DEC-02-1998 20:19

KAI DC

212 753 7248 P.02

We are here to nominate the candidate of our Party, the President of our nation and the leader of free peoples everywhere.

We are here to put an end to drift, confusion, retreat and weakness in our foreign affairs.

We are here to offer the American people a new policy of strength and principle, of security and peace, of progress and hope.

And we are here to dedicate ourselves to the election of Ronald Reagan, who will carry forward the vision of what America can be.

Since the Second World War, three Republican Presidents have given the free world creative and courageous leadership. In January 1977 that great and good man, Gerald Ford, bequeathed to the Carter Administration an America that was building a sound defense, an America that had the confidence of its friends and the respect of its foes.

Today after nearly four years of confusion we have become impotent bystanders as the world lurches from crisis to crisis. The Carter Administration has managed the extraordinary feat of having at one and the same time the worst relations with our allies, the worst relations with our adversaries and the most serious upheavals in the developing world since the end of the Second World War.

It is not political oratory to assert that another four years like the last four will make disaster irretrievable.

We Republicans must not claim that all crises are avoidable. We live in an age of revolution in technology, in weaponry, in human aspirations which we must meet with a broad and humane vision. There are no quick fixes. The remedies will be complicated, often painful.

But we can assert that these multiplying crises are the natural result of a naive philosophy which since 1977 has recoiled from our power and fled from our responsibilities. It was time--we were told--to overcome our "inordinate fear of Communism." We should not--we were told--be "preoccupied" with the Soviet Union or with the military balance.

DEC-02-1998 20:19

KAI DC

212 753 7248

P.03

[Lc]

-2-

A philosophy of abdication has been allied to a diplomacy of incoherence. What are foreign leaders to make of a policy that first proposes to demilitarize the Indian Ocean and now seeks bases in all its corners? That offered our allies a neutron bomb and then withdrew it? That promised in 1976 to cut our defense budget, cancelled or delayed every strategic program it inherited, and now fiddles with figures to pretend an increase? That first called Iran an island of stability and then dithered while it slid into hostility? That after reducing our capabilities has expanded our commitments? That first ridiculed the need of a policeman in the Persian Gulf and then extended our own defense commitment to the entire area? That accepted a Soviet combat brigade in Cuba, stood by while Cuban troops with Soviet officers intervened in Ethiopia and then was "shocked" by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan twenty months after it ignored a Communist coup there? That has vacillated between threats and renunciations of force while 53 Americans--representing us--have been held captive by so-called students?

Today's chaos is no accident. The neglect of our defenses has tempted mounting threats to our national security.

The misunderstanding of our peril has made our responses feeble and apologetic.

The incoherence of our purposes has caused those who rely on us to fear our leadership.

For if the trumpet give forth an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

Even President Carter has admitted that we now face the gravest crisis since 1945. But the Administration's response is symptomatic of what produced our peril in the first place. We hear not a call to action but explanations of what we cannot do. We are given not a vision of the future but improvised--often cynical--expedients to get through the election. We are told endless alibis for doing nothing: that not every upheaval affects our interests, that the disasters have complex socio-economic causes, that Communist gains will prove temporary.

The American people reject this proclamation of our paralysis. They are tired of a foreign policy that results only in retreat and the constant humiliation of the United States.

They insist that we take charge of our future.

DEC-02-1998 20:20

KAI DC

212 753 7248 P.04

II

We shall earn the right to govern not so much by deploring the past but by offering a vision of what can be; by dedicating ourselves to containing Soviet expansion and also to working to improve the prospects for peace.

We have before us four urgent tasks: to rebuild our defenses; to end Soviet expansionism; to mend our alliances; to work with men and women of good will in all continents to fulfill mankind's positive aspirations.

First we must rebuild our military strength. Everyone here agrees that if present military trends are not reversed, we risk a major disaster. No serious student of the subject disputes that there are significant gaps between Soviet capabilities and ours: We are falling behind in strategic power, are far behind in conventional forces, and slipping in naval forces to the point where we had to strip our Mediterranean and Pacific fleets to have a task force in the Indian Ocean. Sooner or later our weakness will produce a catastrophe. The time is too serious to play a numbers game with our defense budget. There is only one test for the adequacy of our national defense: Are these critical gaps being closed? Nothing less is adequate; nothing short of it can be accepted.

But a new military budget, however vital, is only a first step. We must address urgently difficult strategic issues which have been too long neglected:

- The developing of a strategic doctrine adequate to the era ahead of us, which is at best strategic parity and a growing Soviet regional threat.

- A strategy for NATO that adapts deployments to new realities and the emerging dangers outside the NATO area.

- To create forces on a crash basis to overcome the grievous challenges certain to face us in the next 3-4 years.

Only a new Administration that genuinely believes in defense will be able to master these problems.

The second major task is to restore and then uphold the political balance of power. In the past five years, Soviet weapons, Soviet friendship treaties, Soviet proxy troops, terrorists financed and trained by the Soviet bloc, and outright Soviet intervention have worsened almost every crisis and have tipped the scales in too many local conflicts.

DEC-02-1998 20:20

KAI DC

212 753 7248 P.05

Lc

The free world cannot long survive if this is permitted to continue. The Administration's reluctance to assert our interests in the early stages of a crisis--its congenital fear of our power-- has the paradoxical result of magnifying our risks. It encourages ever growing challenges; our friends are driven by their fears and our enemies tempted by their ambitions. A new Administration will show that blackmail does not work, that our friendship has benefits while hostility to us involves penalties.

One of our highest priorities must be to mend our ties with our friends, with almost all of whom the Administration has managed to pick a quarrel.

