Partys nomination at the 1980 Republican National convention in detroit, the former governor called on americans to food and he pledged to cut taxes and increase built hickey spending. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. [chanting] we love reagan. You are singing our song. For the first thrill tonight was to find myself in the first time in a long time in a movie on prime time. [laughs] [applause] but this, as you can imagine is the second big thrill. Mr. Chairman, mr. Vice president to be, this convention, my fellow citizens of this great nation with a deep awareness of the responsibility conferred by your trust, i accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States. [cheers i do so with deep gratitude. I think i might also interject on behalf of all of us our thanks to detroit and the people of michigan and the people of the city for the warm hospitality. [applause] and i thank you for your whole hearted response to my recommendation in regard to george bush as the candidate for vice president. I am very proud of our party tonight, this convention has shown to all america apart a united, with positive programs for solving nations problems. A party ready to build a new consensus with all those across the land who Share Community values embodied in these words family, work, neighborhood, peace, and freedom. I know that we have had a quarrel or two, but only as a method of obtaining a goal. There is no argument about the goal. As president , i will establish a liaison with the 50 governors and we to encourage them to illuminate, wherever it exists, discrimination against women. I will monitor federal laws to ensure their implementation and to add statutes if they are needed. More than anything else, i want my candidacy to unify our country, to renew the american spirit and the sense of purpose. Im going to carry our message to any american regardless of any Party Affiliation who is a member of this community of share values. Never before in our history have americans been called upon to face three grave threats to our very existence, any one of which could destroy us. We face a disintegrating economy, a weekend defense and an Energy Policy based on the sharing of scarcity. The major issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal, and moral responsibility of Democratic Party leadership in the white house and in the congress for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us. [applause] they tell us they have done the most that could humanly be done, they say that the United States has had it stay in the sun, that our nation has passed its zenith. They expect you to tell your children that the American People no longer have the will to cope with the problems, that the future will be one of sacrifice and few opportunities. My fellow citizens, i utterly reject that view. [applause] Ronald Reagan the American People, the most generous on earth, who created the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backwards ourselves. And those who believe we can, have no business leading the is nation. [applause] Ronald Reagan i will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose. We have come together here because the American People deserve better from those to whom they entrust our nations highest offices, and we stand united in our resolve to do something about it. We need a rebirth of the american tradition of leadership at every level of government and in private life as well. The United States of america is unique in World History because it has a genius for leaders many leaders on many levels. But back in 1976, mr. Carter said, trust me. And a lot of people did. And now, many of those people are out of work. Many have seen their savings eaten away by inflation. Many others on fixed incomes, especially the elderly, have watched helplessly as the cruel tax of inflation wasted away their purchasing power. And today, a great many who trusted mr. Carter wonder if we can survive the carter policies of national defense. Trust me Government Asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man, that we trust him to do whats best for us. My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties. [applause] Ronald Reagan the trust is where it belongs in the people. The responsibility to live up to that trust is where it belongs, in their elected leaders. That kind of relationship, between the people and their elected leaders, is a special kind of compact. 360 years ago, in 1620, a group of families dared to cross a mighty ocean to build a future for themselves in a new world. When they arrived at plymouth, massachusetts, they formed what they called a compact an agreement among themselves to build a community and abide by its laws. This single act the voluntary binding together of free people to live under the law set the pattern for what was to come. A century and a half later, the descendants of those people pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to found this nation. Some forfeited their fortunes and their lives, none sacrificed honor. Four score and seven years later, Abraham Lincoln called upon the people of all america to renew their dedication and their commitment to a government of, for, and by the people. Isnt it once again time to renew our compact of freedom, to pledge to each other all that is best in our lives, all that gives meaning to them for the sake of this, our beloved and blessed land . Together, let us make this a new beginning. Let us make a commitment to care for the needy, to teach our children the virtues handed down to us by our families to have, the courage to defend those values and the willingness to, sacrifice for