KERRY'S ACCEPTANCE
'We Have It in Our Power to Change the World Again'

Published: July 29, 2004

following is Senator John Kerry's speech accepting the Democratic presidential
nomination last night in Boston, as recorded by The New York Times:

I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty.

We are here tonight because we love our country. We're proud of what America i
s and what it can become.

My fellow Americans, we're here tonight united in one purpose: to make America
stronger at home and respected in the world.

A great American novelist wrote that you can't go home again. He could not hav
e imagined this evening. Tonight, I am home. Home where my public life began a
nd those who made it possible live. Home where our nation's history was writte
n in blood, idealism and hope. Home where my parents showed me the values of f
amily, faith and country. Thank you. Thank you, all of you, for a welcome home
I will never forget.

I wish my parents could share this moment. They went to their rest in the last
few years. But their example, their inspiration, their gift of open eyes, and
open mind, and endless heart, and world that doesn't have an end are bigger a
nd more lasting than any words.

I was born, as some of you saw in the film, in Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Co
lorado, when my dad was a pilot in World War II. Now, I'm not one to read into
things, but guess which wing of the hospital the maternity ward was in? I'm n
ot kidding. I was born in the West Wing.

My mother was the rock of our family as so many mothers are. She stayed up lat
e to help me with my homework. She sat by my bed when I was sick. She answered
the questions of a child who, like all children, found the world full of wond
ers and mysteries.

She was my den mother when I was a Cub Scout and she was so proud of her 50-ye
ar pin as a Girl Scout leader. She gave me her passion for the environment. Sh
e taught me to see trees as the cathedrals of nature. And by the power of her
example, she showed me that we can and must complete the march towards full eq
uality for all women in the United States of America.

My dad did the things that a boy remembers. He gave me my first model airplane
, my first baseball mitt, my first bicycle. He also taught me that we are here
for something bigger than ourselves. He lived out the responsibilities and sa
crifices of the greatest generation to whom we owe so much.

And when I was a young man, he was in the State Department, stationed in Berli
n when it and the world were divided between democracy and communism. I have u
nforgettable memories of being a kid mesmerized by the British, French and Ame
rican troops, each of them guarding their own part of the city - and Russians
standing guard on that stark line separating East from West. On one occasion,
I rode my bike into Soviet East Berlin. And when I proudly told my dad, he pro
mptly grounded me.

But what I learned has stayed with me for a lifetime. I saw how different life
was on different sides of the same city. I saw the fear in the eyes of people
who were not free. I saw the gratitude of people towards the United States fo
r all that we had done. I felt goose bumps as I got off a military train and I
heard the Army band strike up "Stars and Stripes Forever." I learned what it
meant to be America at our best. I learned the pride of our freedom. And I am
determined now to restore that pride to all who look to America.

Mine were "greatest generation" parents. And as I thank them, we all join toge
ther to thank a whole generation for making America strong, for winning World
War II, winning the cold war, and for the great gift of service which brought
America 50 years of peace and prosperity.

My parents inspired me to serve. And when I was in high school, a junior, John
Kennedy called my generation to service. It was the beginning of a great jour
ney - a time to march for civil rights, for voting rights, for the environment
, for women, for peace. We believed we could change the world. And you know wh
at? We did.

But we're not finished. The journey isn't complete. The march isn't over. The
promise isn't perfected. Tonight, we're setting out again. And together, we're
going to write the next great chapter of America's story.

We have it in our power to change the world. But only if we're true to our ide
als - and that starts by telling the truth to the American people. As presiden
t, that is my first pledge to you tonight. As president, I will restore trust
and credibility to the White House.

I ask you to judge me by my record. As a young prosecutor, I fought for victim
's rights and made prosecuting violence against women a priority. When I came
to the Senate, I broke with many in my own party to vote for a balanced budget
because I thought it was the right thing to do. I fought to put 100,000 polic
e officers on the streets of America.

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And then I reached out across the aisle with John McCain to work to find the t
ruth about our P.O.W.'s and missing in action and to finally make peace in Vie
tnam.

I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war. I will have
a vice president who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewri
te our environmental laws. I will have a secretary of defense who will listen
to the advice of the military leaders. And I will appoint an attorney general
who will uphold the Constitution of the United States.

My fellow Americans, this is the most important election of our lifetime. The
stakes are high. We are a nation at war - a global war on terror against an en
emy unlike we've ever known before. And here at home, wages are falling, healt
h care costs are rising and our great middle class is shrinking. People are wo
rking weekends, two jobs, three jobs - and they're still not getting ahead.