The Western Alliance must restore mutual confidence because it can no longer postpone adapting its defense to changing strategic conditions. It needs a spirit of cooperation because the time has come to redistribute existing burdens in the light of new threats to the security of the free world from outside of Europe. It needs political unity to deal effectively with crises in such areas as the Middle East; separate approaches confuse moderates and encourage radicals. It must coordinate its diplomacy to avoid being whipsawed and divided by predictable Soviet peace offensives. Separate overtures to the Soviet Union by Western leaders--including our own--risk serving the Soviet aim of dividing and unravelling the Alliance.

Perhaps most importantly, we must urgently develop a common energy policy. The most blatant demonstration of allied disarray is the semi-annual display of impotence when the leaders of the industrialized nations wait for the latest dispensation from the producers regarding price increases. This dependence must be ended by a coherent consumer strategy. But we can rally our allies to a common cause only if we have a purposeful long-range strategy ourselves.

This a new Administration will provide.

The developing world is in chaos for many reasons-- not all caused by our actions. But the Administration has compounded instability by currying favor with what it saw as the forces of change, which it identified with trendy Marxism--from the Sandinistas in Nicaragua to the PLO in the Middle East. The result is not more support for our principles but the opposite. We are making the world safe for anti-American radicalism. When the non-aligned nations met in Havana last September, their declaration was more viciously anti-American than ever before.

DEC-02-1998 20:20

KAI DC

212 753 7248 P.06

-5-

We cannot abandon two-thirds of humanity to misery, feudalism and despair. Americans know that our own security and prosperity depend on a world of progress, cooperation, justice and human dignity. However, we must offer not self-abasement but a self-confident vision of a better world. And many urgent problems await our commitment: To relieve the crushing burden of energy costs for the poorest nations; to encourage adequate sources of private and public development capital; to guarantee our access to vital minerals and raw materials at a fair price in a global economic structure beneficial to all.

We have many true friends in the developing world who are sympathetic to the democratic nations, who believe in peaceful change, and despair when we undermine them by facile slogans and indecision. They wait for our leadership; they require our protection; they yearn for our inspiration in their struggles which are now lonely--but will not be after November.

A new Administration is needed, in short, to restore steadiness and coherence to our foreign policy. The world is in turmoil because America--the leader of free peoples--has lost its compass course. If you do not know where you are going, every road will get you there.

Our current foreign policy specializes in responding to disasters it has helped produce. Amazingly enough, the Carter Administration claims that it is we who are reckless because we demand a new defense policy, that we are simplistic in opposing radicalism, that we fail to understand the complexities of the contemporary world--that we are risking war. But the American people know better. They understand that confusion, timidity, impotence and incompetence risk war. They know that firmness and constancy are the best insurance of peace.

This then sums up the position of a new Administration as I understand it:

a. It will urgently and decisively rebuild our defenses.

c. It will restore our alliances.

c. It will resist vigorously and uncompromisingly Soviet expansionism.

d. It will be prepared to negotiate to push back the specter of nuclear war, to reduce arms and to establish rules of international conduct on the basis of strict reciprocity and principle.

DEC-02-1998 20:21

KAI DC

212 753 7248 P.07

-6-

e. It will extend a hand of compassion and assistance to developing countries that seek progress and human dignity and a better life for their peoples.

III

Thus, our party and our candidate offer renewal and hope.

We will define ourselves by our ideals, not our fears. We shall be judged not by the stridency of our rhetoric but by the nobility of our purposes. We will resist the dark forces that threaten liberty. But we will also hold out the promise of a more peaceful world and of a more humane future.

As a party of individualists we have had and continue to have our differences. As men and women of principle we have contested them vigorously.

But the time has come to close ranks.

We all now turn to Ronald Reagan as the trustee of our hopes.

He will have the dedicated support of all of us, for we know that his election is essential to the future of freedom and to the progress of America. Under his leadership we will overcome the storms ahead; we will hold our heads high and we will build that better world at peace that fulfills the dreams of mankind and the high ideals of our people.

TOTAL P.07

[Y]

CONVENTION SPEECH

WE ARE HERE TO NOMINATE THE CANDIDATE OF OUR PARTY,
THE PRESIDENT OF OUR NATION AND THE LEADER OF FREE PEOPLES
EVERYWHERE.

WE ARE HERE TO PUT AN END TO DRIFT, CONFUSION,
RETREAT AND WEAKNESS IN OUR FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

WE ARE HERE TO OFFER THE AMERICAN PEOPLE A NEW POLICY
OF STRENGTH AND PRINCIPLE, OF SECURITY AND PEACE, OF
PROGRESS AND HOPE.

AND WE ARE HERE TO DEDICATE OURSELVES TO THE ELECTION
OF RONALD REAGAN, WHO WILL CARRY FORWARD THE VISION OF WHAT
AMERICA CAN BE.

SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THREE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS
HAVE GIVEN THE FREE WORLD CREATIVE AND COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP.

IN JANUARY 1977 THAT GREAT AND GOOD MAN, GERALD FORD, BEQUEATHED

TO THE CARTER ADMINISTRATION AN AMERICA THAT WAS BUILDING

A SOUND DEFENSE, AN AMERICA THAT HAD THE CONFIDENCE OF ITS

2

FRIENDS AND THE RESPECT OF ITS FOES.

TODAY AFTER NEARLY FOUR YEARS OF CONFUSION WE HAVE
BECOME IMPOTENT BYSTANDERS AS THE WORLD LURCHES FROM
CRISIS TO CRISIS. THE CARTER ADMINISTRATION HAS
MANAGED THE EXTRAORDINARY FEAT OF HAVING AT ONE AND THE
SAME TIME THE WORST RELATIONS WITH OUR ALLIES, THE WORST
RELATIONS WITH OUR ADVERSARIES AND THE MOST SERIOUS UPHEAVALS
IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD SINCE THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

IT IS NOT POLITICAL ORATORY TO ASSERT THAT ANOTHER FOUR YEARS LIKE THE LAST FOUR WILL MAKE DISASTER IRRETRIEVABLE.

