|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Bill Clinton - Remarks to the Congregation of St. Paul's AME Church (November 3, 1996)
|
| Parent | Parent Candidate |
| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Post Date | , 12:am |
| Description | Thank you. Thank you very much. I feel good today, do you? [Applause] Thank you.
Reverend Washington; Presiding Elder Reverend Andrews; Governor Chiles; Congressman and Mrs. Gibbons; our fine congressional candidate, Jim Davis, welcome, sir. We're proud of you. To my other friends who have joined us in this church today, and to all of you, thank you for making us feel so welcome here in the house of the Lord.
I was sort of tired when I came in, and I got into the music, and then we started singing about the little shack by the railroad track—[laughter]—and I said a lot of us in this house of God have lived in a little shack by the railroad track. And we did have a good time. My grandfather used to joke with me that if we didn't have any better sense than to know we were poor, we could have a good time. [Laughter] And we're having a good time today.
I'm honored to be in this historic pulpit which has been graced by Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell, Jackie Robinson. I am humbled to be here. And I would like to say, first and foremost, I thank you, all of you, for giving me the chance to serve as the President of the greatest country in human history for the last 4 years. Thank you. Thank you.
In just 2 days all of us together will go to the polls to select the last President of this unbelievable 20th century, the century of the civil rights movement, the century of two great World Wars and the Great Depression, the century of the cold war, a century of more bloodshed than any in history, but a century of remarkable progress as more and more people move toward the realization that all of us are created equal in the eyes of God, are entitled to live as equals in the eyes of God—the masters of our fate, save only in subjugation to our God.
And with a vast new century stretching before us we know that the world is
changing in ways we cannot fully understand. Just think about all the changes you have seen here in your community in the last 4 or 5 years. Think about the changes technology is bringing in the way we work and live and relate to one another and the rest of the world. Think about how much more involved in the rest of the world we are today than ever before.
We have a decision to make that goes way beyond the vote on Tuesday. And frankly, it goes way beyond Democrats and Republicans, way beyond even the choice for President. It goes far out into the future and deep into the human heart. We have to decide as a people how we're going to keep walking into that 21st century and whether we will say to each other, "You're on your own," or we're going to build a bridge together so that everyone has the tools to make the most of his or her own life. And we have to decide whether we're going to build that bridge on the shifting sands of division or on the strong rock of common ground. I believe I know what your decision would be. |
| Article | Read Article |
|
|