them. Let us pledge to restore, in our time, the american spirit of voluntary service, of cooperation, of private and community initiative, a spirit that flows like a deep and mighty river through the history of our nation. As your nominee, i pledge to restore to the federal government the capacity to do the peoples work without dominating their lives. [applause] i pledge to you a government that will not only work well, but wisely. Its ability to act tempered by prudence and its willingness to do good balanced by the knowledge that government is never more dangerous than when our desire to have it help us blinds us to its great power to harm us. [applause] the first republican president once said, while the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the government in the short space of four years. If mr. Lincoln could see whats happened in these last threeandahalf years, he might hedge a little on that statement. [laughter] [applause] but with the virtues that our legacy as a free people and with the vigilance that sustains liberty, we still have time to use our renewed compact to overcome the injuries that have been done to america these past threeandahalf years. First, we must overcome something the present administration has cooked up a new and altogether indigestible economic stew, one part inflation, one part high unemployment, one part recession, one part runaway taxes, one part deficit spending seasoned by an energy crisis. Its an economic stew that has turned the national stomach. [applause] ours are not problems of abstract economic theory. Those are problems of flesh and blood, problems that cause pain and destroy the moral fiber of real people who should not suffer the further indignity of being told by the government that it is all somehow their fault. We do not have inflation because as mr. Carter says we have lived too well. The head of a government which has utterly refused to live within its means and which has, in the last few days, told us that this coming years deficit will be 60 billion, dares to point the finger of blame at business and labor, both of which have been engaged in a losing struggle just trying to stay even. [applause] high taxes, we are told, are somehow good for us, as if, when government spends our money it isnt inflationary, but when we spend it, it is. [applause] those who preside over the worst Energy Shortage in our history tell us to use less, so that we will run out of oil, gasoline, and natural gas a little more slowly. Well now, conservation is desirable, of course, for we must not waste energy. But conservation is not the sole answer to our energy needs. America must get to work producing more energy. [applause] the Republican Program for solving economic problems is based on growth and productivity. Large amounts of oil and natural gas lay beneath our land and off our shores, untouched because the present administration seems to believe the American People would rather see more regulation, more taxes, and more controls than more energy. Coal offers great potential. So does Nuclear Energy produced under rigorous safety standards. [applause] it could supply electricity for thousands of industries and millions of jobs and homes. It must not be thwarted by a tiny minority opposed to Economic Growth which often finds friendly ears in regulatory agencies for its obstructionist campaigns. [applause] now, make no mistake. We will not permit the safety of our people or our environment al heritage to be jeopardized, but we are going to reaffirm that the Economic Prosperity of our people is a fundamental part of our environment. [applause] our problems are both acute and chronic, yet all we hear from those in positions of leadership are the same tired proposals for more government tinkering, more meddling, and more control all of which led us to this sorry state in the first place. Can anyone look at the record of this administration and say, well done . Can anyone compare the state of our economy when the Carter Administration took office with where we are today and say, keep up the good work . Can anyone look at our reduced standing in the world today and say, lets have four more years of this . I believe the American People are going to answer these questions as you have answered them in the first week of november and their answer will be, no weve had enough. [applause] and then it will be up to us beginning next january 20th to offer an administration and congressional leadership of competence and more than a little courage. We must have the clarity of vision to see the difference between what is essential and what is merely desirable, and then the courage to bring our Government Back under control. [applause] it is essential that we maintain both the Forward Momentum of Economic Growth and the strength of the safety net between those in our society who need help. We also believe it is essential that the integrity of all aspects of Social Security be preserved. [applause] beyond these essentials, i believe it is clear our federal government is overgrown and overweight. Indeed, it is time for our government to go on a diet. [applause] therefore, my first act as chief executive will be to impose an immediate and thorough freeze on federal hiring. [cheers and applause] then, we are going to enlist the very best minds from business, labor, and whatever quarter to conduct a detailed review of every department, bureau, and agency that lives by federal appropriations. [applause] and we are going to enlist the help and ideas of many dedicated and hard working Government Employees at all levels who want a more Efficient Government just as much as the rest of us do. [applause] i