John Edwards Presidential Announcement Address on Tuesday, September 16, 2003 in Robbins, North Carolina.
"Good morning. Welcome to my hometown, Robbins, North Carolina.
It's great to be home with my family, my parents, my wife Elizabeth, and my children, and with my dearest friends. Thank you for the life you've given me and the example you've set for me. And thank all of you for being here today.
I have come home to stand in the shadow of the mill where my father worked, where I worked and where I learned the value of a hard day's work. We're not far from the post office where my mother worked, the church where we went each week, and the high school where I played football and hoped to be the first in my family to go to college.
I grew up in an American town, and I grew up with America's dream. I owe everything I have to the America I grew up in.
This is where I learned that a job is about more than a paycheck, it is about dignity, responsibility and self-respect.
This is where I learned that credibility is the currency of good people.
This is where I learned that the simple promise of America is the enduring greatness of America: a better life for all who work for it.
And so this is where - today - to make opportunity the birthright of every American, I declare myself a candidate for President of the United States.
I believe in an America where the family you're born into never controls your destiny.
I believe in that America because I've lived it. It's the reason I'm standing here today. I owe everything I am to the America I grew up in.
Everything I believe about our country - every value I learned in this town, every person I have fought for in my life, every idea I have learned along the way, has brought me here.
I am running for president because I have lived in the bright light of the blessing of America. I am running for President because the great gift of an equal chance is the greatest gift I know. I am running for President, because the greatness of America that has come before is nothing compared to the greatness of America that lies ahead.
It's right in front of us. I've seen it in the promise of every city and town I visit. I hear it in the voices of every man and woman I talk to.
Together, we can make their voices heard!!!
Together, we can make opportunity the birthright we all share!!!
Together, we can restore the promise of America!!!
God bless you. God bless the United States of America."
Full Speech Text
