. over time more and more people are brought into the american family. announcer 2: sunday night at 8:00 eastern. former president george h.w. bush died friday night at the age of 94. 1998, he was chosen as the presidential nominee. here is his acceptance speech. [applause] [applause and cheers]

pres. bush: thank you, thank you. thank you so very much. [applause and cheers] thank you very, very much. i -- [applause and cheers] thank you all. thank you, ladies and gentlemen. thank you very, very much. thank you. [applause and cheers] thank you all very much. thank you so much. thank you.

[applause and cheers] .hank you, ladies and gentlemen much.you very, very thank you. very, very much. thank you. thank you. you, ladies and gentlemen. much.you very, very many friends to thank tonight. i thank the voters who supported me. i thank the gallant men who entered the contest for the presidency this year and who have honored me with their

support, and for their kind and stirring words, i thank governor senator,of new jersey, senator phil gramm of texas , -- [applause and cheers] president, president gerald ford, and my friend, and my friend, president ronald reagan. [applause and cheers] i accept your nomination for president. [applause and cheers] i mean --

i mean to run hard, to fight hard, to stand on the issues and i mean to win. we are a lot -- [applause and cheers] there are a lot of great stories in politics about the underdog winning, and this is going to be one of them. [applause and cheers] and we're going to win with the help of senator dan quayle of indiana, a young leader who has become a forceful voice in preparing america's workers for the labor force of the future. what a superb job he did tonight. born in the middle of the century, in the middle of america, and holding the promise of the future, i'm proud to have dan quayle at my side. [applause and cheers]

many of you have asked many of , you have asked, "when will this campaign really begin?" i have come to this hall to tell you, and to tell america, tonight is the night. [applause and cheers] for seven and a half years, i have helped the president conduct the most difficult job on earth. ronald reagan asked for, and received, my candor. he never asked for, but he did receive, my loyalty. and those of you who saw the presidents speech last -- the president's speech last week, and listened to the simple truth of his words, will understand my loyalty all these years. [applause and cheers]

but now, now you must see me for what i am, the republican candidate for president of the united states. [applause and cheers] and now i turn to the american people to share my hopes and intentions, and why and where i wish to lead. and so tonight is for big things. but i'll try to be fair to the other side. i'll try to hold my charisma in check. [applause and cheers] i reject the temptation to engage in personal references. my approach this evening is, as

sergeant joe friday used to say, "just the facts, ma'am." and after all -- [applause and cheers] after all, the facts are on our side. [applause and cheers] i seek the presidency for a single purpose, a purpose that has motivated millions of americans across the years and the ocean voyages. i seek the presidency to build a better america. it is that simple and that big. i am a man who sees life in terms of missions, missions defined and missions completed. and when i was a torpedo bomber pilot, they defined the mission for us.

and before we took off, we all understood that no matter what, you try to reach the target. and there have been other missions for me, congress, china, the cia. i am here tonight, and your candidate, because the most important work in my life is complete the mission that we started in 1980. [cheering] and how do we complete it? we build on it. 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. not only two very different men, but two very different ideas of the future will be voted on.

what it comes down to is this. my opponent's view of the world sees a long, slow decline for our country, and inevitable fall mandated by impersonal, historical forces. but come on is not in decline. america is a rising nation. [cheers and applause] [chanting "u.s.a."] >> he sees america as another pleasant country on the u.n.

roll call, somewhere between albania and zimbabwe. and i see america as the leader, a unique nation with a special role in the world. this has been called the american century, because we were the dominant force for good in the world. we saved europe, cured polio, it went to the moon, and lit the world with our culture. and now, we are on the verge of a new century. it what country's name will bear? i say it will be another american century. [cheering]

>> our work is not done. our force is not bent. there are those that say there's not much of a difference. two parties ask for your support, both will speak of growth, but only one has proven that it can deliver. two parties this year ask for your trust. only one has earned it. [cheering] >> 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 50 years.

[cheering] >> some say this is not an election about ideology, it is an election about competence. well, it is nice of them to try to play on our field. but this election is not only this incompetence -- election is not only about competence. competence is a narrow ideal. competence makes the trains run on time, but does not know where they are going. [cheering] competence is the creed of the

technocrat, who make sure the gears mesh, but does not for a second understand the magic of the machine. the truth is, this election is about the belief we share, the values we honor, and the principles we hold dear. [cheers and applause] but since someone brought up competence -- [laughter] >> consider the size of our triumphs. a record number of americans at work. a record high percentage of people would jobs. a record high of new businesses, a high rate of new business is. a record high the rate of real, personal income. these are the facts.

