscal disaster, and most of all from the fear of a Nuclear Holocaust. [applause] thats not going to be easy. Mo udall is exactly right it wont be easy. And in order to succeed, we must answer our opponents polished and appealing rhetoric with a more telling reasonableness and rationality. We must win this case on the merits. We must get the American Public to look past the glitter, beyond the showmanship to the reality, the hard substance of things. And well do it not so much with speeches that sound good as with speeches that are good and sound, not so much with speeches that will bring people to their feet as with speeches that will bring people to their senses. We must make [applause] we must make the American People hear our tale of two cities. We must convince them that we dont have to settle for two cities. That we can have one city, indivisible, shin