ladies and gentlemen, ronald

reagan. but evening i'm here tonight to announce my intention to seek the republican nomination for president of the united states.

i'm that each of us has seen our country from a number of viewpoints depending on where we've lived and what we've done. for me, it's been as a boy growing up in several small towns in illinois, as a young man in iowa, trying to get a start in the years of the great depression. and later in california. for most of my adult life, i've seen america from stadium press box as a sportscaster as an actor officer of my labor union soldier office and as both democrat and republican, i have lived in an america where those who often had too little to eat outnumbered, those who had enough. there have been four wars in my lifetime and i've seen our country face financial ruin in the depression. i've also seen the great strength of this nation as it pulled itself up from that ruin, become the dominant force in the world. to me. our country is a living,

breathing presence, unimpressed by what say is impossible, proud of its own success, generous yes, and naive, sometimes wrong never mean, and always impatient to provide better life for its people in framework of a basic fairness and freedom it's you know, someone once said that the difference between an american and any other kind of person is that an american lives in anticipation of the future because he knows it'll be a great place. other people fear the future has just a repetition of past failures. there's a lot truth in that. if there's one thing we are sure of it is that history need not be relived, that nothing is impossible, and that man is capable of improving his circumstances beyond what we're told is fact. now there are those in our land today, however, who have us believe that the united states like other great civilizations of the past has reached the zenith of its power.

that we're weak and fearful reduced to bickering with each other and no longer possessed of the will to cope with our problems. much of this talk has come from leaders who claim that our problems are too difficult to handle. we are supposed to accept their failures as the most which can humanly be done. they tell us we must learn to live with less and teach our children that their lives will less full and prosperous than ours have been at the america of the coming years will be a place where because of our past excesses. it will be impossible to dream and make those dreams come true. i don't believe and i don't believe you either. that's why i'm seeking the presidency. i cannot and will not stand by and see this great country destroy. our leaders to blame their failures on circumstance is beyond their control and estimates by unknown experts who

rewrite modern history in, an attempt to convince us our high standard of living, the result of thrift and work is somehow selfish extravagance, which we must renounce as we join in sharing scarce. i don't agree that our nation must resign itself to inevitable decline, yielding its proud position to other hands. i am totally unwilling to see this country fail in its obligation to itself and, to the other free peoples of the world. the crisis we face, not the result of any failure of the americans spirit. it's a failure of our to establish rational and give our people something to order their lives by. if i'm elected, i shall regard my election as proof that the people of the united states have to set a new agenda and have recognized that the human spirit thrives best when are set and

progress can be measured in their achievement. during the next year, i shall discuss in detail a wide variety problems which a new administration must address. tonight, i shall mention only a few no problem that we face today can compare with the need to restore the health of the american economy and the strength of american dollar double digit has robbed you and your family. the ability to plan its the confidence to buy and it threatens the very structure of family life itself as more and more wives are forced to work in order to help meet the ever increasing cost of living. at the same time, the lack of real growth in the economy has introduced justifiable fear in the minds of working and women who are already overextend it that soon there will be fewer and no money to pay for even the necessities of life. and tragically, as the cost of living keeps going up. the standard of living, which

has been our great pride keeps going down. the people not created this disaster in our economy. the federal government has it has overspent over estimated and overregulated. it has failed to deliver services within the revenue it should be allowed to raise taxes in the 34 years since the end of world war two. it has spent. $448 billion more than it has collected in taxes. $448 billion of printing press money, which has made every dollar you earn worth less and less. at the same time, the federal government has cynically told us that high taxes on business will in some way solve the problem and allow the average taxpayer to pay less well, business is not a tax payer. it is a tax collector. business has to pass its tax burden on to the customer as part of the cost of business.

you and i, the taxes imposed on business every time we go to the store. only people pay. and it is political demagoguery or economic illiteracy to try and tell us. the key to restoring the health of the economy lies in cutting taxes. at the same time we need to get the waste out of federal spending. now this does not mean sacrifice essential services nor we need to destroy the system of benefits which flow to the poor, the elderly, the sick and the handicapped. we long since committed ourselves as a people to help those among us who cannot take care of themselves. but the federal government has proven to be the costliest and most inefficient provider of such. we could possibly have. we must put an end to the arrogance of a federal established which accepts no blame for. our condition cannot be relied to give us a fair estimate of

our situation and utterly refuses live within its means. i will not accept the supposed wisdom which has it that the federal bureaucracy has become so powerful that can no longer be changed or controlled by any administration. as president, i would use every power at my command to make the federal establishment to the will and the collective wishes of the people. we must force the entire federal bureaucracy to live in the real of reduced spending, streamline function and accountability. the people it serves. at the same time, in reviewing the functions of the federal, we must determine. which of those functions could better be performed by levels of government to the people? in the 10th article of the bill of rights is very explicit in pointing out that the federal government should do only those things.

