1980 Nomination Acceptance Address

Cover Art Photo: Ronald Reagan giving his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention at Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan. July 17, 1980.

In his acceptance speech, Reagan envisioned “a new consensus with all those across the land who share a community of values embodied in these words: family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom.” Reagan’s acceptance focuses on “three grave threats to our very existence, any one of which could destroy us. We face a disintegrating economy, a weakened defense and an energy policy based on the sharing of scarcity.”

Reagan places responsibility on the “Democratic party leadership-in the White House and in Congress-for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us.” He says his first act will be “to impose an immediate and thorough freeze on federal hiring” and “to conduct a detailed review of every department, bureau and agency that lives by federal appropriation.” Reagan calls for “a 30 percent reduction in income tax rates over a period of three years” and reminds us that “every major tax cut in this century has strengthened the economy, generated renewed productivity and ended up yielding new revenues for the government”.

On the issue of national defense, Reagan asserts that we “know only too well that war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but when they are weak. It is then that tyrants are tempted.” While calling for a strong military, Reagan reiterates his long-held belief that government is too big and the “time is now to limit federal spending; to insist on a stable monetary reform and to free ourselves from imported oil.”

Search online for “Ronald Reagan major speeches” to see both a text version and a video version of this speech. Audio recording courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. AspenLeafMedia.com