and one way -- [applause] >> and one way you know that our isonents know the facts, that to attack our record, they have to misrepresent it. they call it a swiss cheese economy. well, that is the way it may look to the three blind mice. but -- [laughter] [applause] >> but when they were in charge, it was all holes and no cheese. [cheering]

you know the litany. inflation was 13% when we came in, we got it down to 4%. interest rates were more than 21%, we cut them in half. unemployment was up and climbing, and now it is the lowest in 14 years. [applause] my friends, 8 years ago this economy was flat on its back, intensive care. and we came in and gave it emergency treatment. we got the temperature down by lowering regulations, 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! [cheering] and now, who do we hear knocking on the door, but the same doctors who made him sick. they are telling us to put them in charge of the case again? my friends, we are lucky we do not hit them with a malpractice suit. [cheering] >> we have created 17 million

new jobs the past five years, more than twice as many as europe and japan combined, and they are good jobs. the majority of them created in the past six years pay an average, average, of more than $22,000 a year. 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. [cheering] >> they promise, and we perform.

there are millions of young americans in their 20's who barely remember -- [cheering] >> who barely remember the days of gas and unemployment lines. now they are marrying and starting careers. to those young people, i say you have the opportunity you deserve, and i am not going to let them take it away from you. [cheering] >> 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. [cheers and applause] the women of america, i said, you know better than anyone that quality begins with -- the quality begins with economic empowerment. -- equality begins with economic empowerment. you are gaining economic power, and i am 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 will not let it out on furlough. [cheering] >> we are 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 am not going to let them take it away from you. [cheering] >> i know the liberal democrats are worried about the economy. they are worried it is going to remain strong.>> i know the libs and they're right, it is, with the right leaders, i will remain

strong. [cheering] frank, things are not perfect in this country. there are people who have not tasted the fruits of the expansion. i have talked to farmers about the bills they cannot pay, and i have been to the factories that feel the strain of change. i have seen the urban children who play admist the shattered glass, and shattered lives. there are the homeless. it does not do to debate over which policy mistake is responsible. they are there, and we must help them. if we are to be responsible and compassionate, is that economic growth is the key to our endeavors. i want growth that stays, and touchesroadens and 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. from the oil fields of oklahoma, to the farms of the great plains. can we do it? of course, we can. we know how. we've done it. [cheers and applause] >> and if we -- if we continue to grow at our current rate, we will be able to produce 30 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. [cheering]

>> our economic life is not the only test of our success. one issue overwhelms all of the others. that is the issue of peace. look at the world on this bright august night. the spirit of democracy is sweeping the pacific rim. new democracies reassert themselves in south america. one by one, the unfree places fall, not to the force of arms, but to the force of an idea. freedom works. [applause] >> 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

libya. iran and iraq move toward peace. it is a watershed. it is no accident. it happens when we act on the ancient knowledge that strength and clarity lead to peace, and weakness and ambivalence lead to war. [raucous applause] >> you see, weakness tempts aggressors. strength stops them. i will not allow this country to be made weak again. never. [cheering] >> 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 are in an unprecedented position to change the nature of our relationship, not by preemptive concessions, but by keeping our strength. not by yielding up defense systems with nothing won in return, but in cool engagement in diplomacy. [applause] >> my life has been lived in the shadow of war. i almost lost my life in one, and i hate war. i love peace. we have peace. and i am not going to let anyone

take it away from us. [applause] >> our economy is strong, but not invulnerable. and the piece is broad, but can be broken. is broad, but can be broken. we must decide. we will surely have changed, 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 says that we should not change horses in midstream. my friends, these days, the world moves more quickly. now, after two great terms, a switch will be made. but when you have to change horses in midstream, does it not make sense to switch to one going the same way?

[cheering] on election that is about ideals and values, is also about philosophy. and i have at the bright center one. is the individual. radiating out from him or her is the family, the essential unit of closeness and love. it is the family that communicates to our children to the 21st century our culture, faith, tradition, and history. from the individual, to the

family, to the committee and then on out to the town, the church, the school and still, at going out to the county, the state and the nation. each doing only what it does well, and no more. i believe that power must always be kept close to the individual, close to the hands that raised the family and run the home. [cheering] >> i am guided by certain traditions, one is that there is a god. he is good, and his love has a self-imposed cost. we must be good to one another. i believe in another tradition that is by now embedded in the national soul. it is that learning is good, in and of itself.

the mothers of the jewish ghettos of the east would pour honey on a book so that children would know that learning is sweet. the parents who settled hungry kansas would take their children in from the fields when a teacher came. that is our history. there is a another tradition, and that is the idea of committee. a beautiful word with a big meaning. the liberal democrats have an odd view of it. they see community as a limited cluster of interest groups, locked in on conformity. and in this view, the country waits, passive, while washington sets the rules. but that is not what community means, not to me. we are a nation of communities, of thousands and tens and thousands of ethnic, religious, social, labor union, neighborhood, and other organizations, all of them voluntary and unique.

