Read here the full transcript of Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention 2024 in Chicago on August 21, 2024.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Thank you. Thank you. Whoa. Let me ask you… after the last two days, aren’t you proud to be a Democrat?
I am very grateful to the Republicans and Independents that have joined us, have been up here on the stage, and I hope they feel better about it now. Because I’ve seen all these things that even I have to be reminded of from time to time when I get my spirits down. I love seeing the Obamas here. I love seeing President Biden. And I thought Hillary gave a great speech, too. But I love seeing all these young leaders. A bunch of them are coming up after me. They look better, they sound better, and they’ll be exciting.
Praising President Biden
I do want to say one word about President Biden. Remember, he had an improbable turn that made him president, and we were in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crash. He healed our sick and put the rest of us back to work. And he strengthened our alliances for peace and security. He stood up for Ukraine. He was trying desperately to get a ceasefire in the Middle East. And then he did something that’s really hard for a politician to do. He voluntarily gave up political power.
George Washington knew that, and he did it. And he set the standard for us serving two terms before it was mandatory. It helped his legacy, and it will enhance Joe Biden’s legacy. And it’s a stark contrast to what goes on in the other party.
So I want to thank him for his courage, compassion, his class, his service, his sacrifice. Joe Biden, thank you. And he kept the faith, and he infected a lot of the rest of us.
Personal Reflections
Now let’s cut to the chase. I am too old to gild the lily. Two days ago, I turned 78, the oldest man in my family for four generations. And the only personal vanity I want to assert is I’m still younger than Donald Trump.
Last night, in what I thought was a very moving series of episodes, we nominated Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. And just think about that. Two leaders with all-American but still improbable life stories. It can only happen here. Their careers, after all, started in community courtrooms and classrooms. Two leaders who spent a lifetime getting the good job done.
The Presidential Election
Now, one of the things that I’ve noticed over my increasingly long life is that a presidential election is unique in several ways. First of all, it’s the greatest job interview for the greatest job in the world. Secondly, the Constitution says we, the people, get to do the hiring. And the third thing is that every four years, we get to change the requirements for the job.
So here’s what I’m thinking, because I try to apply this in every election. Will this president take us backward or forward? Will this president give our kids a brighter future? Depends. Will this president bring us together or tear us apart? Will the president increase the peace, security, and stability and freedom that we enjoy and extend it to others as we can?
We, the people, we have to make a decision about these kinds of questions. And every four years, it’s a little different because the people come up to candidates, and they say, as they’re saying now, “Here are our problems, solve them. Here are our opportunities, seize them. Here are our fears, ease them. Here are our dreams, help them come true.”
The Choice in 2024
A president can answer that call by saying, “I’ll do my part, but you have to help me. We have to work together.” Or you can dodge what needs to be done by dividing, distracting, and diverting us. So in 2024, we got a pretty clear choice, it seems to me.
Kamala Harris for the people. And the other guy who’s proved even more than the first go-around that he’s about me, myself, and I. I know which one I like better for our country.
Kamala Harris will work to solve our problems, seize our opportunities, ease our fears, and make sure every single American, however they vote, has a chance to chase their dreams.
Kamala Harris: A Leader for the People
You know, when she was young, she worked at McDonald’s. And she greeted every person with that thousand-watt smile and said, “How can I help you?” Now she’s at the pinnacle of power, and she’s still asking, “How can I help you?” I will be—I’ll be so happy when she actually enters the White House as president, because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald’s.
Now, but we got an election to win. And remember, we’ve got a guy that’s pretty good at what he does. Donald Trump has been a paragon of consistency. He’s still dividing, he’s still blaming, he’s still belittling other people. He creates chaos, and then he sort of curates it as if it were precious art.
The Joy of Service
Let me say, not a single day goes by, even though I’ve been gone for well over 23 years from the White House, not a day goes by that I don’t thank the Lord for the chance I had to serve and what it meant. And one of the reasons—thank you. Wait, wait, wait, wait.
One of the reasons—one of the reasons I love the job so much is that in the toughest times, even on the darkest day, if you tried hard enough, there was always something good you could do for somebody else. Now, some days that’s not easy to do. You’ve got to deal with all these emergencies or there’s something going on here or there or yonder.
But Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this race who has the vision, the experience, the temperament, the will, and yes, the sheer joy to get something done.
Contrasting Leadership Styles
I mean, look, what does her opponent do with his voice? He mostly talks about himself, right? So the next time you hear him, don’t count the lies. Count the “I’s.” Count the “I’s.” His vendettas, his vengeance, his complaints, his conspiracies. He’s like one of those tenors opening up before he walks out on stage, like I did, trying to get his lungs open by singing, “Me, me, me, me, me, me.” When Kamala Harris is president, every day will begin with “You, you, you, you.”
Economic Progress
So we’ve got to ask ourselves the questions if we’re going to hire a president. Do you want to build a strong economy from the bottom up and the middle out? Or do you want to spend the next four years talking about crowd size? You’re going to have a hard time believing this, but so help me, I triple-checked it.
Since the end of the Cold War in 1989, America has created about 51 million new jobs. I swear I checked this three times. Even I couldn’t believe it. What’s the score? Democrats 50, Republicans 1. I’m glad that we’ve got a championship-winning coach on our team. But even the most limited of us in what we know about football or any other sport knows that if you’re not 50 and the other side’s got 1, you’re ahead.