WE REPUBLICANS MUST NOT CLAIM THAT ALL CRISES ARE AVOIDABLE. WE LIVE IN AN AGE OF REVOLUTION IN TECHNOLOGY, IN WEAPONRY, IN HUMAN ASPIRATIONS WHICH WE MUST MEET WITH A BROAD AND HUMANE VISION. THERE ARE NO QUICK FIXES. [THE REMEDIES WILL BE COMPLICATED, OFTEN PAINFUL.]

BUT WE CAN ASSERT THAT THESE MULTIPLYING CRISES ARE THE NATURAL RESULT OF A NAIVE PHILOSOPHY WHICH SINCE 1977 HAS RECOILED FROM OUR POWER AND FLED FROM OUR RESPONSIBILITIES.

3

IT WAS TIME--WE WERE TOLD--TO OVERCOME OUR "INORDINATE FEAR OF COMMUNISM." WE SHOULD NOT--WE WERE TOLD--BE "PREOCCUPIED" WITH THE SOVIET UNION OR WITH THE MILITARY BALANCE.

A PHILOSOPHY OF ABDICATION HAS BEEN ALLIED TO A DIPLOMACY OF INCOHERENCE. WHAT ARE FOREIGN LEADERS TO MAKE OF A POLICY THAT FIRST PROPOSES TO DEMILITARIZE THE INDIAN OCEAN AND NOW SEEKS BASES IN ALL ITS CORNERS? THAT OFFERED OUR ALLIES A NEUTRON BOMB AND THEN WITHDREW IT? THAT PROMISED IN 1976 TO CUT OUR DEFENSE BUDGET, CANCELLED OR DELAYED EVERY STRATEGIC PROGRAM IT INHERITED, AND NOW FIDDLES WITH FIGURES TO PRETEND AN INCREASE? THAT FIRST CALLED IRAN AN ISLAND OF STABILITY AND THEN DITHERED WHILE IT SLID INTO HOSTILITY? THAT AFTER REDUCING OUR CAPABILITIES HAS EXPANDED OUR COMMITMENTS? THAT FIRST RIDICULED THE NEED OF A POLICEMAN IN THE PERSIAN GULF AND THEN EXTENDED OUR OWN DEFENSE COMMITMENT TO THE ENTIRE AREA? THAT ACCEPTED A SOVIET COMBAT BRIGADE IN CUBA, STOOD BY WHILE

4

CUBAN TROOPS WITH SOVIET OFFICERS INTERVENED IN ETHIOPIA AND THEN WAS "SHOCKED" BY THE SOVIET INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN TWENTY MONTHS AFTER IT IGNORED A COMMUNIST COUP THERE?

THAT HAS VACILLATED BETWEEN THREATS AND RENUNCIATIONS OF FORCE WHILE 53 AMERICANS--REPRESENTING US--HAVE BEEN HELD CAPTIVE BY SO-CALLED STUDENTS?

TODAY'S CHAOS IS NO ACCIDENT. THE NEGLECT OF OUR DEFENSES HAS TEMPTED MOUNTING THREATS TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY.

THE MISUNDERSTANDING OF OUR PERILS HAS MADE OUR RESPONSES FEEBLE AND APOLOGETIC.

THE INCOHERENCE OF OUR PURPOSES HAS CAUSED THOSE WHO RELY ON US TO FEAR OUR LEADERSHIP.

FOR IF THE TRUMPET GIVE FORTH AN UNCERTAIN SOUND, WHO SHALL PREPARE HIMSELF TO THE BATTLE?

EVEN PRESIDENT CARTER HAS ADMITTED THAT WE NOW FACE THE GRAVEST CRISIS SINCE 1945. BUT THE ADMINISTRATION'S RESPONSE IS SYMPTOMATIC OF WHAT PRODUCED OUR PERIL IN THE FIRST PLACE. WE HEAR NOT A CALL TO ACTION BUT EXPLANATIONS

OF WHAT WE CANNOT DO. WE ARE GIVEN NOT A VISION OF THE
FUTURE BUT IMPROVISED--OFTEN CYNICAL--EXPEDIENTS TO GET
THROUGH THE ELECTION. WE ARE TOLD ENDLESS ALIBIS FOR
DOING NOTHING: THAT NOT EVERY UPHEAVAL AFFECTS OUR INTERESTS,
THAT THE DISASTERS HAVE COMPLEX SOCIO-ECONOMIC CAUSES, THAT
COMMUNIST GAINS WILL PROVE TEMPORARY.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE REJECT THIS PROCLAMATION OF OUR
PARALYSIS. THEY ARE TIRED OF A FOREIGN POLICY THAT RESULTS
ONLY IN RETREAT AND THE CONSTANT HUMILIATION OF THE UNITED
STATES.

THEY INSIST THAT WE TAKE CHARGE OF OUR FUTURE.

## II

WE SHALL EARN THE RIGHT TO GOVERN NOT SO MUCH BY DEPLORING
THE PAST BUT BY OFFERING A VISION OF WHAT CAN BE; BY DEDICATING
OURSELVES TO CONTAINING SOVIET EXPANSION AND ALSO TO WORKING
TO IMPROVE THE PROSPECTS FOR PEACE.

WE HAVE BEFORE US FOUR URGENT TASKS: TO REBUILD OUR
DEFENSES; TO END SOVIET EXPANSIONISM; TO MEND OUR ALLIANCES;
TO WORK WITH MEN AND WOMEN OF GOOD WILL IN ALL CONTINENTS

MD

6

TO FULFILL MANKIND'S POSITIVE ASPIRATIONS.