We're told that outsourcing jobs is good for America. We're told that jobs tha
t pay $9,000 less than the jobs that have been lost is the best that we can do
. They say this is the best economy that we've ever had. And they say anyone w
ho thinks otherwise is a pessimist. Well, here is our answer: There is nothing
more pessimistic than saying that America can't do better.

We can do better. We can do better and we will. We're the optimists. For us, t
his is a country of the future. We're the can-do people. And let's not forget
what we did in the 1990's. We balanced the budget. We paid down the debt. We c
reated 23 million new jobs. We lifted millions out of poverty and we lifted th
e standard of living for the middle class. We just need to believe in ourselve
s and we can do it again.

So tonight, in the city where America's freedom began - only a few blocks from
where the sons and daughters of liberty gave birth to our nation - here tonig
ht, on behalf of a new birth of freedom, on behalf of the middle class who des
erve a champion and those struggling to join it who deserve a fair shot, for t
he brave men and women in uniform who risk their lives and for their families
who pray for their return, for all those who believe that our best days are ah
ead of us, with great faith in the American people, I accept your nomination f
or president of the United States.

I am proud that at my side will be a running mate whose life is the story of t
he American dream and who's worked every day to make that dream real for all A
mericans, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina and his wife Elizabeth and th
eir family. Thank you. This son of a millworker is ready to lead and next Janu
ary, Americans will be proud to have a fighter for the middle class to succeed
Dick Cheney as vice president of the United States.

And what can I say about Teresa? She has the strongest moral compass of anyone
I know. She's down to earth, nurturing, courageous, wise and smart. She speak
s her mind and she speaks the truth, and I love her for that, too. And that's
why America will embrace her as the next first lady of the United States.

For Teresa and me, no matter what the future holds or the past has given us, n
othing will ever mean as much as our children, as you could sense listening to
them. We love them not just for who they are and what they've become, but for
being themselves, making us laugh, holding our feet to the fire and never let
ting me get away with anything. Thank you, Andre, Alex, Chris, Vanessa and Joh
n.

And in this journey, I am accompanied by an extraordinary band of brothers led
by that American hero, a patriot called Max Cleland. Our band of brothers doe
sn't march because of who we are as veterans, but because of what we learned a
s soldiers. We fought for this nation because we loved it and we came back wit
h the deep belief that every day is extra. We may be a little older, we may be
a little grayer, but we still know how to fight for our country.

And standing with us in that fight are those who shared with me the long seaso
n of the primary campaign: Carol Moseley Braun, Gen. Wesley Clark, Howard Dean
, Dick Gephardt, Bob Graham, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Lieberman, Al Sharpton. To a
ll of you, I say thank you for teaching me and testing me, but mostly, we say
thank you for standing up for our country and for giving us the unity to move
America forward.

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My fellow Americans, the world tonight is very different from the world of fou
r years ago. But I believe the American people are more than equal to the chal
lenge. Remember the hours after Sept. 11, when we came together as one to answ
er the attack against our homeland. We drew strength when our firefighters ran
up stairs and risked their lives, so that others might live. When rescuers ru
shed into smoke and fire at the Pentagon. When the men and women of Flight 93
sacrificed themselves to save our nation's capital. When flags were hanging fr
om front porches all across America, and strangers became friends. It was the
worst day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us.

I am proud that after Sept. 11 all our people rallied to President Bush's call
for unity to meet the danger. There were no Democrats. There were no Republic
ans. There were only Americans. And how we wish it had stayed that way.

Now I know that there are those who criticize me for seeing complexities, and
I do, because some issues just aren't all that simple. Saying there are weapon
s of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't make it so. Saying we can fight a war on
the cheap doesn't make it so. And proclaiming mission accomplished certainly
doesn't make it so.

As president, I will ask the hard questions and demand hard evidence. I will i
mmediately reform the intelligence system so policy is guided by facts, and fa
cts are never distorted by politics. And as president, I will bring back this
nation's time-honored tradition: The United States of America never goes to wa
r because we want to, we only go to war because we have to. That is the standa
rd of our nation.

I know what kids go through when they are carrying an M-16 in a dangerous plac
e and they can't tell friend from foe. I know what they go through when they'r
e out on patrol at night and they don't know what's coming around the next ben
d. I know what it's like to write letters home telling your family that everyt
hing's all right when you're just not sure that that's true.

As president, I will wage this war with the lessons I learned in war. Before y
ou go to battle, you have to be able to look a parent in the eye and truthfull
y say: "I tried everything possible to avoid sending your son or daughter into
harm's way. But we had no choice. We had to protect the American people, fund
amental American values against a threat that was real and imminent." So lesso
n number one, this is the only justification for going to war.

