Biden Announces for Presidency;

Calls Our Legacy To Children Overriding Issue in Coming Election

June 9, 1987 Wilmington, Delaware

 

“Every issue before this nation in 1988 must be measured against our obligation to our children.” This deep conviction, and his strong belief that it is his time to inspire a change in America, drives Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. to seek the Presidency, delivering his message over and over again: “I tell you today, America is at risk. And the greatest risk is not to ourselves, but rather to the next generation, our children.” Biden speaks of our time as one of deceptive tranquility, with apparent comfort and prosperity. But, Biden is convinced, we are paying a price, and this price is the hope of a promising future. “I run for President because I believe the 1988 election, at its heart, can be reduced to a fundamental choice between two paths to our future; the easy path, in which we consolidate our current comfort and a quick and false prosperity by consuming our children's future; and another, more difficult path, that builds a more genuine prosperity for ourselves, while guaranteeing to our children their birthright. If we choose the easy path, raiding our nation's stores, and devouring the seed corn of our children, we will deliver to them a lesser America, the fading shadow of a dimming promise. And beyond a doubt, history will judge us to have failed to discharge our moral responsibility for the continuance of our heritage…lf we choose the second, more difficult path, rising to meet our destiny, we will be able to stand before our children, as our mothers and fathers stood before us, and say: “We have kept the faith.”

 

Striking hard for his belief in rejuvenating a stronger and more idealistic sense of community in the country, Biden declares that “In 1988, the clarion call for my generation is not 'It's our turn', but rather 'It's our moment of obligation and opportunity'…ln the spirit of another time, let us pledge that our generation of Americans will pay any price, bear any burden, accept any challenge, meet any hardship to secure the blessings of prosperity and the promise of America for our children.”

 

“Beyond developing the essential government policies and programs designed to meet the nation's problems, this campaign must convince America that our future can not depend on the government alone,” argues Biden. “Government can lead. It can be the catalyst for our society. But the ultimate solutions will lie in the attitudes and actions of our people. However, while the solutions to our problems may lie beyond the grasp of traditional government, it does not mean that they lie beyond the responsibility of the next President. For if the President does not lay down the challenge, who will?”…As President, I will tell our people that we must demand better of our nation, better of ourselves, and better of our political society.”

 

“And finally,” Biden says, “we must rekindle the fire of idealism in our society -- for nothing suffocates the promise of America more than unbounded cynicism and indifference. We must reclaim the tradition of community in our society. We must reassert the oneness of America. America has been and must once again be a seamless web of caring and community...I am absolutely convinced that this generation is poised to respond to this challenge. And for my part, this is the issue upon which I will stake my candidacy.”