Addressing Key Issues
What about affordable housing? It’s a terrible problem in America now. We need more. And affordable health care. That’s why the Democrats put a limit on monthly payments for insulin and a $2,000-a-year out-of-pocket limit and are trying to cover more drugs by bargaining for prices.
We need more financing for small businesses. We need still to strengthen our alliances. I almost croaked in the first debate of this election season when President Trump said nobody respected America anymore, like they did when he was president. Wait, wait.
And with a straight face. Look, you’ve got to give him. He’s a good actor. With a straight face, he cited as evidence of the respect that existed for us when he was there the presidents of North Korea and Russia. I’d rather have the people who respect us now.
The Need for Clarity and Vision
And one of the things— one of the things is when you send a signal to the other countries, you want them to know whether they agree with you or not, at least that you’re on the level, that here’s where you are and what you believe. What are they supposed to make to these endless tributes to the late, great Hannibal Lecter? I mean, President Obama once gave me the great honor of saying I was the explainer-in-chief.
Folks, I’ve thought and thought about it, and I don’t know what to say. Like Hakeem Jeffries, I too want an America that’s more joyful, more inclusive, more future-focused. Just think what a burden it’s been on us to get up day after day after day after day buried in meaningless hot rhetoric when there’s so many opportunities out there, so many problems that need to be solved. I want that.
Praising Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
And that’s the America Kamala Harris is in. She’s already made her first presidential decision, and she knocked it out of the park when she asked Governor Tim Walz to be her nominee for vice president. As they used to say when I was a young man growing up in Arkansas, you do not have to be all broke out with brilliance. You just look at Tim Walz, listen to him, follow his record as a teacher, as a coach, and the National Guard, as a congressman where he was the only Democrat, save one, elected in that district in more than 100 years.
And he stayed a long time. And then he became a great governor. And by all accounts, he was a crack shot who had the courage, among his rural constituents, to say, we do not need these assault weapons available to people who can kill our kids in school.
The Challenge Ahead
So armed with her first decision, Kamala Harris confronts an interesting dilemma. We’re going to walk out of here feeling pretty good, I think. We’ve got energy. We are happy. We feel like a load’s off our shoulders.
And we know we’re just being asked to fight the same fight that the forces of progress have had to fight for 250 years. In the face of stiff and often violent opposition, we have to find a way to go forward together, where we the people make our union more perfect. So that’s a good thing. How could we possibly lose?
Kamala Harris’s Track Record
Kamala Harris has fought for kids her whole life that were left out and left behind. She’s taken on gangs trafficking across the border. She’s fought to protect the rights of homeowners. She’s been our leader in the fight for reproductive freedoms, and we know a majority of the American people are with us on that.
And she’s gained an invaluable amount of experience as vice president, advancing our values and interests around the world. She’s already said she’s going to work really hard to make sure that no American working full-time lives in poverty or has to worry about their children living in poverty. She says that we’ve got to make homeownership an achievable dream for everyone, not just the privileged. She said, and this meant a lot to me, that she would protect everybody’s right to vote whether or not they voted for her.
They were a citizen, and they deserve the right to vote. The other day, her opponent implied that if his people voted one more time, they’d be able to rig it from now on and they wouldn’t have to vote again. You think they’re kidding, but I know a lot of these folks. Most of them are really good people, but some of them think that they are bound to dominate America politically, economically, and socially, and they have to use politics to do it, and they should rig the system.
I don’t believe that. And so here’s what I want to tell you. We’ve seen more than one election slip away from us when we thought it couldn’t happen, when people got distracted by phony issues or overconfident. This is a brutal, tough business.
I want you to be happy. One of the reasons that President-to-be Harris is doing so well is that we’re all so happy. But you should never underestimate your adversary, and these people are really good at distracting us, at triggering doubt, at triggering buyer’s remorse. As Obama said so eloquently last night, they are human, you know.
They’re bound to make a mistake now and then. We’ve got to be tough. And so, as somebody who spends a lot of time in small towns and rural areas in New York and Arkansas and other places, I urge you to talk to all your neighbors. I urge you to meet people where they are.
I urge you not to demean them, but not to pretend you don’t disagree with them if you do. Treat them with respect, just the way you’d like them to treat you. Ask for their help and then follow our leader, Kamala, and ask them, “How can I help you?”
A Call to Action
We Democrats right now have a lot of hay in the barn. We’ve got massive achievements, massive advances, but there’s still a lot of slips between today and Election Day that we have to navigate. And so, I want to say this from the bottom of my heart. I have no idea how many more of these I’ll be able to come to. I started in ’76, and I’ve been to every one since.
But, no, ’72. Lord, I’m getting old. But here’s what I want you to know. If you vote for this team, if you can get them elected and let them bring in this breath of fresh air, you will be proud of it for the rest of your life. Your children will be proud of it. Your grandchildren will be proud of it.
Take it. From a man who once had the honor to be called in this convention, the man from hope, we need Kamala Harris, the President of Joy, to lead us. So, I’ll be doing my part. You do yours. I’ll see you when we’re making a real joyful noise when the votes are counted. God bless you. And God bless America.
