AmericanRhetoric.com

Barbara Jordan:
Democratic National Convention Keynote Address

Delivered
12
July
1976, New
York,
NY

AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED:
Text
version below
transcribed
directly
from
audio

Thank you
ladies and gentlemen
for a very warm reception.

It was one hundred and fortyfour
years ago that members of the Democratic Party first met
in convention
to select a Presidential candidate.
Since that time, Democrats
have continued to
convene once every four years and draft a party platform and nominate a Presidential
candidate. And our meeting this week is a continuation of that tradition. But there is
something different about
tonight. There is something special about tonight. What
is different?
What
is special?

I, Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker.

When
A
lot of years passed since 1832, and during that time it would have been
most
unusual for any national political party to ask a Barbara Jordan
to deliver a keynote address.
But
tonight, here I am. And I
feel I
feel
that
notwithstanding the past
that
my presence
here is one additional bit of evidence that the American Dream need not forever be deferred.

Now Now
that
I
have this grand distinction, what in the world am I
supposed to say? I could
easily spend this time praising the accomplishments of this party and attacking the
Republicans but
I don't choose to do that.

Transcription by
Michael
E. Eidenmuller. Property
of AmericanRhetoric.com. . Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
Page
1

AmericanRhetoric.com

I could list the many problems which Americans have.
I could list
the problems which cause
people to feel
cynical, angry, frustrated: problems which include lack of integrity in
government. the feeling that
the individual
no
longer counts. the reality of material and
spiritual poverty. the feeling that the grand American experiment is failing or has failed. I
could recite these problems, and then
I
could sit down and offer no solutions. But
I don't
choose to do
that either. The citizens of America expect
more. They deserve and they want
more than a recital of problems.

We are a people in a quandary about
the present. We are a people in search of our future. We
are a people in search of a national community. We are a people trying not only to solve the
problems of the present, unemployment, inflation, but we are attempting on a larger scale to
fulfill
the promise of America.
We are attempting to fulfill our national purpose, to create and
sustain a society in which all of us are equal.

Throughout
Throughout
our history, when people have looked for new ways to solve their
problems and to uphold the principles of this nation, many times they have turned to political
parties. They have often
turned to the Democratic Party. What is it?
What
is it about
the
Democratic Party that
makes it the instrument
the people use when
they search for ways to
shape their future? Well I believe the answer to
that question
lies in our concept of governing.
Our concept of governing is derived from our view of people. It
is a concept deeply rooted in a
set of beliefs
firmly etched in the national conscience of all of us.

Now what are these beliefs? First, we believe in
equality for all and privileges for none. This is
a belief This
is a belief that each American, regardless of background, has equal standing in
the public forum all
of us. Because Because
we believe this idea so
firmly, we are an
inclusive rather than an exclusive party. Let everybody come!

I think it
no accident
that
most of those immigrating to America in
the 19th century identified
with
the Democratic Party. We are a heterogeneous party made up of Americans of diverse
backgrounds.
We believe that
the people are the source of all governmental power. that the
authority of the people is to be extended, not restricted.

This This
can be accomplished only by providing each
citizen
with every opportunity to
participate in
the management of the government. They must have that, we believe.
We
believe that the government which represents the authority of all the people,
not just one
interest group,
but all the people,
has an obligation
to actively underscore
actively seek
to remove those obstacles which would block individual achievement
obstacles
emanating
from race, sex, economic condition. The government
must remove them, seek to remove
them. We.

We are a party We
are a party of innovation. We do
not reject our traditions, but we are
willing to adapt to changing circumstances, when change we must. We are willing to suffer the
discomfort of change in order to achieve a better future. We have a positive vision of the
future founded on the belief that the gap between
the promise and reality of America can one
day be finally closed.
We believe that.

Transcription by
Michael
E. Eidenmuller. Property
of AmericanRhetoric.com. . Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
Page
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This, my friends is the bedrock of our concept of governing. This is a part of the reason why
Americans have turned to
the Democratic Party. These are the foundations upon which a
national community can be built. Let all
understand that
these guiding principles cannot be
discarded for shortterm
political gains. They represent what
this country is all about. They
are indigenous to
the American
idea. And these
are principles which are not
negotiable.

