Transcripts

text | pdf |

---

JIMMY CARTER: I promised you four years ago that I would never lie to you, so I can't stand here tonight and say it doesn't hurt.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

The people of the United States have made their choice. And of course, I accept that decision. But I have to admit, not with the same enthusiasm that I accepted the decision four years ago.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE].

JIMMY CARTER: I might say--

[APPLAUSE]

--I have a deep appreciation of the system, however, that lets people make a free choice about who will lead them for the next four years. About an hour ago, I called Governor Reagan in California, and I told him that I congratulated him for a fine victory. I look forward to working closely with him during the next few weeks. We'll have a very fine transition period. I told him I wanted the best one in history. And I then sent him this telegram, and I'll read it to you.

It's now apparent that the American people have chosen you as a next president. I congratulate you and pledge to you our fullest support and co-operation in bringing about an orderly transition of government in the weeks ahead. My best wishes are with you and your family as you undertake the responsibilities that lie before you. And I signed it, Jimmy Carter.

[APPLAUSE]

[CHANTING]

Thank you. [? Just a moment. ?]

[CHANTING]

I have been blessed as only a few people ever have to help shape the destiny of this nation. In that effort, I've had your faithful support. In some ways, I've been the most fortunate of all presidents because I've had the daily aid of a wise man and a good man at my side-- in my judgment, the best vice president anybody ever had, Fritz Mondale.

[APPLAUSE]

I've not achieved all I set out to do. Perhaps, no one ever does. But we have faced the tough issues. We've stood for and we fought for and we have achieved some very important goals for our country.

These efforts will not end with this administration. The effort must go on. Nor will the progress that we have made be lost when we leave office. The great principles that have guided this nation since its very founding will continue to guide America through the challenges of the future.

This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, as you well know. But we must now come together as a united and a unified people to solve the problems that are still before us to meet the challenges of a new decade. And I urge all of you to join in with me in a sincere and fruitful effort to support my successor when he undertakes this great responsibility as president of the greatest nation on Earth.

[APPLAUSE]

Ours is a special country because our vast economic and military strength give us a special responsibility for seeking solutions to the problems that confront the world. But our influence will always be greater when we live up to those principles of freedom, of justice, of human rights for all people.

God has been good to me. And God has been good to this country. And I'm truly thankful. I'm thankful for having been able to serve you in this capacity, thankful for the successes that we have had, thankful that, to the end, you were in every good thing that I tried to do.

There's an old Yiddish proverb that I've often thought of in the days and months that I've held this office. It says, simply, God gives burdens, also shoulders. In all the days and months when I have served you and served this country, you've readily given me your shoulders, your faith, and your prayers. No man could ask any more of his friends.

I've wanted to serve as president because I love this country and because I love the people of this nation.

AUDIENCE: We love you.

AUDIENCE: We love you.

[APPLAUSE]

JIMMY CARTER: Finally, finally, let me say, that I am disappointed tonight. But I have not lost either love. Thank you very much.

[APPLAUSE]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

WALTER F. MONDALE: A few moments ago, President Carter congratulated President-elect Reagan on his victory. I joined the president in extending to Mr. Reagan and Mr. Bush and their families our congratulations.

Now, we must stand together behind our President-elect, all of us. We have only one president. He deserves our support, and he will have it. Obviously, I would rather have won. But I also see, as I think you do, a chance to rejoice for we are, above all, thank God, privileged to live in a democracy.

Today, all across this nation, in high school cafeterias, in town halls and churches and synagogues, the American people quietly wielded their staggering power and peacefully, without intimidation, made their choice. And whatever the outcome, tonight, we celebrate, above all, the process we call American freedom.

[APPLAUSE]

These last four years, and with your help, the American people have conferred on me the highest privilege I've ever held, a higher office than I ever expected to hold, and I am deeply honored to have served as vice president of the United States.

I especially want to thank President Carter and Rosalynn for their kindness to me and to Joan and to our family. This kind and good man, this president has permitted me to work more closely with him than any vice president in American history. And I thank him profoundly for that experience.

[APPLAUSE]

I have no regrets for I have learned in this office as I could in no other way about our country's richness and our world's promise. I've been moved by the majesty of our continent, lifted by the strength of our people, buoyed by the gift of their wit, touched by the decency of their spirit, and stretched by the reach of their hope.

And tonight, I want to thank everyone here and people all across the nation for the support that you've given us. And above all, I want to thank the people of Minnesota for their magnificent and continuing trust and friendship. It is here that I've learned my values from their joy, their compassion, their optimism, and their faith. But especially, I want to thank my family. If anybody is blessed, I am.