specifically called for in the constitution. all others shall remain with the states or the people. we haven't been observing that 10th article of late the federal government has taken on functions. it was never to perform and which it does not perform well. there should be a planned transfer of such functions to states and communities and a transfer with them of sources of taxation to pay for them. the savings and administrative overhead could be considerable, and certainly there would be increased efficiency and less bureaucracy by reducing federal tax rates where they discourage individual initiative, especially personal income tax rates. we can restore incentives invite greater economic growth and at the same time get better government instead of bigger government proposals such as the camp roth bill would bring about this kind realistic reduction in tax rates. in short, a punitive tax system

must be replaced by one that restores the incentive for the worker and for industry a system that rewards initiative and effort and encourages thrift. now, all these things are. none of them will be easy. but the choice is clear. we can go on letting country slip over the brink of financial ruin with a disaster, which this means for the individual. or we can find the will. to work together to restore confidence in ourselves. and to regain the confidence of the world. i have lived through one depression. i carry with me the memory of a christmas eve. when my brother and i and our parents exchanged, our modest gifts. there was no lighted trees there been on christmases past. i remember watching my father open what he thought was a greeting from his employer. we all. and yes, we were hoping it was a

bonus check. it was notice he no longer had a job. and in those days, the government ran radio announcements, workers not to leave home looking for jobs. there were no jobs. i'll carry with me always the memory. my father sitting there holding envelope, unable. look at the rest of us. i cannot and will not stand by. while inflation and joblessness destroy the dignity of people. another serious problem which must be discussed tonight is our energy situation. our country was built on cheap energy. today, energy is not cheap and we face the prospect that some forms energy may soon not be available at all. last summer, you spent hours sitting in gasoline lines. this. some will be without heat and everyone will be paying much

simply to keep home and family warm. if you ever any doubt of the government's inability to for the needs of the people, just look at the utter fiasco we. now call the energy crisis not one straight answer nor any realistic hope of relief has come from the present administration in almost three years of federal treatment of the problem as gas grew. the administration again panicked and now is proposed to put the country on a wartime footing. but for this war, there is no victory in sight. and as always, when the federal bureaucracy fails, it can suggest is more of the same. this time it's another bureau to untangle the mess made by the ones we already have. but this won't work. solving the energy crisis will not be easy, but it can be done. first, we must decide. that less is not enough. next, we must remove. government obstacles to energy

production and we must make use those technological advantages. we still possess. it is no program simply to say use less energy. of course waste must be eliminated and efficiency. but for the government simply tell the people to conserve. that's not an energy policy. at best, it means we'll run out of energy a little more slowly. but a day will come when the lights will and the wheels of industry will more slowly and finally stop. as president, i will not endorse any course which has this as its principal objective. we need more energy, and that means diversifying our sources of supply away from the opec countries. yes. means more efficient automobiles, but it also means more exploring and development of oil and natural here in our own country, the only way to free ourselves. the monopoly pricing power of opec is to be less dependent on outside sources of fuel.

the answer obvious to except those in the administration, it seems, is more domestic production of oil and gas. we must also have wider use of power within strict safety rules, of course. there must be more spending by the energy industries, research and development of substitutes for fossil fuels in years to come. solar energy provide much of the answer, but for the next two or three decades, we must do such things as master the chemistry coal. putting the market system to work for these objectives is an essential first step for their achievement. additional multi-billion dollar federal bureaus and programs are not the answer. in recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about excess oil company profits. i don't believe we've been given the information we need to make a judgment this and we should have that information. government exists to protect us

from each other. it is not government's function to allocate fuel, impose unnecessary restrictions on the marketplace. it is government's function to determine whether are being unfairly exploited and if so, to take immediate and action. as president, i would do exactly. on the foreign front. the decade of the 1980s will place severe pressures upon united states and its allies. we can expect to be tested ways calculated to try our patients to confound our resolve and to erode our belief in ourselves. during a time when the soviet union may enjoy nuclear superiority over this country, we must never waver in our commitment to our allies nor accept any negotiation which is not clearly in the national interest. we must judge carefully that we should leave no initiative, untried in our pursuit of peace. we must be clear voiced in our resolve to resist at any un

peaceful act. wherever it may occur, negotiation. the soviet union must never appeasement. for most of the last 40 years, we've been preoccupied with a global struggle. the competition with the soviet union. and with our responsible to our allies. but to in recent times, we've just drifted along with events responding as if we thought of ourselves as a nation in decline to our allies. we to appear to be a nation unable to make decisions in its own interests. let alone in the common interest. since the second world war, we've spent large amounts of money and much of our time protecting and defending all over the world. we must continue this war if we not accept the responsibilities of leadership, who will? and if no one will? how will we survive the? 1970s. have taught us the foolhardiness of not having a long range diplomatic strategy of our own.