FIRST WE MUST REBUILD OUR MILITARY STRENGTH. [EVERYONE HERE AGREES THAT IF PRESENT MILITARY TRENDS ARE NOT REVERSED, WE RISK A MAJOR DISASTER.] NO SERIOUS STUDENT OF THE SUBJECT DISPUTES THAT THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT GAPS BETWEEN SOVIET CAPABILITIES AND OURS: WE ARE FALLING BEHIND IN STRATEGIC POWER, ARE FAR BEHIND IN CONVENTIONAL FORCES, AND SLIPPING IN NAVAL FORCES TO THE POINT WHERE WE HAD TO STRIP OUR MEDITERRANEAN AND PACIFIC FLEETS TO HAVE A TASK FORCE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. SOONER OR LATER OUR WEAKNESS WILL PRODUCE A CATASTROPHE. [THE TIME IS TOO SERIOUS TO PLAY A NUMBERS GAME WITH OUR DEFENSE BUDGET.] THERE IS ONLY ONE TEST FOR THE ADEQUACY OF OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE: ARE THESE CRITICAL GAPS BEING CLOSED? NOTHING LESS IS ADEQUATE; NOTHING SHORT OF IT CAN BE ACCEPTED.

BUT A NEW MILITARY BUDGET, HOWEVER VITAL, IS ONLY A FIRST STEP. WE MUST ADDRESS URGENTLY DIFFICULT STRATEGIC ISSUES WHICH HAVE BEEN TOO LONG NEGLECTED:

CNO

7

-- THE DEVELOPING OF A STRATEGIC DOCTRINE ADEQUATE TO THE ERA AHEAD OF US, WHICH IS AT BEST STRATEGIC PARITY AND A GROWING SOVIET REGIONAL THREAT.

-- A STRATEGY FOR NATO THAT ADAPTS DEPLOYMENTS TO NEW REALITIES AND THE EMERGING DANGERS OUTSIDE THE NATO AREA.

-- TO CREATE FORCES ON A CRASH BASIS TO OVERCOME THE GRIEVOUS CHALLENGES CERTAIN TO FACE US IN THE NEXT 3-4 YEARS.

ONLY A NEW ADMINISTRATION THAT GENUINELY BELIEVES IN DEFENSE WILL BE ABLE TO MASTER THESE PROBLEMS.

THE SECOND MAJOR TASK IS TO RESTORE AND THEN UPHOLD THE POLITICAL BALANCE OF POWER. IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, SOVIET WEAPONS, SOVIET FRIENDSHIP TREATIES, SOVIET PROXY TROOPS, TERRORISTS FINANCED AND TRAINED BY THE SOVIET BLOC, AND OUTRIGHT SOVIET INTERVENTION HAVE WORSENED ALMOST EVERY CRISIS AND HAVE TIPPED THE SCALES IN TOO MANY LOCAL CONFLICTS.

THE FREE WORLD CANNOT LONG SURVIVE IF THIS IS PERMITTED TO CONTINUE. THE ADMINISTRATION'S RELUCTANCE TO ASSERT OUR

8

INTERESTS IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A CRISIS--ITS CONGENITAL FEAR OF OUR POWER--HAS THE PARADOXICAL RESULT OF MAGNIFYING OUR RISKS. IT ENCOURAGES EVER GROWING CHALLENGES; OUR FRIENDS ARE DRIVEN BY THEIR FEARS AND OUR ENEMIES TEMPTED BY THEIR AMBITIONS. A NEW ADMINISTRATION WILL SHOW THAT BLACKMAIL DOES NOT WORK, THAT OUR FRIENDSHIP HAS BENEFITS WHILE HOSTILITY TO US INVOLVES PENALTIES.

ONE OF OUR HIGHEST PRIORITIES MUST BE TO MEND OUR TIES WITH OUR FRIENDS, WITH ALMOST ALL OF WHOM THE ADMINISTRATION HAS MANAGED TO PICK A QUARREL.

THE WESTERN ALLIANCE MUST RESTORE MUTUAL CONFIDENCE BECAUSE IT CAN NO LONGER POSTPONE ADAPTING ITS DEFENSE TO CHANGING STRATEGIC CONDITIONS. IT NEEDS A SPIRIT OF COOPERATION BECAUSE THE TIME HAS COME TO REDISTRIBUTE EXISTING BURDENS IN THE LIGHT OF NEW THREATS TO THE SECURITY OF THE FREE WORLD FROM OUTSIDE OF EUROPE. IT NEEDS POLITICAL UNITY TO DEAL EFFECTIVELY WITH CRISES IN SUCH AREAS AS THE

9

MIDDLE EAST; SEPARATE APPROACHES CONFUSE MODERATES AND ENCOURAGE RADICALS. IT MUST COORDINATE ITS DIPLOMACY TO AVOID BEING WHIPSAWED AND DIVIDED BY PREDICTABLE SOVIET PEACE OFFENSIVES. SEPARATE OVERTURES TO THE SOVIET UNION BY WESTERN LEADERS--INCLUDING OUR OWN--RISK SERVING THE SOVIET AIM OF DIVIDING AND UNRAVELLING THE ALLIANCE.

[PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY] WE MUST URGENTLY DEVELOP A COMMON ENERGY POLICY. THE MOST BLATANT DEMONSTRATION OF ALLIED DISARRAY IS THE SEMI-ANNUAL DISPLAY OF IMPOTENCE WHEN THE LEADERS OF THE INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS WAIT FOR THE LATEST DISPENSATION FROM THE PRODUCERS REGARDING PRICE INCREASES. THIS DEPENDENCE MUST BE ENDED BY A COHERENT CONSUMER STRATEGY. BUT WE CAN RALLY OUR ALLIES TO A COMMON CAUSE ONLY IF WE HAVE A PURPOSEFUL LONG-RANGE STRATEGY OURSELVES.

THIS A NEW ADMINISTRATION WILL PROVIDE.