[APPLAUSE]

I don't know how well the rest of us have done, but I'll tell you this, Joan has performed magnificently.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

And I don't know what's in their genes, but Ted and Eleanor and William have been real troopers.

[APPLAUSE]

I also want to thank my staff. I've seen a lot of staffs in my life in Washington and in Minnesota. And I don't want to insult anyone else, but I believe I've had the best support in my staff that anyone has ever had. And I want to thank you for your deepest [? assistance. ?]

[APPLAUSE]

They wrote those lines in there themselves.

[LAUGHTER]

Finally, let me talk to you as old friends. We've been together so many years, and I want to talk particularly to the young people here today who are new or relatively new to politics. It is understandable that you're disappointed and maybe even heartbroken tonight. But in a real sense, the depth of your views and beliefs, the commitment to your ideals are tested much more severely in defeat than in victory. And we're tested again tonight.

And let us remember that all of us are in politics for a reason. We've worked for something far larger than a single night's harvest of ballots. We are committed to a vision of America-- a nation where honest work is honorably rewarded, a nation which frees the spirit of her children and secures the dignity of its seniors. For the voiceless, it means social justice. For the oppressed, it means civil rights.

The abundant farm, the proud city, the good school, the clean environment-- these are our commitments. Unquestioned defenses, arms control, human rights, and peace-- these are our beliefs. In these years in this campaign, we've joined together in the service of that cause. And in that cause, I pledge to work together with you again.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

[CHANTING]

Don't get me into any trouble tonight. The fact of it is, you can't keep a Minnesotan down.

[LAUGHTER]

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

It was almost 12 years ago tonight when I met with our beloved Hubert when he was preparing his concession speech after losing that hard campaign for president of the United States. And he told me when he wrote that speech, he said, it's got to be done right because, he said, it's really the opening speech of my next campaign.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

[CHANTING]

Today-- thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[APPLAUSE]

It's amazing what Democrats will do when they think they're on live television.

[LAUGHTER]

Tonight, in this city of St. Paul, let me quote the words of Saint Paul when he said, I fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. So have you, and so will we. Thank you very much. Thank you.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

RONALD REAGAN: Let me just say, first of all, this has been-- well, there's never been a more humbling moment in my life. I would have been--

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

--not only humbled by the extent of what has happened tonight. Even if it had been the cliffhanger that all of us, I think, were expecting, it would have been the same way, but just to have had the support of the people of this country. I consider the trust that you have placed in me sacred. And I give you my sacred oath that I will do my utmost to justify your faith.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

Earlier this evening, I spoke on the phone with President Carter. He called, John Anderson called, but the president pledged the utmost in cooperation in the transition that will take place in these coming months. I offered him my own cooperation. He graciously said that he wanted this to be the--

[CHEERS]

SPEAKER 1: The crowd is cheering because two men have just brought onto the stage a huge cake that's a map of the states with flags in each of the states that Reagan has carried. So they're putting down the cake now, and Governor Reagan continues.

RONALD REAGAN: When that began to slide, I thought that maybe the world was going out just as I was getting in. But anyway, as I say, the president was most gracious about this. And now, all across America, there are some people that I owe a great debt of thanks to.

There they are. They're meeting tonight in our national headquarters in Arlington, Virginia-- the National Committee people, the dedicated professionals who've made the campaign run, and in every state, in the counties, the cities, and the precincts, to all of them who worked so tirelessly, literally hundreds of thousands of volunteers-- and I've seen them at work throughout the country on this campaign-- I just owe them an immeasurable debt of thanks.

To George and Barbara Bush,

[CHEERS]

SPEAKER 2: You're listening to National Public Radio's election 80. Governor Reagan, the President-elect is speaking from the Central Plaza Hotel in California.

RONALD REAGAN: Down in Texas, no one has worked harder than they have. We only crossed paths a few times on this campaign and had to go out of our way to do it because their schedule was so heavy. And I can tell you that we're going to have a true partnership and a true friendship in the White House.

[APPLAUSE]

And now, as I said before, my family-- I'm so grateful to them for their love, for their support, and for the hard work because some of them were out on the campaign trail easily as much as Nancy and I were. And speaking of Nancy, she's going to have a new title in a couple of months.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

And it isn't really new because she's been the first lady in my life for a long time.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

Now, we'll share that a little bit in the future. You know, Abe Lincoln, the day after his election to the presidency, gathered in his office the newsmen who had been covering his campaign. And he said to them, well, boys, your troubles are over now. Mine have just begun. I think I know what he meant.

