Sure to join the conversation with your calls, texts, and tweets. Announcer as the Republican NationalConvention Gets Underway tonight, we will hear from prominent speakers from past conventions. Senator howard baker from 1984. Then pat buchanan in 1992. , retired general colin powell in 1996. And former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in 2012. Howard baker had already been Senate Majority leader for three years when he addressed the 1984 Republican Convention. He became 18 years, known as the great negotiator, including passage of the Clean Air Act and the clean water act. Senator baker was vice chair of the committee that investigated whitewater, president nixon, and members of his administration. 35 years later during the impeachment trials of president trump, intelligence chair adam schiff asked, where is howard baker . Where the people willing to go beyond their party to look to their duty . Senator baker spoke to delegates in dallas. Sen. Baker thank you very much. Late is and gentlemen, thank you very much. Does anybody here think Ronald Reagan should be reelected president of the United States . [cheers and applause] ici have come to the right place. [laughter] come to amocrats have different conclusion. They say america is waiting for Walter Mondale. [crowd booing] they say america is trembling, despairing, terrorized, greedy, and divided between the lucky and the left out. And for a while, i thought they were talking about themselves. [laughter] [applause] bud, my friends thats america , theyre talking about. And thats why america will reelect Ronald Reagan and a lot more republicans in 1984. [cheers and applause] americas choice this year is not just between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale. Its between a team that has proven it can succeed and a team that has proven it cant. The cartermondale team gave us doubledigit inflation, 21 interest rates, a punching bag for Foreign Policy, and the misery index. That is because misery has become very important to Walter Mondale. Because, you see when hes in , office, he creates it. And when he is out, he invents it. [applause] because Walter Mondale has nothing to offer to a successful america. [cheers and applause] in Ronald Reagans america, more people are working than ever before, and Walter Mondale cannot stand it. [applause] in Ronald Reagans america, the economy is growing faster than it has in 30 years. And Walter Mondale cant stand it. [applause] inflation is the lowest its been in a dozen years. Interest rates are eight points lower than under carter and mondale. And income taxes have been cut 25 . And Walter Mondale cant stand it. [applause] in Ronald Reagans america, the crime rate is going down. People can buy cars and houses and take vacations again. Small businesses have been started since 1980, and 6. 5 million new jobs have been created in the last 19 months alone, and Walter Mondale cannot stand that either. [applause] religion,every race, gender, and generation are sharing this progress. Money to helpmore people in genuine need than any other government in history. People do not need government to tell them what to do and how to do it. And Walter Mondale cannot stand it. [applause] he is trying to invent another america of trembling and despairing, a miserable america that needs the Democratic Party to come to its rescue. The democrats are doing their best to rebuild the Old Coalition that elected Franklin Roosevelt so many times, but it is not going to work. Walter mondale is running for president this year, and he aint no fdr. [applause] only rescue america has needed lately was from cartermondale in 1980. [applause] fellow delegates mr. Mondale , tells us hes learned from his mistakes. He says hes learned to say no. But listen to what he has learned to say no to already. Organized labor asked if he disagreed with them on anything. And he said, no. [laughter] the limousine liberals asked if hed oppose anything they want. And he said, no. And somebody somewhere asked if hed mind raising our taxes. He said, no to that, too. [applause] delegates, he is not the only one who can say no. 50 million American People said no to Walter Mondale four years ago, and theyre going to say no to him again in 1984. [cheers and applause] and they are going to say yes to Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party in 1984. [cheers and applause] weve shown our fellow citizens that we know how to govern and how not to. Were as united in our purpose as the democrats are divided in theirs. We said wed put america back to work. We did. We said wed get government off peoples backs. And we did. We said wed make america strong again. And we did. We said wed restore americas commitment to freedom and justice in the world, and for starters, we rescued freedom and justice and 1,100 americans on the island of grenada. [cheers and applause] my friends, we have done these things because we have faith in the people and the nation we serve. We dont have to wave the flag to prove we love this country. We were waving the flag when some people were burning it. [applause] we want america to be successful, not miserable. We want america to be a strong, compassionate, peaceful country that believes in itself and builds a Better Future for its people one day at a time. We want