know that many of them are demoralized by the confusion and waste they confront in their work as a result of failed and failing policies. Our instructions to the groups we enlist will be simple and direct. We will remind them that Government Programs exist at the sufferance of the american taxpayer and are paid for with money earned by working men and women. And programs that represent a waste of their money a theft from their pocketbooks must have that waste eliminated or that program must go. [applause] it must go by executive order where possible, by congressional action where necessary. Everything that can be run more effectively by state and local government we shall turn over to state and local government, along along with the Funding Sources to pay for it, we are going to put an end to the money merrygoround where our money becomes washingtons money to be spent by the states and cities exactly the way the federal bureaucrats tell us how it has to be spent. I will not accept excuse that the federal government has grown so big and powerful that it is beyond the control of any president , any administration, or congress. We are going to put an end to the notion that the american taxpayer exists to fund the federal government. The federal government exists to serve the American People. [applause] on january 20th, we are going to reestablish the truth. Also on that date, we are going to initiate action to get substantial relief or taxpaying citizens an action to put people back to work. [applause] none of this will be based on any new form of monetary tinkering or fiscal sleight of hand. We will simply apply to government the common sense we all use in our daily lives. Work and family are at the center of our lives, the foundation of our dignity is free people. When we deprive people of what they have earned, take away their jobs, we distort their dignity and undermine their families. If you can support your families and lost their jobs. And we cant have jobs unless the people have both money to invest and the faith to invest it. These are concepts that stem from an Economic System that for more than 200 years has helped us master master continent, create a previously undrained of prosperity for our people, and has fed millions of others around the globe that system will continue to serve us in the future for government will stop ignoring the basic values on which it was built and stop betraying the trust and goodwill of the American Workers who keep it going. The American People are reagan the American People are carrying the heaviest peacetime tax burden in our nations history and it will grow even heavier, under present law, next january. We are taxing ourselves into economic exhaustion and stagnation, crushing our ability and incentive to save, invest, and produce. This must stop. We must halt this fiscal selfdestruction and restore sanity to our Economic System. I have long advocated a 30 reduction in income tax rates over a period of three years. This phased tax reduction would begin with a 10 down payment tax cut in 1981, which the republicans and congress and i have already proposed. A phased reduction of tax rates would go a long way toward easing the heavy burden on the American People, but we should not stop there, within the context of Economic Conditions and appropriate budget priorities, during each fiscal year of presidency, i would strive to go further. This would include improvement in business depreciation taxes so we can stimulate investment in order to get plants and equipment replaced. [applause] put more americans back to work and put our nation back on the road to being competitive in world commerce. We will also work to reduce the cost of government as a percentage of our Gross National product. [applause] the first task of National Leadership is to set realistic and honest priorities in our policies and budget. I pledge that my administration will do that. When i talk of tax cuts, im reminded that every major tax cut in this century has strengthened the economy, generated renewed productivity, and ended up yielding new revenues for the government by creating new investment, new jobs, and more commerce among our people. The present administration has been forced by us republicans to play followtheleader with regard to a tax cut. But in this election year, we must take with the proverbial grain of salt any tax cut proposed by those who have given us the greatest single tax increase in our nations history. [applause] with those in leadership give us tax increases and tell us we must also do with less, have they thought about those who have always had less especially the minorities . This is like telling them that just as they step on the first rung of the ladder of opportunity, the ladder is being pulled out from under them. That may be the democratic leaderships message to the minorities, but it wont be our message. [applause] ours will be, we have to move ahead, but we are not going to leave anyone behind. Thanks to the economic policies of the Democratic Party, millions of americans find themselves out of work. Millions more have never even had a fair chance to learn new skills, hold a decent job, or secure for themselves and their families a share in the prosperity of this nation. It is time to put america back to work, to make our cities and towns resound with the confident voices of men and women of all races, nationalities, and faiths bringing home to their families a decent paycheck they can cash for honest money. [applause] for those without skills, well find a way to help them get new skills. For those without job opportunities, well stimulate new opportunities, particular