Lincoln may have been concerned in the troubled times in which he became president. But I don't think he was afraid. He was ready to confront the problems and the troubles of a still youthful country, determined to seize the historic opportunity to change things. And I am not frightened by what lies ahead, and I don't believe the American people are frightened by what lies ahead.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

Together-- together, we're going to do what has to be done. We're going to put America back to work again.

[CHEERS]

You know, I aim to try and tap that great American spirit that opened up this completely undeveloped continent from coast to coast and made it a great nation, survived several wars, survived a Great Depression, and will survive the problems that we face right now.

When I accepted your nomination for president, I hesitatingly but-- I asked for your prayers at that moment. I won't ask them for this in particular moment. But I will just say, I would be very happy to have them in the days ahead.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

Now, just-- all I can say to all of you is, thank you and thank you for more than just George Bush and myself. Thank you because if the trend continues, we may very well control one house of the Congress for the first time in a quarter of a century.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

We've have picked up some governorships. And Bill Brock told me on the phone just a few minutes ago that it looks like in a number of states, we have turned the state legislatures around. And for the first time, they are majorities.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

You did it. I have one message that I have to give before I leave. I've been upstairs on the phone trying to get a hold of two celebrations, two parties that are going on-- one in Tampico, Illinois, where I was born, and one in Dixon, Illinois, where I grew up. I've got two hometowns. And finally, we managed to get the radio station in that area, and they told us that they would broadcast my message into the two parties that are going on. So to all of them, thank you too back there in the hometown. Thank you all. [? Pass it along. ?]

[AUDIO OUT]

SPEAKER 3: I was asked a little bit earlier today while we were still awaiting, of course, the results-- I was asked by a member of the press, a reporter, how had I kept going in view of some of the evident discouragements that we had suffered, particularly within the last week or 10 days? What was it that fueled this campaign from my standpoint?

And for me, the answer was very simple. All I had to do was to reflect a little bit, to think about the literally tens of thousands of Americans whom I have been privileged to address in audiences spanning this great continent and the hundreds and hundreds of people with whom I had made individual contacts and with whom I had talked. And they are the ones, and you are part of that great multitude that have served at one and the same time to inspire me and, yes, to humble me because of what you have been willing to pledge, because of what you have been willing to do.

I've talked many times about those people who put their children in charge of babysitters-- well-trained ones, of course-- stood on windy street corners on cold days in the late spring in order to get the two million signatures that we needed to appear on the ballots of the 50 states.

[APPLAUSE]

And I've got to just add a little word here for Mitch Rogovin who's been running all over the country filing those lawsuits and making me the very litigious fellow that I've become, but more importantly, winning those lawsuits. And how grateful we are for what he has done. And I think also of the people, people who sold their class rings in order to extend loans to this campaign just in the last couple of weeks when we needed that extra push to go on the air.

[APPLAUSE]

No, I could go on and on. That is why I say, again, this experience, this campaign has been the exhilarating-- really, the Renaissance of my whole life is to realize that there are people like you by the thousands across this country who are willing to do the things that you have done for me and for this campaign. So my thanks to you. You have been our strength. You have been the sinews of the campaign.

And I can assure you that when I leave this platform tonight, and when I go into some kind of at least limited retirement for a couple of days-- I hope you'll give me that-- one of the things that I will carry with me-- and of course, not just for that brief period, but all of my life-- is the kind of courage and conviction that you have displayed in the things that we have done together, not just for ourselves, but with the feeling that we were doing it for this whole country. Now, was it worth it? We have to ask that question.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

AUDIENCE: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER 3: Of course it was worth it. Of course it was worth it. And I think that Pat Lucey in those remarks that he delivered just a few minutes ago, pointed out in excellent fashion just some of the things that we have tried to do. And this is no occasion in which to go back over a recitation of all of the issues specifically that we talked about in that long 317 page program for the '80s that we were afraid nobody would ever read. But I think many people did. But I think it has been worth it because we have tried.

With the kind of ideas that we expressed in that program and that he and I talked about on the stump and that all of these great surrogates have talked about as well, we have tried to bring a new sense of unity, a new sense of shared purpose to the political life of this country. And I think that that call is one that is going to have to continue to be heard around the nation, even though we have not prevailed in the sense that we have not won this election, a majority in the electoral college, or anything like it. I think that we must continue, all of us who have worked together, to share that common cause and that single vision of what our nation can become.

[APPLAUSE]

And I want to repeat that I have already, of course, congratulated Governor Reagan and his running mate as well on their victory. They will have my support. I believe that all of us in our heart want them to enjoy the support of the American people as they seek to bring solutions to the problems that will confront us in this period of the decade just ahead.

[APPLAUSE]