And on my first day in office, I will send a message to every man and woman in
our armed forces: You will never be asked to fight a war without a plan to wi
n the peace.

I know what we have to do in Iraq. I know what we have to do in Iraq. We need
a president who has the credibility to bring our allies to our side and share
the burden, reduce the cost to American taxpayers, reduce the risk to American
soldiers. That's the right way to get the job done and bring our troops home.

Here is the reality: That won't happen until we have a president who restores
America's respect and leadership so we don't have to go it alone in the world.

And we need to rebuild our alliances, so we can get the terrorists before they
get us.

I defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as president. Let
there be no mistake: I will never hesitate to use force when it is required. A
ny attack will be met with a swift and a certain response. I will never give a
ny nation or any institution a veto over our national security. And I will bui
ld a stronger military. We will add 40,000 active duty troops - not in Iraq, b
ut to strengthen American forces that are now overstretched, overextended and
under pressure. We will double our special forces to conduct antiterrorist ope
rations. And we will provide our troops with the newest weapons and technology
to save their lives and win the battle. And we will end the backdoor draft of
the National Guard and reservists.

To all who serve in our armed forces today I say help is on the way.

As president I will fight a smarter, more effective war on terror. We will dep
loy every tool in our arsenal - our economic as well as our military might; ou
r principles as well as our firepower.

In these dangerous days, there is a right way and a wrong way to be strong. St
rength is more than tough words. After decades of experience in national secur
ity I know the reach of our power and I know the power of our ideals.

We need to make America once again a beacon in the world. We need to be looked
up to, not just feared.

We need to lead a global effort against nuclear proliferation, to keep the mos
t dangerous weapons in the world out of the most dangerous hands in the world.

We need a strong military. And we need to lead strong alliances. And then, wit
h confidence and determination, we will be able to tell the terrorists: You wi
ll lose and we will win. The future doesn't belong to fear; it belongs to free
dom.

And the front lines of this battle are not just far away, they're right here o
n our shores. They're at our airports and potentially in any city or town. Tod
ay our national security begins with homeland security. The 9/11 Commission ha
s given us a path to follow, endorsed by Democrats, Republicans and the 9/11 f
amilies. As president, I will not evade or equivocate, I will immediately impl
ement all the recommendations of that commission. We shouldn't be letting 95 p
ercent of our container ships come into our ports without ever being physicall
y inspected. We shouldn't be leaving nuclear and chemical plants without enoug
h protection. And we shouldn't be opening firehouses in Baghdad and shutting t
hem in the United States of America.

And tonight we have an important message for those who question the patriotism
of Americans who offer a better direction for our country. Before wrapping th
emselves in the flag and shutting their eyes to the truth and their ears, they
should remember what America is really all about. They should remember the gr
eat idea of freedom for which so many have given their lives. Our purpose now
is to reclaim our democracy itself. We are here to affirm that when Americans
stand up and speak their minds and say America can do better, that is not a ch
allenge to patriotism, it is the heart and soul of patriotism.

You see that flag up there. We call her Old Glory. The Stars and Stripes forev
er. I fought under that flag, as did so many of those people who are here toni
ght and all across the country. That flag flew from the gun turret right behin
d my head. And it was shot through and through and tattered, but it never ceas
ed to wave in the wind. It draped the caskets of men that I served with and fr
iends I grew up with. For us that flag is the most powerful symbol of who we a
re and what we believe in. Our strength. Our diversity. Our love of country. A
ll that makes America both great and good.

That flag doesn't belong to any president. It doesn't belong to any ideology.
It doesn't belong to any party. It belongs to all the American people.

My fellow citizens, elections are about choices. And choices are about values.
In the end it's not just policies and programs that matter. The president who
sits at that desk must be guided by principle.

For four years we've heard a lot of talk about values. But values spoken witho
ut actions taken are just slogans. Values are not just words. Values are what
we live by. They're about the causes that we champion and the people that we f
ight for. And it's time for those who talk about family values to start valuin
g families.

You don't value families by kicking kids out of after-school programs and taki
ng cops off the streets so that Enron can get another tax break.

We believe in the family value of caring for our children and protecting the n
eighborhoods where they walk and they play.

And that is the choice in this election.

You don't value families by denying real prescription-drug coverage to seniors
so big drug companies can get another windfall profit.