In other times In
other times, I
could stand here and give this kind of exposition on
the
beliefs of the Democratic Party and that would be enough. But today that is not enough.
People want
more. That
is not sufficient
reason for the majority of the people of this country
to decide to vote Democratic. We have made
mistakes. We realize that. We admit our
mistakes. In our haste to do all things for all people, we did not
foresee the full consequences
of our actions. And when the people raised their voices, we didn't hear. But our deafness was
only a temporary condition, and not an
irreversible condition.

Even as I stand here and admit
that we have made mistakes, I
still believe that as the people
of America sit in judgment on each party, they
will recognize that our mistakes were mistakes
of the heart. They'll recognize that.

And now now
we must
look to
the future. Let
us heed the voice of the people and recognize
their common
sense. If we do not, we not only blaspheme our political
heritage, we ignore the
common ties that bind all Americans. Many fear
the future. Many are distrustful of their
leaders, and believe that
their voices are never heard. Many seek only to satisfy their private
work wants.
to satisfy
their private interests. But
this is the great danger America faces that
we will cease to
be one nation and become
instead a collection of interest
groups: city
against
suburb, region against region, individual against individual. each seeking to satisfy
private wants. If that
happens, who then will speak for America? Who then will
speak for the
common good?

This is the question which must be answered in
1976: Are we to be one people bound
together by common spirit, sharing in a common endeavor. or will we become a divided
nation? For all of its uncertainty, we cannot
flee the future. We must
not become the "New
Puritans" and reject our society. We must address and master the future together. It can be
done if we restore the belief that we share a sense of national
community, that we share a
common national endeavor. It can be done.

There is no executive order. there is no
law
that can require the American people to form a
national community. This we must do as individuals, and if we do it as individuals, there is no
President of the United States who can
veto that decision.

As a first step As
a first step, we must restore our belief in ourselves. We are a generous
people, so why can't we be generous with each
other? We need to
take to
heart
the words
spoken by Thomas Jefferson:

Let
us restore the social intercourse "
Let us restore to social
intercourse that
harmony and
that affection without which liberty and even
life are but dreary things."

Transcription by
Michael
E. Eidenmuller. Property
of AmericanRhetoric.com. . Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
Page
3

AmericanRhetoric.com

A nation
is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding
the common good.
A government
is invigorated when each one of us is willing to participate in
shaping the future of this nation. In
this election year, we must define the "common good"
and begin again
to shape a common future. Let
each person do
his or her part. If one citizen
is unwilling to participate, all of us are going to
suffer. For the American idea, though
it is
shared by all of us, is realized in
each one of us.

And now, what are those of us who are elected public officials supposed to do? We call
ourselves "public servants" but I'll
tell you this: We as public servants must set an example
for the rest of the nation. It
is hypocritical
for the public official to admonish and exhort
the
people to uphold the common good if we are derelict in upholding the common good. More is
required More
is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press
releases. More is required.
We must hold ourselves strictly accountable.
We must provide the
people with a vision of the future.

If we promise as public officials, we must deliver. If If
we as public officials propose, we
must produce. If we say to
the American people, "It
is time for you to be sacrificial" sacrifice.
If the public official says that, we [public officials] must be the first
to give. We must
be. And again, if we make mistakes, we must be willing to admit
them. We have to do
that.
What we have to do
is strike a balance between
the idea that government
should do
everything and the idea, the belief, that government ought
to do
nothing.
Strike a balance.

Let
there be no
illusions about the difficulty of forming this kind of a national community. It's
tough, difficult, not easy. But a spirit of harmony will survive in America only if each of us
remembers that we share a common destiny. if each of us remembers, when
selfinterest
and
bitterness seem to prevail, that we share a common destiny.

I have confidence that we can
form this kind of national community. I have confidence that
the Democratic Party can
lead
the way. I
have that confidence.

We cannot improve on
the system of government handed down
to us by the founders of the
Republic. There is no way to improve upon
that. But what we can do is to find new ways to
implement
that
system and realize our destiny.

Now I began this speech by commenting to you
on the uniqueness of a Barbara Jordan
making a keynote address. Well I am going to
close my speech by quoting a Republican
President and I ask you that as you listen to
these words of Abraham Lincoln, relate them to
the concept of a national community in which every last one of us participates:

"As I would not be a slave, so
I would not be a master." This This
"
This expresses my
idea of Democracy. Whatever differs
from this, to the extent of the difference, is no
Democracy."

Thank you.

Transcription by
Michael
E. Eidenmuller. Property
of AmericanRhetoric.com. . Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
Page
4