THE DEVELOPING WORLD IS IN CHAOS FOR MANY REASONS-- NOT ALL CAUSED BY OUR ACTIONS. BUT THE ADMINISTRATION

10

HAS COMPOUNDED INSTABILITY BY CURRYING FAVOR WITH WHAT IT SAW AS THE FORCES OF CHANGE, WHICH IT IDENTIFIED WITH TRENDY MARXISM--FROM THE SANDINISTAS IN NICARAGUA TO THE PLO IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THE RESULT IS NOT MORE SUPPORT FOR OUR PRINCIPLES BUT THE OPPOSITE. WE ARE MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR ANTI-AMERICAN RADICALISM. WHEN THE NON-ALIGNED NATIONS MET IN HAVANA LAST SEPTEMBER, THEIR DECLARATION WAS MORE VICIOUSLY ANTI-AMERICAN THAN EVER BEFORE.

WE CANNOT ABANDON TWO-THIRDS OF HUMANITY TO MISERY, FEUDALISM AND DESPAIR. AMERICANS KNOW THAT OUR OWN SECURITY AND PROSPERITY DEPEND ON A WORLD OF PROGRESS, COOPERATION, JUSTICE AND HUMAN DIGNITY. HOWEVER, WE MUST OFFER NOT SELF-ABASEMENT BUT A SELF-CONFIDENT VISION OF A BETTER WORLD. AND MANY URGENT PROBLEMS AWAIT OUR COMMITMENT: TO RELIEVE THE CRUSHING BURDEN OF ENERGY COSTS FOR THE POOREST NATIONS; TO ENCOURAGE ADEQUATE SOURCES OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC DEVELOPMENT CAPITAL; TO GUARANTEE OUR

11

ACCESS TO VITAL MINERALS AND RAW MATERIALS AT A FAIR PRICE IN A GLOBAL ECONOMIC STRUCTURE BENEFICIAL TO ALL.

WE HAVE MANY TRUE FRIENDS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD WHO ARE SYMPATHETIC TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONS, WHO BELIEVE IN PEACEFUL CHANGE, AND DESPAIR WHEN WE UNDERMINE THEM BY FACILE SLOGANS AND INDECISION. THEY WAIT FOR OUR LEADERSHIP; THEY REQUIRE OUR PROTECTION; THEY YEARN FOR OUR INSPIRATION IN THEIR STRUGGLES WHICH ARE NOW LONELY--BUT WILL NOT BE AFTER NOVEMBER.

A NEW ADMINISTRATION IS NEEDED, IN SHORT, TO RESTORE STEADINESS AND COHERENCE TO OUR FOREIGN POLICY. THE WORLD IS IN TURMOIL BECAUSE AMERICA--THE LEADER OF FREE PEOPLES-- HAS LOST ITS COMPASS COURSE. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, EVERY ROAD WILL GET YOU THERE.

OUR CURRENT FOREIGN POLICY SPECIALIZES IN RESPONDING TO DISASTERS IT HAS HELPED PRODUCE. AMAZINGLY ENOUGH, THE CARTER ADMINISTRATION CLAIMS THAT IT IS WE WHO ARE RECKLESS BECAUSE WE DEMAND A NEW DEFENSE POLICY, THAT WE ARE

12

SIMPLISTIC IN OPPOSING RADICALISM, THAT WE FAIL TO
UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD--THAT
WE ARE RISKING WAR. BUT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE KNOW BETTER.
THEY UNDERSTAND THAT CONFUSION, TIMIDITY, IMPOTENCE AND
INCOMPETENCE RISK WAR. THEY KNOW THAT FIRMNESS AND
CONSTANCY ARE THE BEST INSURANCE OF PEACE.

THIS THEN SUMS UP THE POSITION OF A NEW ADMINISTRATION
AS I UNDERSTAND IT:

A. IT WILL URGENTLY AND DECISIVELY REBUILD OUR DEFENSES.

B. IT WILL RESTORE OUR ALLIANCES.

C. IT WILL RESIST VIGOROUSLY AND UNCOMPROMISINGLY SOVIET EXPANSIONISM.

D. IT WILL BE PREPARED TO NEGOTIATE TO PUSH BACK THE SPECTER OF NUCLEAR WAR TO REDUCE ARMS AND TO ESTABLISH RULES OF INTERNATIONAL CONDUCT ON THE BASIS OF STRICT RECIPROCITY AND PRINCIPLE.

E. IT WILL EXTEND A HAND OF COMPASSION AND ASSISTANCE TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES THAT SEEK PROGRESS AND HUMAN DIGNITY AND A BETTER LIFE FOR THEIR PEOPLE'S.

13

III

THUS OUR PARTY, AND OUR CANDIDATE OFFER RENEWAL AND
HOPE.

WE WILL DEFINE OURSELVES BY OUR IDEALS, NOT OUR FEARS.
WE SHALL BE JUDGED NOT BY THESTRIDENCY OF OUR RHETORIC BUT
BY THE NOBILITY OF OUR PURPOSES. WE WILL RESIST THE DARK
FORCES THAT THREATEN LIBERTY. BUT WE WILL ALSO HOLD OUT THE
PROMISE OF A MORE PEACEFUL WORLD AND OF A MORE HUMANE FUTURE.

AS A PARTY OF INDIVIDUALISTS WE HAVE HAD AND CONTINUE
TO HAVE OUR DIFFERENCES. AS MEN AND WOMEN OF PRINCIPLE WE
HAVE CONTESTED THEM VIGOROUSLY.

BUT THE TIME HAS COME TO CLOSE RANKS.

WE ALL NOW TURN TO RONALD REAGAN AS THE TRUSTEE OF
OUR HOPES.