the world has become a place where in order to our country needs more than just allies. it real friends. yet in recent times we often seem not to have recognized who our friends are. this change. it is now time to take stock of our own house and to resupply its strength. part of that process involves taking stock of our relationship with puerto rico and of the people of puerto rico. vote for statehood in their coming referendum. i favor statehood for puerto rico, and i would, as president, initiate the enabling legislation to make a reality. we live on a continent whose three countries possess assets to make it the strongest, most and self-sufficient area on earth within the borders of this north american continent are the food resources, technology and undeveloped territory, which properly managed, could

dramatically improve the quality of life of all its inhabitants. it's no accident that there's unmatched potential for progress, and prosperity exists in three countries with such long heritages of free government and so much developing closeness among canada, mexico and the united states. a north american accord would permit achievement of that potential in each country. beyond that which i believe any of us strong as we are, could accomplish in the presence or the absence, i should say, of such. in fact the key to our own future may lie in both mexico and canada, becoming much countries than they are today. no one can say at this point precisely what form future cooperation among our three countries will take. but if i am elected president, i would be willing to invite each of our neighbors to send a

special representative to our government to sit in on high level planning sessions with as partners. mutually concerned about the future of our continent. first, i would immediately seek the views and ideas of canadian and mexican leaders on this issue and work tirelessly with them to develop closer ties our peoples. it's we stop thinking of our nearest neighbors as foreigners by developing methods working closely together. we'll lay the foundations for future cooperation, a broader and more significant scale. we will also put to rest any doubts of those cynical to believe that the united states would seek to dominate any relationship among our three countries or foolish enough to think that the governments, peoples of canada and mexico would ever permit such a domination to occur. i for. 1 a.m. confident that we can show the world example that the

nations of north america are ready. within the context of an unswerving to freedom to seek new forms of accommodation, to a changing world, a developing closeness between the united states, canada and mexico would serve notice on friend four alike that we were prepared the long haul. looking out word again and confident of our future that together we going to create jobs to generate new fortunes of wealth. for many and provide a legacy for the children of each of our countries. 200 years ago we taught world that a new form of government out of the genius of man to cope with his circumstances could succeed in bringing a measure of quality to human life previously thought impossible. now let us work toward the goal of using the assets of this continent, its resources, technology and, foodstuffs in the most efficient possible for the common good of all its

people. it may take the next hundred years, but we can dare to dream that at future date a map of the world might show the north american continent as one in which the peoples and commerce of its strong countries flow across their present. in recent months, leaders in our government have told us that we the people have confidence in ourselves, that we must regain our spirit and our will to achieve our national goals. well, it's true, there is a lack of confidence and unease with things the way they are, but the confidence we've is confidence in our government's policies. our unease can almost be called bewilderment at how our defense strength has deteriorated amid the great productivity of, our industry is now surpassed by virtually the major nations who compete with us for world markets and currency is no longer the measure of value. it once was.

but there remains the greatness of our people. our capacity for dreaming fantastic deeds and bringing them off to the surprise of an unbelieving world when washington's men were freezing at valley forge. tom paine told his fellow, we have it in our power to begin the over again. we still have that power. we today's living have in our lifetime fought harder paid, a higher price for freedom and done to advance the dignity of man than any who ever lived on this earth. the citizens of this great nation leadership. yes, but a man on a white horse demanding to his commands. want someone who believes they can begin the world over again. a leader who will unleash their great strength and remove the roadblock government has put in their way. want to do that? more than anything have ever

wanted. and it's something that i believe with god's i can do. i believe this nation hungers for a spirit where revival hungers to once again see honor placed above political expedience see to see government once again the protector of our liberties, not distributor of gifts and privilege, government should uphold and not undermine those institutions which are custodians of the very values upon which civilization is founded. religion. education and above all, family. government cannot be clergy and teacher and parent. it our servant, beholden to us. we who privileged to be americans have had a rendezvous with destiny since the moment in 30 when john winthrop, standing on the deck of the tiny arabella off the coast of massachusetts, told a little band of pilgrims, we shall be as a city upon a hill. the eyes of all people are upon us so that if we shall falsely with our god in this work we

have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we be made a story and a byword throughout the world, a troubled and afflicted mankind and looks to us pleading for us to keep our rendezvous with destiny. that we will uphold the principles of self-reliance, self-discipline, morality, and above all, responsible liberty for every individual that we will become that shining city on a hill for our country's future. pledge you my every effort. i ask for your prayers and your support. i believe that together we can keep this rendezvous with destiny. thank you and good