this is america, the knights of columbus, the disabled american veterans, the order of business and professional women of america, the union hall, the ulac, study group, l holy names. brilliance diversity that is 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 community. not the hall, just a part. -- not the whole, just a part. i do not hate government. a government that remembers that people is its master. i respect old-fashioned common sense. [cheering]

>> and i have no great love for the imaginings of the social planners. you see, i like what has 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. i say yes. [cheering] >> should society be allowed to impose the death penalty on those that commit crimes of extraordinary cruelty and violence? my opponent says no, but i say yes. [cheering] >> 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. [cheering] >> should free men and women have the right to own a gun to protect their home? my opponent says no, but i say yes. [cheering] >> 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 -- [cheering] >> we must change. we have got to change from abortion to adoption. and let me tell you this -- [cheering] >> barbara and i have an adopted granddaughter. on the day of her christening, we wept with joy. i thanked god that her parents chose life. [cheering] >> i am the one who believes it is a scandal to give a weekend furlough to a hardened first-degree killer who has not even served enough time to be eligible for parole.

[cheering] >> i am the one who says that drug dealer who is responsible for the death of a policeman should be subject to capital punishment. [cheering] and i am the one who will not raise taxes. [cheering]

[chanting] >> my opponent now says he will raise them as a last resort or a third resort. but when a politician talks like that, you know that is one resort he will be checking into. [cheering] >> my opponent will not rule out raising taxes, but i well. the congress will usually to raise taxes, and i will say no. they will push, and i will say no. they will push again, and i will say to them -- read my lips, no new taxes. [cheering]

>> let me tell you more. let me tell you more. let me tell you more about the mission on jobs. my mission is 30 and eight. 30 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. i want power in the hands of the parents. [cheering]

>> i will encourage merit schools. i will give more kids a head start. i will make it easier to save for college. i want a drug-free america, and this will not be easy to achieve. [cheering] 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. [cheering] >> zero tolerance. [cheering] >> zero tolerance is not just a policy, it is an attitude. tell them what you think of

people who underwrite the dealers, who put poison in our society. and while you are doing that, my administration will be telling the dealers, what ever we have to do, we will do. but your day is over. you are history! [cheering] >> i am going to do what ever it takes to make sure that the disabled are included in the mainstream. for too long, they have been left out. but there are not going to be left out anymore. [cheering] >> i am going to stop ocean dumping.

our harbors should not be cesspools. [cheering] >> i am going to have the fbi trace the medical waste, and we will punish the people who dumped those infected needles into our oceans, lakes, and rivers. i'm going to clean the air, reduce the harm done by acid rain. i will put incentives back into the domestic energy industry, where i know there is no security for the united states in further dependence on foreign oil. [cheering] >> in foreign affairs, i will

continue our policy of peace through strength. i will move towards further cuts in strategic and conventional arsenals of both the united states, the soviet union, the eastern bloc, and nato. i will preserve our technological edge, including strategic defense. [cheering] a priority, ban chemical and biological weapons from the face of the earth. that will be a priority. [cheering] >> i intend to speak for freedom, stand for freedom, be a patient friend to anyone, east

or west, who will fight for freedom. it seems to me, that the presidency provides an incomparable opportunity for gentle persuasion. and i hope to stand for a new harmony, a greater tolerance. we have come far, but i think we need a new harmony among the races in our country. we are on a journey into a new century. we've got to leave the tired old baggage of bigotry behind. [cheering] [applause] >> some people who are prosperity have forgotten what it is for. they diminish our triumph, and when they act as if wealth is an an end in itself.

there are those who have dropped their standards, as if ethics was too heavy and slow their rise to the top. there is greed on wall street's, -- there is great on wall street, whose influence-puddling in washington -- whose influence-paddling in washington adds to small corrections every day. i believe public service is honorable, and every time i hear that someone has breached the public trust, it breaks my heart. and i wonder sometimes if we have forgotten who we are. we are the people who sundered a it sin rather than allow , called slavery. we are the people who rose from the ghettos. we were not saints, but we lived by standards. we celebrated the individual, but we were not self-centered. we were practical. we did not live only for material things. we believed in getting ahead, but blind ambition was not our way. the fact is, prosperity has a

purpose. it is to allow us to pursue the better angel, should give us time to think and to grow. prosperity with a purpose means taking your idealism and making it concrete by certain acts of goodness. it means helping a child from an .nhappy home learn how to read and i think my wife, barbara, for all her work in helping people to read, and all her work of literacy. [raucous applause] >> for me, it means teaching troubled children through your presence that there is such a thing as reliable love.