HE WILL HAVE THE DEDICATED SUPPORT OF ALL OF US, FOR
WE KNOW THAT HIS ELECTION IS ESSENTIAL TO THE FUTURE OF
FREEDOM AND TO THE PROGRESS OF AMERICA. UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP
WE WILL OVERCOME THE STORMS AHEAD; WE WILL HOLD OUR HEADS
HIGH AND WE WILL BUILD THAT BETTER WORLD AT PEACE THAT FULFILLS
THE DREAMS OF MANKIND AND THE HIGH IDEALS OF OUR PEOPLE.

PWR/WGH: 7/2/80

# CONVENTION SPEECH

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:

## The Present Danger and How It Came About

Everyone in this audience knows that we meet at a time of a great world crisis. The danger of a major conflict is greater than ever in recent memory.

And this presents us with a challenge and an opportunity. We are challenged to offer the American people an alternative leadership in the White House and in the Congress.

We have an opportunity to explain to the American people why it is that thirty-five years after the end of the Second World War, we face such a dangerous prospect, what we propose to do about it, and what vision we offer of a peaceful world--a vision that will unite our people and restore a bipartisan foreign policy that reflects the courage of Harry Truman and the wisdom of Dwight Eisenhower.

-2-

The first necessity is to recognize the reality
of what we face.

First of all, we must recognize that we are paying a
severe price for our national divisions, our constant
debates and quarrels, and challenges of each other's
motives and intentions. In the last 20 years, when we have
been torn apart by assassination, war, turmoil, and
crisis at home, our adversaries have persistently built
up their military strength, from which they are now
conducting a world-wide offensive.

Second, we must recognize that in critical areas
of the world we have failed to master the forces of
change. We have become the helpless victims of events,
while global stability, our security and well being and
those of our allies, have come under growing threats. All
around the globe, from Korea to Southeast Asia to the
Persian Gulf, from the Horn of Africa to Central America,
we see hostile and radical forces challenging our friends

-3-

and threatening our interests.

—Third, we see the West's oil lifeline increasingly
vulnerable to blackmail.

—Finally, we see that our Allies no longer look to
Washington for leadership but follow their own separate
policies. The Western Alliance is in disarray.

In short, we are in a confrontation with our
adversaries, estranged with our friends in the Third
World, and in a dispute with our allies.

In all frankness, I cannot say that all of these
problems would have been avoided by a Republican
Administration.

But I can tell you that
the policies and philosophy of the present Administration
have accelerated the unhealthy and dangerous trends that I
have described.

These policies have been marked by vacillation and
confusion, by neglect of the role of our power in the
world, and by a misunderstanding of the nature of the
world we live in.

-4-

Let us take only one example: the recent crisis in
the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf.

This Administration came into office eager to
demilitarize the Indian Ocean, to negotiate with the Soviet
Union to make the Indian Ocean a "zone of peace." It
accused its Republican predecessors of being too pre-
occupied with military power, and proclaimed that we would
not be the "world's policeman." It distanced itself from
key allies in the region, picking a fight with Pakistan,
and eventually abandoning Iran.

Where are we today? Today we have had to strip our
Pacific fleet of aircraft carriers in order to send
two carrier task forces to the Indian Ocean. We have
had to invent the Carter Doctrine to extend an American
defense commitment to the entire Persian Gulf. A friendly
government in Iran that the President called "an
island of stability"

-5-

disintegrated while we stood by helplessly; we now
confront a regime of fanatics who never made a
secret of their vicious hatred of America. The Soviet
Union took advantage of our confusion to invade
Afghanistan. Pakistan, a traditional friend of the
United States, now prefers neutrality to the risks of
being associated with us. Radicals are in the
ascendant; our friends are fearful.

In this area alone we have suffered the worst
geopolitical disaster for the United States in 35 years.

<u>The Balance of Power</u>

What can we do about it? First, we must restore
the military balance. Key weapons programs begun by
<u>Republiken</u> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<u>Administrati</u>n &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Presidents Nixon and Ford have either been cancelled,
or slowed down, or postponed. After <u>Afghanistan</u> revealed
<u>our military vulnerability</u>, the defense budget was <u>as</u> been
allowed to <u>shrink</u> in real terms due to inflation--and
the Administration <u>lobbied</u> in Congress to <u>prevent</u> it

-12-

awoke us to our danger in time for us to restore our
position before a more overwhelming threat confronts
us. America is blessed with the resources of a
continent and the talents of a great free people. Most
of our setbacks have been self-inflicted. Therefore, our
fate is truly in our hands, if we but do what is necessary.

This is the only road to a secure peace. This is
the choice before the American people in November.

***

-7-

(Y)

Ocean and then seeks bases in all its corners? That
offers our allies a neutron bomb and then withdraws it?

That campaign in 1976 on the promise of cutting
our defense budget and now manipulates percentage points
that
to show an increase;/cancel§ or slow down major military
programs and is now forced to revive them; that rejects
the role of World's policeman and then extends our
defense commitment to the entire Persian Gulf? That
calls Iran an "island of stability" and then stands
by impotently while it slid into chaos? That insisted
for four years that Soviet expansionism should not be
permitted to jeopardize negotiations with the
Soviet Union and was shocked when the Red Army marched
into Afghanistan.

13 a

[ of our economy, increase our productivity and solve our energy crisis. ]

[ When allies are confused, they drift into neutrality. When neturals are confused, they drift into unanimity ]

[ When adversaries are confused, we risk miscalculations ]

The Carter Administration will defend against these charges by claiming we are reckless in wanting to strengthen defense, that we are simplistic in wanting to stand by our friends, that we fail to understand the complexities of the Soviet offensive,-- that we are risking war. [clarification]

A foreign policy of confusion, of timidity--of incompetence--risks war. The real danger of conflict comes when blunders and weakness cause events to get out of control; when isolated from our friends we tempt aggression; when erratically lurching from one extreme to the other we become ourselves a major source of instability in world affairs. [end of text]

and constancy, standing by allies Firmness, vigilance and compassion, as a reliable friend, making clear that we respond vigorously [end]

14

adversaries on a secure footing and make reciprocal reductions in nuclear armaments. Then we can extend a hand of compassion and assistance to developing countries that seek progress and human dignity and a better life for their

people's. For moderation is a virtue only in those who are thought to have a choice.

people that will assume the suzerainty of liberty for generation, a world that all will have a stake in maintaining

And all this requires that we provide a firm domestic base by restoring the vitality of our economy, increasing

our productivity, dealing with unemployment, inflation and solving our energy crisis.

