exam with two teachers, both from stevenson high school in lincolnshire, illinois. they will discuss the cram for the exam preparation test and answer questions on the content and the structure of the exam. be sure to watch c-span washington journal. join the discussion. you're watching american history tv in prime time. each week until the 2016 election, road to the white house rewind brings you archival coverage of presidential races. up next a look at the 1992 came of in dependent candidate ross perot. he finished third in the general election with 19% of the vote. bill clinton won the presidency defeating george h.w. bush. we begin with mr. perot in austin texas. earlier in the year he said he could run if supporters received

the number of signatures. this is about ten minutes. [ cheering and applause ] >> thank you. thank you. you are so enthusiastic. it is wonderful. we have a memento here from the grassroots movement of texas that we would like to present to mr. perot now on behalf of all

of you who have worked so hard. and let me read the encryption to him and to those of you who have not had a chance to see this. we, the people of texas, join the millions of fellow americans who by our volunteer efforts have secured an overwhelming number of signatures to place the name ross perot on the presidential ballot of the great state of texas. we congratulate you and wish you the best of luck in your bid for the presidency of the united states and we will do our utmost to continue our efforts to achieve that goal. thank you. [ cheering and applause ] >> thank you. [ chanting ]

>> thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. he's going to adjust this. thank you very much. let me get it squarely on the record, you are not ordinary people. you are very special people. [ applause ] and the reason -- i'll tell you what makes you special. your part owners of this great country. [ applause ] and one thing that is special about our country is we all own an equal part. and as i've already said today, we haven't been very good stewards of this great country we own but you are setting the example to rebuild a government that comes from the owners and

god bless you for that. [ applause ] everybody that understands politics will tell you what is happening today could not happen. they call me at the larry king show and said everybody who is looking for a job in politics, call me. and said here is the message, don't you understand that ordinary people can't organize themselves, they can't get this done. very difficult, very tedious. well, you've shown me. now their possession was you had to be told what to do. now i've had enough of that myself. and apparently you have too. so congratulations on doing the job they said couldn't be done. now specifically, in texas, here is why they said just forget it.

now keep that in mind. the hard part starts after november. so every time they say just forget it, remember this hot day in the sun when you delivered, right? now, if your going to -- to quit today. i'll tell you when you can't quit for this country is after november. you have to stay in the ring every step of the way. and here is why they said you couldn't do it. the may the 11th deadline was too short. the texas petition signing process was designed to keep independents out. and the fact that you could only solicit people who could not vote in the primary and they made it too difficult to get through. and finally they said 53,000 signatures, just regular folks can't do that. well, you know, in it all

fairness to them, you did over 200,000. [ applause ] now this is the most precious part. this is your project and it came from you. that's the most precious part. and if we keep that focus, our country will have a great future. now you've set the standard for all of the big states in this country by delivering texas. i guarantee you the folks from california, new york, florida and those other big states couldn't sleep unless they at least matched you. now, all over this great state, the message has flowed in dallas to my office said, ross, if they get in trouble in the other states, we'll go in there and help them.

the purpose in having a government again that comes from the people is number one to rebuild a strong economy and a strong job base so that we once again become a strong country. i don't think there is a person out here in the sun today that feels comfortable spending his or her children's money and that's what we've been doing. we've got to fix that. now, if i could wish for one thing for my children and your children, it would be to leave the american dream in tact so that they could dream great dreams and have those dreams come true. and we're working on that. we are a melting pot. that is always been a great strength. the other parties are trying to spit the melting pots into each piece and pandering to each of the pieces and wonder why they

can't put it back together after the election. now, we will not be a part of that. we're all in this together. all in this together. let me just put it to you in blunt texas talk. if you hate other people, i don't want your vote. it's that simple. because of very special people like you, we can build a nation that the rest of the world looks up to, that will be a source of strength and kindness, not only here but all over the world. thanks to people like you in the ring. now, this is a half priority

with me because without it we won't have the job base to do the things i've talked about. we're going to go night and day making the words made in the usa the words a standard of excellency. [ applause ] now, those guys in the corner office, i mean the guys on the gas in the third shift, you have more to do with that than anybody else. now you can't do it by yourselves. if we unite and work together as a team, can anybody beat us? >> no. >> it's about that simple. now, my role in this is insignificant. your role is paramount and will be particularly important after november. my job is to serve you as your servant. and my secondary job is to make sure that everybody else up

there works as your servant. now, everybody that is an expert on politics said it would take six months to organize the nation, state by state. from the bottom up, all of you across this country did it in five weeks. not bad, right? [ applause ] i -- i'll put our people and our state coordinators against anybody, anywhere, in time, in terms of quality and dedication. so god bless you and thank you for your work. [ applause ] so thank you for thinking of the next generation. and if you got hot and tired about all of this, look at your children and look at your grandchildren and think about what your folks did for us and redouble our efforts to do it

for them. now, i want to thank everybody here today but my heart has a special soft place for one group. and your heart has a soft place for this group too. and these are the people who have fought in the wars and offered their lives for all of us. [ applause ] there are guys here -- there are people with us here today and children with us here today who lost their dad or father on a battlefield. there are people who left parts of themselves on the battlefield for all of us.

i have one friend out in the crowd today and i haven't seen him yet today but i know he's here and like ken wallingford, he was a p.o.w. and he spent five years in a box as a p.o.w. 140 degrees in the daytime, so you wouldn't get any sympathy from robbie on a day like this. he stayed there for a total of eight years. now, i can't tell you how much it means to me to have these people support this effort. [ applause ] now, i would never ask them to do anything for me because they've already done too much for all of us. but because of that, because of that, you understand why it means so much to me that they're part of this process. in closing, if the flamers of --

the framers of our constitution are looking down from heaven today at you, you know and i know they're smiling. [ applause ] if you have time when you go home tonight, reread what happened to the people who signed the declaration of independence. they suffered terribly. they sacrificed as much or more than the people who were on the battlefield. they did it for us, to give us a government of the people, by the people, for the people and as long as it's in your hands, it will not perish from the earth. god bless you all. thank you. [ applause ] and now more from road to the white house rewind with ross perot re-entering the 1992 presidential campaign.

just over five weeks before the election. the texas businessman surprised many observers by dropping out in mid-july after supporters put him on the ballot in 24 states. after recentering the race he took part in all three presidential debates and received 19% of the vote in the 1992 general election. bill clinton depeted george h.w. bush to win the presidency, 43-37%. the 45-minute news conference took place in dallas.