Clinton's covenant: new choice based on old values

Bill Clinton's acceptance speech, Democratic Convention, Madison Square Garden, New York, 16 July 1992:

"I never met my father. He was killed in a car wreck on a rainy road three months before I was born ... After that my mother had to support us ... My mother taught me. She taught me about family and hard work and sacrifice. She held steady through tragedy after tragedy ...

"Jobs. Education. Education. These are not just commitments from my lips, they are the work of my life. Our priorities are clear: We will put people first again ... To turn rhetoric into reality we've got to change the way government does business, fundamentally ... There is not a programme in government for every problem.

"And if we really want to use government to help people, we've got to make it work again ... A government that is leaner not meaner; a government that expands opportunity, not bureaucracy; a government that understands that jobs must come from growth

"I call this approach a New Covenant, a solemn agreement between the people and their government, based not simply on what each of us can take, but what all of us must give our nation.

"We offer our people a new choice based on old values. We offer opportunity. We demand responsibility. We will build an American community again ...

"The choice we offer is not conservative or liberal ... It is different. It is new. It will work. It will work because it is rooted in the vision and the values of the American people...

"What is the vision of our New Covenant? An America with millions of new jobs in dozens of new industries moving confidently into the 21st century.

"An America that says to entrepreneurs and business people: we will give you more incentives and opportunity than ever before ... but you must do your part. You must be responsible ...

"The New Covenant is also about more than opportunities and responsibilities for you and your families. It is also about your common community ... And so we must say to every American: look beyond the stereotypes that blind us. We need each other. All of us, we need each other. We don't have a person to waste ...

"In the end, my fellow Americans, this New Covenant simply asks us all to be Americans again.

"Old-fashioned Americans for a new time. Opportunity. Responsibility. Community. When we pull together, America will pull ahead.

"Let that be our cause ... a country of boundless hope and endless dreams; a country that once again lifts its people and inspires the world.

"Let that be our cause, our commitment and our New Covenant ... I still believe in a place called Hope."