the world to remember that the greatest revolution for the rights of mankind began in this country two centuries ago, and its not over yet. [applause] the right to life, the right to liberty, the right to pursue happiness are the gifts of god, not of government. No government on earth should presume to interfere with these fundamental rights of men and women. [applause] we believe that no right is more fundamental than the right to live in peace, free from the harassment of government and free from the haunting specter of war. We long for the day when those who choose to be our adversaries will choose instead to abandon their request for dominion and join us in fighting the real enemies of the world. Hunger, disease, ignorance, want, and war itself. These are the goals worthy of a great people. And, my fellow delegates, we are a great people. [applause] in the last four years, weve shown the world again just how great we are. Were americans. And were are proud of it. [cheers and applause] and were going to celebrate it in 1984 by reelecting Ronald Reagan president of the United States of america. [cheers and applause] republicanthe 1992 convention was also held in texas. Pat buchanan did not get the nomination that year or when he ran again in 1996, but he was in reform Party Nominee 2000. Mr. Buchanan was White House Communications director for Ronald Reagan and a consultant Richard Nixon and gerald ford. He has appeared on msnbc and fox news and was a cofounder of the american conservative magazine. Mr. Buchanan listen, my friends. We may have taken the long way home, but we finally got here to houston. [cheers and applause] and the first thing i want to do tonight is to congratulate president george bush and to remove any doubt about where we stand. The primaries are over, the heart is strong again, and the buchanan brigades are enlisted, all the way to a great republican comeback victory in november. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting] friends, likemy many of you, like many of you last month, i watched that giant masquerade ball up at Madison Square garden, where 20,000 liberals and radicals came dressed up as moderates and centrists in the greatest single exhibition of crossdressing in american political history. [cheers and applause] you know, 1 one by one, the prophets of doom appeared at the podium. The reagan decade, they moaned, was a terrible time in america, and they said the only way to prevent worse times is to turn our countrys fate and our countrys future over to the party that gave us mcgovern, mondale, carter, and michael dukakis. [booing] where do they find these leaders . No way, my friends. The American People are not going to go back into the discredited liberalism of the 1960s and the failed liberalism of the 1970s, no matter how slick the package in 1992. [cheers and applause] [chuckles] chanting] thein malcontents, the malcontents of Madison Square garden notwithstanding, the 1980s were not terrible years in america. They were great years. You know it, and i know it. And everyone knows it except the carping critics who sat on the sidelines of history, jeering at one of the great statesmen of modern time, Ronald Reagan. [cheers and applause] you know, out of remember that time, out of jimmy carters days of malaise, Ronald Reagan crafted Ronald Reagan crafted the greatest peacetime economic recovery in history, 3 million new businesses and 20 million new jobs. Under the reagan doctrine, one by one, it was the communist dominos that began to fall. First, grenada was liberated by u. S. Airborne troops and the u. S. Marine corps. [cheers and applause] then, the mighty red army was driven out of afghanistan with american weapons. And then in nicaragua, that , squalid, marxist regime was forced to hold free elections by Ronald Reagans contra army and the communists were thrown out of power. [cheers and applause] fellow americans, we ought to remember, it was under our party that the berlin wall came down and europe was reunited. It was under our party that the soviet empire collapsed and the captive nations broke free. You know, it is said that every american president will be remembered in history with but a single sentence. George washington was the father of his country. Abraham lincoln freed the slaves and saved the union. And Ronald Reagan won the cold war. [cheers and applause] it is time [cheers and applause] and it is just about time it is just about time that my old colleagues, the columnists and commentators, looking down on us tonight from their sky boxes and anchor booths, gave Ronald Reagan the full credit he deserves for leading america to victory in the cold war. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting] friends,of all, my most of all, Ronald Reagan made us proud to be americans again. We never felt better about our country, and we never stood taller in the eyes of the world than when the gipper was at the helm. [cheers and applause] but we are here tonight, my friends, not only to celebrate, but to nominate. And an american president has many roles. He is our first diplomat, the architect of American Foreign policy, and which of these two men is more qualified for that great role . George bush has been you and ambassador has been you and ambassador, u. N. Director of the cia, envoy to china. As Vice President , george bush coauthored and cosigned the policies that won the cold war. As president , george bush presided over the liberation of Eastern Europe and the termination of the warsaw pact. And what about mr. Clinton . Well, bill clinton bill clinton couldnt find 150 words to discuss Foreign Policy in an acceptance speech that lasted almost an hour. You know, as was said, as was said of another democratic candidate, bill clintons Foreign Policy experience is pretty much confined to having had breakfast once at the International House of pancakes. [laughter] [cheers and applause] let us recall what happened. Let us look at the record and recall what happened. Under president george bush, more human beings escaped from the prison house of tyranny to freedom than in any other fouryear period in history. [cheers and applause] and for any man let me tell you, for any man to call this a record of failure is the cheap , political rhetoric of politicians who only know how to build themselves up by tearing america down, and we dont want that kind of leadership in the United States. [cheers and applause] the presidency, my friends the presidency is also an office that Theodore Roosevelt called americas bully pulpit. Harry truman said it was preeminently a place of moral leadership. George bush is a defender of righttolife and a champion of the judeochristian values and beliefs upon which america was founded. [cheers and applause] mr. Clinton mr. Clinton, however, has a different agenda. At its top is unrestricted unrestricted abortion on demand. , when the irishcatholic governor of pennsylvania, robert casey, asked to say a few words on behalf of the 25 million unborn children destroyed since roe v. Wade, bob casey was told there was no room for him at the podium at bill clintons convention and no room at the inn. [booing] yet yet a militant leader of the homosexual Rights Movement could rise at that same convention and say, bill clinton and al gore represent the most prolesbian and progay ticket in history. And so, they do. Bill clinton says he supports school choice, but only for staterun schools. Parents who send their children Christian Schools or private schools or jewish schools or Catholic Schools need not apply. [booing] elect me, and you get two for the price of one, mr. Clinton says, of his lawyerspouse. [chuckles] and what does hillary believe . Well, hillary believes that 12yearolds should have the right to sue their parents, and hillary has compared marriage and the family as institutions to slavery and life on an indian reservation. Well, speak for yourself, hillary. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting] friends this, my friends, is , abortion on demand, a litmus test, the Supreme Court, discrimination against religious schools, women in combat units. It is a change, all right. That is not the kind of change america needs. It is not the kind of change america wants. And it is not the kind of change we can abide in a nation that we still call gods country. [cheers and applause] the president of the United States the president of the United States is also americas commanderinchief. Hes the man we authorize to send fathers and sons and brothers and friends into battle. George bush was 17 years old when they bombed pearl harbor. He left his high school graduation, he walked down to the recruiting office, and he signed up to become the youngest Fighter Pilot in the pacific war. [cheers and applause] and mr. Clinton, and bill i will tell you where he was. I will tell you where he was. I will tell you where he was. Let me tell you where he was. When bill clintons time came in vietnam, he sat up in a dormitory room in oxford, england, and figured out how to dodge the draft. Let me ask the question to this convention. Which of these two men has won the moral authority to send Young Americans into battle . I suggest, respectfully, i suggest respectfully, it is the American Patriot and war hero, Navy Lieutenant j. G. George Herbert Walker bush. [cheers and applause] my fellow americans, my fellow isricans, this campaign about philosophy and it is about , character, and george bush wins hands down on both counts, counts. [cheers and applause] and it is time all of us came home and stood beside him. As his running mate mr. Clinton , chose albert gore. [booing] but just how moderate is Prince Albert . [laughter] well, according to the National Taxpayers union, al gore beat out Teddy Kennedy, two straight years, for the title of biggest spender in the u. S. Senate, and Teddy Kennedy isnt moderate about anything. I am not kidding. I am not kidding about teddy. Do many other 60yearolds you know still go to florida for spring break . [cheers and applause] at that great, Big Costume Party they held in new york, henceforth, albert gore said the central organizing principle of governments everywhere must be the environment. Wrong, albert [cheers and applause] the central organizing principle of this republic is freedom. And from the ancient forests, the the ancient forests of oregon and washington, to the inland empire of california, americas great middle class has got to start standing up to these environmental extremists who put birds and rats and insects ahead of families, workers, and jobs. [cheers and applause] one year ago one year ago, my fri