### III

Thus what we offer is renewal and hope. Almost every problem I have mentioned is of our own making; its solution is therefore in our own hands. Our adversaries have profited from our neglect, but we have the resources, genius, and dedication of a great and free people.

We must resist the dark forces that threaten liberty.

CONVENTION SPEECH

WE ARE HERE TO OFFER THE AMERICAN PEOPLE A NEW POLICY
OF STRENGTH AND PRINCIPLE, OF SECURITY AND PEACE, OF
PROGRESS, CONFIDENCE AND HOPE. AND WE ARE HERE TO DEDICATE OURSELVES
TO THE ELECTION OF RONALD REAGAN TO FULFILL OUR VISION OF
WHAT AMERICA CAN BE.

IN JANUARY 1977 THAT GREAT AND GOOD MAN, GERALD FORD, BEQUETHED
TO THE CARTER ADMINISTRATION AN AMERICA THAT WAS BUILDING
A SOUND DEFENSE, AN AMERICA THAT HAD THE CONFIDENCE OF ITS
FRIENDS AND THE RESPECT OF ITS FOES.

2

TODAY AFTER NEARLY FOUR YEARS OF CONFUSION WE HAVE
BECOME BYSTANDERS AS THE WORLD LURCHES FROM CRISIS TO
CRISIS.

IN THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS WE HAVE QUARRELED WITH ALMOST
EVERY ALLY. WE HAVE ACCEPTED A SOVIET ARMORED BRIGADE IN
CUBA; A CUBAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE IN ETHIOPIA; A SOVIET
MILITARY BASE IN SOUTH YEMEN; AND MUSHROOMING SOVIET ARMS
DEPOTS IN LIBYA. TWO COMMUNIST COUPS AND A SOVIET INVASION
HAVE TURNED AFGHANISTAN INTO A SOVIET SATELLITE. WE HAVE SEEN
TWO ASSAULTS FROM COMMUNIST TERRITORY INTO ZAIRE; COMMUNIST-
ARMED GUERRILLAS ARE ATTACKING FRIENDLY MOROCCO RADICALS
ARE ON THE MOVE ALL OVER THE MIDDLE EAST, WHICH FINDS ITSELF
IN A GIANT COMMUNIST PINCER BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND SOUTH YEMEN
IN THE SOUTH AND AFGHANISTAN IN THE NORTH. COMMUNIST
VIETNAM INVADED CAMBODIA AND THREATENS OUR ALLY THAILAND.
CENTRAL AMERICA IS IN UPHEAVAL BECAUSE OF REVOLUTIONS THIS

3

ADMINISTRATION SPONSORED BUT HAS NOT KNOWN HOW TO CONTROL.

KOREA IS IN TURMOIL, THREATENED FROM THE COMMUNIST NORTH,
SNUBBED BY OUR LEADERS. IRAN HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED FROM A
MAJOR ALLY TO A BITTER OPPONENT. AND/OR MORE THAN EIGHT
MONTHS WHILE WE HAVE STOOD BY HELPLESSLY, 52 AMERICANS - REPRESENTING ALL
BEEN HOLD CAPTIVE BY
HOSTAGES HAVE SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF BRUTAL AND COWARDLY
IRANIAN SO-CALLED STUDENTS.

IT IS NOT POLITICAL ORATORY TO AGREE THAT ANOTHER FOUR YEARS LIKE THE LAST FOUR WILL MAKE DISASTER INEVITABLE.

WE REPUBLICANS MUST NOT CLAIM THAT ALL CRISES ARE
AVOIDABLE. WE LIVE IN AN AGE OF REVOLUTION IN TECHNOLOGY,
IN WEAPONRY, IN HUMAN ASPIRATIONS WHICH WE MUST MEET WITH
A BROAD AND HUMAN VISION. THERE ARE NO QUICK FIXES.

BUT WE CAN AGREE THAT THESE MULTIPLYING CRISIS ARE
NATURAL RESULT
THE INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCE OF A NAIVE PHILOSOPHY WHICH SINCE
1977 HAS SHRUNK FROM OUR POWER AND FLED FROM OUR RESPONSIBILITIES.

4

A PHILOSOPHY OF RENUNCIATION HAS BEEN ALLIED TO AN
DIPLOMACY
EXECUTION OF INCOHERENCE. WHAT ARE FOREIGN LEADERS TO MAKE
OF A POLICY THAT FIRST PROPOSES TO DEMILITARIZE THE INDIAN
OCEAN AND NOW SEEKS BASES IN ALL ITS CORNERS? THAT OFFERED
OUR ALLIES A NEUTRON BOMB AND THEN WITHDREW IT? THAT

PROMISES TO
CAMPAIGN IN 1976 ON THE PROMISE OF CUTTING OUR DEFENSE
CANCELLED OR STRETCHED OUT EVERY STRATEGIC PROGRAM IN
BUDGET, AND NOW FIDDLES WITH FIGURES TO PRETEND AN INCREASE?