We believe in the family value expressed in one of the oldest commandments: "H
onor thy father and thy mother." As president, I will not privatize Social Sec
urity. I will not cut benefits. And together we will make sure that senior cit
izens never have to cut their pills in half because they can't afford life-sav
ing medicine.

And that is the choice in this election.

You don't value families if you force them to take up a collection to buy body
armor for a son or daughter in the service, if you deny veterans health care
or if you tell middle-class families to wait for a tax cut so the wealthiest a
mong us can get even more.

We believe in the value of doing what's right for everyone in the American fam
ily.

And that is the choice in this election.

We believe that what matters most is not narrow appeals masquerading as values
, but the shared values that show the true face of America. Not narrow values
that divide us, but the shared values that unite us - family, faith, hard work
, opportunity and responsibility for all - so that every child, every adult, e
very parent, every worker in America has an equal shot at living up to their G
od-given potential. That is the American dream and the American value.

What does it mean in America today when Dave McCune, a steel worker that I met
in Canton, Ohio, saw his job sent overseas and the equipment in his factory w
as literally unbolted, crated up, and shipped thousands of miles away along wi
th that job? What does it mean when workers I've met have had to train their f
oreign replacements? America can do better. And tonight we say: Help is on the
way.

What does it mean when Mary Ann Knowles, a woman with breast cancer that I met
in New Hampshire, had to keep working day after day through her chemotherapy,
no matter how sick she felt, because she was terrified of losing her family's
health insurance. America can do better. And help is on the way.

What does it mean when Deborah Kromins from Philadelphia, Pa., works and she s
aves all her life and finds out that her pension has disappeared into thin air
and the executive who looted it has bailed out on a golden parachute? America
can do better. And help is on the way.

What does it mean when 25 percent of our children in Harlem have asthma becaus
e of air pollution? We can do better. America can do better. And help is on th
e way.

What does it mean when people are huddled in blankets in the cold, sleeping in
Lafayette Park on the doorstep of the White House itself, and the number of f
amilies living in poverty has risen by three million in the last four years? A
merica can do better. And help is on the way.

And so we come here tonight to ask: Where is the conscience of our country? I'
ll tell you where it is. I'll tell you where it is. It's in rural and small-to
wn America; it's in urban neighborhoods and the suburban main streets; it's al
ive in the people that I've met in every single part of this land. It's bursti
ng in the hearts of Americans who are determined to give our values and our tr
uth back to our country.

We value jobs that actually pay you more than the job that you lost. We value
jobs where, when you put in a week's work, you can actually pay your bills, pr
ovide for your children, lift up the quality of your life. We value an America
where the middle class is not being squeezed, but doing better.

So here is our economic plan to build a stronger America:

First, new incentives to revitalize manufacturing.

Second, investment in technology and innovation that will create the good-payi
ng jobs of the future.

Third, close the tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping jobs oversea
s. Instead, we will reward companies that create and keep good paying jobs whe
re they belong, in the good old U.S.A. We value an America that exports produc
ts, not jobs. And we believe American workers should never have to subsidize t
he loss of their own job.

Next, we will trade and we will compete in the world. But our plan calls for a
fair playing field. Because if you give the American worker a fair playing fi
eld, there's no one in the world that the American worker can't compete agains
t.

And we're going to return to fiscal responsibility because it is the foundatio
n of our economic strength. Our plan will cut the deficit in half in four year
s by ending tax giveaways that are nothing more than corporate welfare. And wi
ll make government live by the rule that every family has to live by: Pay as y
ou go.

And let me tell you what we won't do. We won't raise taxes on the middle class
. You've heard a lot of false charges about this in recent months. So let me s
ay straight out what I will do as president: I will cut middle-class taxes. I
will reduce the tax burden on small business. And I will roll back the tax cut
s for the wealthiest individuals who make over $200,000 a year, so we can inve
st in health care, education and job creation.

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Our education plan for a stronger America sets high standards and it demands a
ccountability from parents, teachers and schools. It provides for smaller clas
s sizes and it treats teachers like the professionals that they are. And it gi
ves a tax credit to families for each and every year of college.

When I was a prosecutor, I met young kids who were in trouble, abandoned, all
of them, by adults. And as president, I am determined that we stop being a nat
ion content to spend $50,000 a year to send a young person to prison for the r
est of their life when we could invest $10,000 a year in Head Start, Early Sta
rt, Smart Start, a real start to the lives of our children.

And we value health care that's affordable and accessible for all Americans. S
ince 2000, four million people have lost their health insurance. Millions more
are struggling to afford it. You know what's happening. Your premiums, your c
o-payments, your deductibles have all gone through the roof.