some would say that it is soft and insufficiently tough to care about these things. where is it written that we must act as if we do not care, as this we are not moved? well, i am moved. i want a kinder and gentler nation. ask for youryear support, and you must know us. as for me, i have held high office, and done the work of democracy day by day. yes, my parents were prosperous, and their children sure were lucky, but there were lessons we had to learn about life. john kennedy discovered poverty when he campaigned in west virginia. there were children who had no milk. and young teddy roosevelt met the new america when he roamed the immigrant streets of new york. and i learned a few things about life in a place called texas. [cheering]

and when i was working on this part of the speech, barbara came in and asked what i was doing. and i looked up and said, i am working hard. and she said, oh dear, don't worry. relax. sit back. take off your shoes, and put up your silver foot. [laughter] [applause] we moved to west texas 40 years ago. 40 years ago this year. the war was over, and we wanted to get out and make it on her -- make it on our own. those were exciting days. we lived in a little shotgun house, one room for the three of us. i worked in the oil business.

i started my own, and in time, we had six children. we moved from the shotgun, to a duplex apartment, then to a house, and lived the dream. high school football on friday nights. little league, neighborhood barbecue. people don't see their own experience as symbolic of an era. but of course, we were. and so was everyone else who was taking the chance and pushing into unknown territory with kids and a dog, and a car. but the big thing i learned was the satisfaction of creating jobs, which meant creating opportunities, which meant happy families who in turn could do more to help others, and enhance their own lives. i learned that a good done by a single good job can be felt in ways you cannot imagine. it has been said that i am not the most compelling speaker.

and there are actually those who claim that i don't always ,ommunicate in the clearest most concise way. but i dare them to keep it up. go ahead! make my 24 hour time period! [applause] [laughter] [applause] >> i may not be the most eloquent, but i learned early on that eloquence will not draw oil from the ground. and i may sometimes be a little awkward, but there is nothing self-conscious in my love of

and i may sometimes be a little country. i am a quiet man, but -- [applause] >> i am a quiet man, but i hear the quiet people that others do not. the ones who raise the families, pay the taxes, meet the mortgage. i hear them and i am moved. their concerns are mine. a president must be many things, . he must be a shrewd protector of america's interests, and he must be an idealist who moves for those for a freer and democratic planet. and he must see to it that government intrudes as little as possible in the lives of the people, and yet remember that it a right and proper, that nation's leader take an in the nation's character. you must be able to define and lead a mission. for 7.5 years, i have worked

a great president. i have seen what crosses that the desk. i have seen the unexpected crisis arrives in a cable in a hands.ide's i have seen modest decisions made with anguish, and crucial decisions made with dispatch. so i know that what all comes down to this election, what it all comes down to after all the shouting and the tears, is the man at the desk. and who should sit at that desk, my friends, i am batman! thatfriends, i am man! [applause]

>> i say it without boast or bravado. i have fought for my country. i have served, i have built. and i will go from the hills to the hollows, from the cities to the suburbs, from the loneliest ton on the quietest street, take our message of hope and growth for every american, to every american. i will keep america moving forward, always forward. for a better america. dreamn and less enduring of 1000 points of light. this is my mission, and i will complete it. [raucous applause] >> thank you.

tough -- it isis customary to end an address with a pledge or saying that holds a special meaning. i have chosen one that we all know by heart. one that we all learned in school, and ask everyone in this great hall to stand and join me in this. we all know it. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. [raucous applause] ♪

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>> para bailar la bamba para bailar la bamba se necesita una poca de gracia una poca de gracia pa(ra) mi pa(ra) ti ♪ arriba y arriba y arriba y arriba, por ti sere ♪ >> members of the house and senate will take part in a house in ceremony for the format list president george h.w. bush and

the capitol rotunda on monday. after that, the public will be able to pay their respects from 7:30 p.m. monday through 7 a.m. wednesday morning. we will have live coverage beginning at 5 p.m. eastern on c-span. ♪ when the new congress takes office january, it will have the youngest, most diverse freshman class in history. new congress, new leaders periodically to live on c-span, starting january 3. >> best selling thriller author brad meltzer will be our guest on "in depth: fiction edition." on sunday at noon eastern. his most recent book debuted at number one on the new york times bestseller list. his other books include "the in ,"circle," "the book of faith and eight other bestsellers. join us for "in depth: fiction

edition." announcer: tomorrow on live sunday from noon to 3 p.m. eastern on book tv, on c-span2. former president george h.w. bush will lie in state at the capitol monday evening through wednesday morning. president trump has announced wednesday will be a national day of mourning to honor the former president, who passed away friday night at the age of 94. in the 19 end nine, the former president talked with c-span's brian lamb about his personal life and his time as cia director, vice president and president, as well as his relationship with ronald reagan. this is