THAT AFTER REDUCING OUR CAPABILITIES HAS EXPANDED OUR
COMMITMENTS? THAT FIRST RIDICULED THE NEED OF A POLICEMAN IN
THE PERSIAN GULF AND THEN EXTENDED OUR OWN DEFENSE COMMITMENT
TO THE ENTIRE AREA? THAT IS "SHOCKED" BY THE SOVIET INVASION
OF AFGHANISTAN TWENTY MONTHS AFTER A COMMUNIST COUP THERE
WAS IGNORED?

THE MISUNDERSTANDING OF OUR PERIL HAS MADE OUR RESPONSES
FEEBLE AND APOLOGETIC.

5

ON ONE POINT, AT LEAST, WE CAN ALL AGREE WITH PRESIDENT CARTER: THAT WE NOW FACE THE GRAVEST CRISIS SINCE 1945. BUT THE ADMINISTRATION'S RESPONSE HAS BEEN SYMPTOMATIC OF WHAT PRODUCED OUR PERIL IN THE FIRST PLACE. WE HEAR NOT A CALL TO ACTION BUT EXPLANATIONS OF WHAT WE CANNOT DO. WE ARE GIVEN NOT A VISION OF THE FUTURE BUT IMPROVISED--OFTEN CYNICAL--EXPEDIENTS TO GET THROUGH THE ELECTION. WE ARE TOLD ENDLESS ALIBIS FOR DOING NOTHING: THAT NOT EVERY UPHEAVAL AFFECTS OUR INTERESTS, THAT THE DISASTERS HAVE COMPLEX SOCIO-ECONOMIC CAUSES, THAT COMMUNIST GAINS WILL PROVE TEMPORARY.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE REJECT THIS PROCLAMATION OF OUR PARALYSIS, THIS PHILOSOPHY OF ABDICATION. THEY ARE TIRED OF A FOREIGN POLICY THAT RESULTS ONLY IN RETREAT AND THE CONSTANT HUMILIATION OF THE UNITED STATES.

6

II

WE SHALL EARN THE RIGHT TO GOVERN NOT BY DEPLORING THE
PAST BUT BY OFFERING A VISION OF THE FUTURE REFLECTING THE
~~OF WHAT CAN BE~~
~~CHARGE OF OUR FUTURE~~
STRENGTH AND CONFIDENCE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

WE HAVE BEFORE US FOUR URGENT TASKS: THE REBUILDING OF
OUR DEFENSES; THE ENDING OF SOVIET EXPANSIONISM; THE MENDIONG OF
OUR ALLIANCES; TO COOPERATE WITH NEW NATIONS ON THE WORLD'S
IN ALL CONTINENTS AND TANKS' POSITIVE INSPIRATIONS
TO OUR FOREIGN POLICY.

FIRST WE MUST REBUILD OUR MILITARY STRENGTH. EVERYONE
HERE AGREES THAT IF PRESENT MILITARY TRENDS ARE NOT REVERSED,
WE RISK A MAJOR DISASTER. NO SERIOUS STUDENT OF THE SUBJECT
DISPUTES THAT THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT GAPS BETWEEN SOVIET CAPABIL-
ITIES AND OURS: WE ARE FALLING BEHIND IN STRATEGIC POWER, FAR
BEHIND IN CONVENTIONAL FORCES, AND SLIPPING IN NAVAL FORCES TO THE
POINT WHERE WE HAD TO STRIP OUR MEDITERRANEAN AND PACIFIC
FLEETS TO HAVE A TASK FORCE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. SOONER OR

6

II

WE SHALL EARN THE RIGHT TO GOVERN NOT BY DEPLORING THE PAST BUT BY OFFERING A VISION OF THE FUTURE REFLECTING THE ~~TAKE CHARGE OF OUR FUTURE~~ HOPE, STRENGTH AND CONFIDENCE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

WE HAVE BEFORE US FOUR URGENT TASKS: ~~THE REBUILDING OF~~ TO OK
TO OUR DEFENSES; THE ENDING OF SOVIET EXPANSIONISM; THE MENDING
~~OF OUR ALLIANCES; TO COOPERATE WITH NEW NATIONS ON THE WORLD'S~~ WORK ON THE PLAN WITH OUR FASHER WILL BE NEEDED FOR GOOD WILL
~~IN ALL CONTINENTS AND ON MANKIND'S POSITIVE ASPIRATIONS~~ POSITIVE TASKS, AND THE RESTORING OF COHERENCE AND STEADINESS
TO OUR FOREIGN POLICY.

FIRST WE MUST REBUILD OUR MILITARY STRENGTH. EVERYONE
HERE AGREES THAT IF PRESENT MILITARY TRENDS ARE NOT REVERSED,
WE RISK A MAJOR DISASTER. NO SERIOUS STUDENT OF THE SUBJECT
DISPUTES THAT THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT GAPS BETWEEN SOVIET CAPABIL-
ITIES AND OURS: WE ARE FALLING BEHIND IN STRATEGIC POWER, AREN'T
BEHIND IN CONVENTIONAL FORCES, AND SLIPPING IN NAVAL FORCES TO THE
POINT WHERE WE HAD TO STRIP OUR MEDITERRANEAN AND PACIFIC
FLEETS TO HAVE A TASK FORCE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. SOONER OR

7

LATER OUR WEAKNESS WILL PRODUCE A CATASTROPHE. THE TIME IS TOO SERIOUS TO PLAY A NUMBERS GAME WITH OUR DEFENSE BUDGET. THERE IS ONLY ONE TEST FOR THE ADEQUACY OF OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE: ARE THESE CRITICAL GAPS BEING CLOSED? NOTHING LESS IS ADEQUATE; NOTHING SHORT OF IT CAN BE ACCEPTED.

-- THE NEW MIX BETWEEN OUR FORCES IN AN ERA OF STRATEGIC PARITY AND SOVIET REGIONAL PREDOMINANCE.

-- A STRATEGY FOR NATO THAT ADAPTS OUR COMMITMENTS TO NEW REALITIES.