he was the first one in his party to declare for the 1992 race and called his campaign a journey of purpose. arkansas governor bill clinton would go on to win the 1992 democratic presidential nomination with senator tsongas carrying seven states and finishing third. ♪ [applause] [cheering] [applause]

>> good morning. [cheering] >> i accept the nomination, thank you. [laughter] [applause] >> today, we plant the seeds of america's economic renaissance. and the rain is going to make them grow. [applause] >> 200 years ago, our funding founding fathers gave us the democracy. it was based on the simple yet noble idea that government derives its validity from the consent of the governed. that consent must be constantly renewed. it can only be renewed by a full and vigorous debate on the issues that confront our nation. today, that search for renewal begins.

that search for consent precedes as the constitution has provided. today, the national debate will commence. it begins here in this city. [cheering] [applause] >> lowell is my home. it is where i drew my first breath. it is where i will always derive a sense of place and a sense of belonging. it is what i am. and you, my neighbors and my friends, are what i am as well. i am an american. i love this country. [applause] [cheering] >> you are americans. you love this country. [applause]

together, we are entrusted with the principles that represent mankind's greatest political and social achievement. america is hope. america is compassion. it is excellence. it is valor. it is humanity. its values have drawn us here from every corner of the globe. these values are a manifest destiny. yet the leadership in washington has squandered that promise. we were never meant to be the world's greatest debtor nation. we were never meant to have our patrimony sold tony

the highest bidder. we were never meant to have america's workers ranked ninth in the world and wages. we were never meant to have dysfunctional schools or imploding cities or racial disharmony or an environment at risk. [applause] >> america is more than this. we are more than this. our destiny is greatness, and we must return to its fulfillment. [applause] enough of this washington avoidance. enough of this washington mediocrity. we must return to the glory of our forbearers by unleashing the greatness of our people. we need leadership that calls upon the best of us. we need leadership that pursues a higher vision. [applause] >> today, that leadership is not in washington. that leadership is here and

across america. [applause] [cheering] >> it is in the hearts and minds and souls of the american people. i want to deploy that leadership to meet the challenges that face us, and to restore america's greatness. [cheering] [applause] >> that is why today, i declare my candidacy for president of the united states. [cheering] [applause] [cheering] [applause]

[cheering] [applause] >> are you ready? let's go! [cheering] [applause] >> i am getting wet. [laughter] today, i begin a journey of purpose. and i ask you to come with me. on this journey, we will reaffirm the values of our ancestors, hard work, determination, will, thrift, productivity, perseverance. and through that affirmation, we will again be the greatest economic power on earth. [cheering] [applause]

>> on this journey, we will rediscover the caring and compassion for one another that has been dishonored by the reagan-bush years. [applause] >> and in that discovery, we will look upon each other as brothers and sisters, and as a community which nurtures its young, its ailing, and its young less fortunate. [applause] >> and on this journey, we will reach into the future and commit ourselves to thinking in generations. we are a continuum, just as we reach back to our ancestors for our fundamental values, so we as guardians of that legacy must

reach ahead to the children and their children. these are our children. [applause] >> and these, too, of course. [laughter] >> and we do so with a sense of sacredness in that reaching. that sense of sacredness, that thinking in generations, must reverence for this earth. [cheering] [applause] >> this land, this water, this air, this planet, this rain, this is our legacy to our young. yet the reagan-bush years have been a time of cynical avoidance of one environmental issue after another. acid rain, energy conservation,

depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, and uncontrolled world population. journey with me to a true commitment to our environment. [applause] >> journey with me to the serenity of leaving to our children a planet in equilibrium. [applause] >> thinking in generations also means enabling our young to have a decent standard of living. not that reagan-bush legacy to our children of an additional $3 trillion of debt. that debt will forever burden and handicap them. george bush promised, read my lips, no new taxes. it won an election.

but what he really meant was, read my lips, add new debt. that is generationally immoral. [cheering] [applause] >> our children deserve better. on this journey of purpose, i commit myself to making this country a striving, thriving, triumphant competitor in the world marketplace. [applause] >> i commit myself to in america where a standard of living and our industrial output are second to none in the world. [applause] >> i commit myself to economic security, for this generation and their children.

this obligation to our young is as old as civilization. in the apache tongue, the word for grandfather and grandson is the same. they understood linkage. they understood honor. they understood mutual obligation. in washington, there is no such wisdom. [applause] >> in washington, it is all here and now. it is all polling data. the vision extends only to the next election. it is time to look to our children and feel our responsibility to them. that is my journey of purpose. i want to meet that responsibility so that we can rest easy in our guardianship of this time and this place. from a viable economy to the full funding of head start, from a clean environment to true

equality for women, from a strong military to a commitment to racial brotherhood, from schools that are honored to streets that are free of excessive violence, these are our responsibilities to our children. [applause] >> i will devote myself to the search for their fulfillment. and finally, this journey of purpose must be a journey of choice. we must choose action. we must choose commitment. i offer a different path. harder, but more hopeful. longer, but more compelling. steeper, but more worthy. seven and a half years ago, i began my own journey. for me and my family, it was a time of adversity.

but during that adversity, i discovered a deeper faith. and born out of that adversity was a commitment to devote myself to those people and to those issues that truly matter to me. today, together with nikki and ashley and molly, i pledge to fulfill that commitment. we all journey in this world. it is our calling. america is the sum of all their journeys as research for our national identity and national community. come with me. we are a great nation. [applause] [cheering] [applause]

>> we are a great people! [cheering] [applause] >> may god give us the strength to be worthy of this greatness. let's go get them! [cheering] [applause] [applause] ♪

>> c-span takes you on the road to the white house, best access to the candidates at town hall meetings, speeches, rallies, and meet and greets. we are taking your comments on twitter, facebook, and by phone, and always every campaign event we cover is on our website, c-span.org. long, american history tv is joining our comcast cable partners to showcase the history of hartford, connecticut. to learn more about the citi es,, visit c-span.org. we continue with a look at

hartford. it is an exhibit that came together in 2015 when we went all over the state and asked people to send us images of objects that represent stories they feel defined connecticut as a place, people, and idea. from those submissions, we chose definingren't the stories of connecticut, but help us to understand the complexity and depth of our history here. the artifacts on display here related to the american revolution really show how connecticut has played a role in most of american history. we did not have a lot of battles in connecticut. there were some along the coastline, arrayed on dan barrie, but we supplied the continental army, leadership, support, and connecticut as a state continues that role over

the following centuries. items that wee have here at the connecticut historical society that are about the american revolution are here in our exhibit. the first is nathan hale's diary, an incredible piece. nathan hale is connecticut's state hero. he was a farmer and schoolteacher, but served with washington's troops outside of boston. he volunteers on a spying mission and goes to new york. at that time, he was caught and hanged, and most known for his quote, my only regret is that i have only one life to give for my country. is really incredible because it talks a lot about everyday life, and what it was like to be in the continental army, how people were relating to each other, what they were inking about, their concerns and worries, that what they did on a

day to day basis. he really gives us a look at what it was like to be a soldier in the continental army. is other piece we have here months in white -- the jacket of one of the connecticut citizens who decided to stay loyal to the crown. he served in the revolution, serving the british crown, and fought against the revolutionary army. after his time served in the military, he then left and moved to canada, new brunswick, where he became a merchant, and he co-owned a a business with benedict arnold until it burned down. there was some disagreement in their business relationship. later, he married a woman from long island and dies in 1805. there are some really compelling