Our health care plan for a stronger America cracks down on the waste and the g
reed and the abuse in our health care system. And it will save families $1,000
a year on premiums. You'll get to pick your own doctor. And patients and doct
ors, not insurance company bureaucrats, will make medical decisions. Under our
health care plan, Medicare will negotiate lower drug prices for seniors. And
all Americans will be able to buy less expensive prescription drugs from count
ries like Canada.

The story of people struggling for health care is the story of so many America
ns. But you know what, it's not the story of senators and members of Congress.
Because we give ourselves great health care and you get the bill. Well, I'm h
ere to say tonight, your family's health care is just as important as any poli
tician's in Washington, D.C.

And when I am president, we will stop being the only advanced nation in the wo
rld which fails to understand that health care is not a privilege for the weal
thy and the connected and the elected - it is a right for all Americans. And w
e will make it so.

We value an America that controls its own destiny because it's finally and for
ever independent of Mideast oil. What does it mean for our economy and our nat
ional security when we have only 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, yet we
rely on foreign countries for 53 percent of what we consume?

I want an America that relies on its ingenuity and innovation, not the Saudi r
oyal family.

And our energy plan for a stronger America, our energy plan will invest in new
technologies and alternative fuels and the cars of the future, so that no you
ng American in uniform will ever be held hostage to our dependence on oil from
the Middle East.

I've told you about our plans for the economy, for education, for health care,
for energy independence. I want you to know more about them. So now I'm going
to say something that Franklin Roosevelt could never have said in his accepta
nce speech: Go to johnkerry.com.

I want to address these next words directly to President George W. Bush. In th
e weeks ahead let's be optimists, not just opponents. Let's build unity in the
American family, not angry division. Let's honor this nation's diversity. Let
's respect one another. And let's never misuse for political purposes the most
precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States.

My friends, the high road may be harder but it leads to a better place. And th
at's why Republicans and Democrats must make this election a contest of big id
eas, not small-minded attacks. This is our time to reject the kind of politics
calculated to divide race from race, region from region, group from group. Ma
ybe some just see us divided into those red states and blue states, but I see
us as one America - red, white and blue. And when I am president, the governme
nt I will lead will enlist people of talent, Republicans as well as Democrats,
to find the common ground, so that no one who has something to contribute to
our nation will be left on the sidelines.

And let me say it plainly: In that cause, and in this campaign, we welcome peo
ple of faith. America is not us and them. I think of what Ron Reagan said of h
is father a few weeks ago and I want to say this to you tonight: I don't wear
my religion on my sleeve. But faith has given me values and hope to live by, f
rom Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday. I don't want to claim that God
is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are
on God's side.

And whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our char
acter is our willingness to give of ourselves for others and for our country.

These aren't Democratic values. These aren't Republican values. They're Americ
an values. We believe in them. They're who we are. And if we honor them, if we
believe in ourselves, we can build an America that is stronger at home and re
spected in the world.

So much promise stretches before us. Americans have always reached for the imp
ossible, looked to the next horizon and asked: What if?

Two young bicycle mechanics from Dayton asked, what if this airplane could tak
e off at Kitty Hawk? It did that and changed the world forever. A young presid
ent asked, what if we could go to the moon in 10 years? And now we're explorin
g the stars and the solar system themselves. A young generation of entrepreneu
rs asked, what if we could take all the information in a library and put it on
a chip the size of a fingernail? We did that and that too changed the world.

And now it's our time to ask: What if?

What if we find a breakthrough to Parkinson's, diabetes, Alzheimer's and AIDS?
What if we have a president who believes in science so we can unleash the won
ders of discovery like stem-cell research and treat illness for millions of li
ves?

What if we do what adults should do and make sure that all of our children are
safe in the afternoons after school? What if we have a leadership that's as g
ood as the American dream, so that bigotry and hatred never again steal the ho
pe or future of any American?

I learned a lot about these values on that gunboat patrolling the Mekong Delta
with Americans, you saw them, who come from places as different as Iowa and O
regon, Arkansas, Florida, California. No one cared where we went to school. No
one cared about our race or our backgrounds. We were literally all in the sam
e boat. We looked out, one for the other. And we still do.

That is the kind of America that I will lead as president, an America where we
are all in the same boat.

Never has there been a moment more urgent for Americans to step up and define
ourselves. I will work my heart out. But my fellow citizens, the outcome is in
your hands more than mine.

It is time to reach for the next dream. It is time to look to the next horizon
. For America, the hope is there, the sun is rising. Our best days are still t
o come.

Thank you. Goodnight. God bless you and God bless the United States of America