Speech highlights: 'Seize the moment'

At the climax of the party convention in Philadelphia, Mr Bush said the United States was enjoying a time of great promise and he intended to seize the moment.

These are the highlights of his speech.

This is a remarkable moment in the life of our nation. Never has the promise of prosperity been so vivid. But times of plenty, like times of crisis, are tests of American character.

Prosperity can be a tool in our hands - used to build and better our country. Or it can be a drug in our system - dulling our sense of urgency, of empathy, of duty.

Our opportunities are too great, our lives too short, to waste this moment. So tonight we vow to our nation: We will seize this moment of American promise.

We will use these good times for great goals. We will confront the hard issues - threats to our national security, threats to our health and retirement security - before the challenges of our time become crises for our children.

And we will extend the promise of prosperity to every forgotten corner of this country.

On Clinton

Our current president embodied the potential of a generation. So many talents. So much charm. Such great skill. But, in the end, to what end? So much promise, to no great purpose.

'Save Social Security'

Social Security has been called the "third rail of American politics" - the one you're not supposed to touch because it shocks you.

But, if you don't touch it, you can't fix it. And I intend to fix it.

To seniors in this country: You earned your benefits, you made your plans, and President George W Bush will keep the promise of Social Security. No changes, no reductions, no way...

Now is the time for Republicans and Democrats to end the politics of fear and save Social Security, together.

On tax

The last time taxes were this high as a percentage of our economy, there was a good reason - we were fighting World War II.

Today, our high taxes fund a surplus. Some say that growing federal surplus means Washington has more money to spend. But they've got it backwards.

The surplus is not the government's money. The surplus is the people's money.

I will use this moment of opportunity to bring common sense and fairness to the tax code. And I will act on principle.

On principle every family, every farmer and small businessperson, should be free to pass on their life's work to those they love.

So we will abolish the death tax.

On principle no one in America should have to pay more than a third of their income to the federal government.

On defence

When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming.

I will work to reduce nuclear weapons and nuclear tension in the world - to turn these years of influence into decades of peace.

And, at the earliest possible date, my administration will deploy missile defenses to guard against attack and blackmail. Now is the time, not to defend outdated treaties, but to defend the American people.

'Ways to value life'

I will lead our nation toward a culture that values life - the life of the elderly and the sick, the life of the young, and the life of the unborn. I know good people disagree on this issue, but surely we can agree on ways to value life by promoting adoption and parental notification, and when Congress sends me a bill against partial-birth abortion, I will sign it into law.

'Great purpose'

And so, when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honour and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God.

I believe the presidency - the final point of decision in the American government - was made for great purposes. It is the office of Lincoln's conscience and Teddy Roosevelt's energy and Harry Truman's integrity and Ronald Reagan's optimism. For me, gaining this office is not the ambition of a lifetime, but it is the opportunity of a lifetime.

Compassionate conservatism

Big government is not the answer. But the alternative to bureaucracy is not indifference. It is to put conservative values and conservative ideas into the thick of the fight for justice and opportunity. This is what I mean by compassionate conservatism. And on this ground we will govern our nation...

We will give low-income Americans tax credits to buy the private health insurance they need and deserve.

We will transform today's housing rental program to help hundreds of thousands of low-income families find stability and dignity in a home of their own.

And, in the next bold step of welfare reform, we will support the heroic work of homeless shelters and hospices, food pantries and crisis pregnancy centers - people reclaiming their communities block-by-block and heart-by-heart.

New sunrise

My friend, the artist Tom Lea of El Paso, captured the way I feel about our great land.

He and his wife, he said, "live on the east side of the mountain. It is the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side to see the day that is coming, not the side to see the day that is gone."

Americans live on the sunrise side of mountain.

The night is passing.

And we are ready for the day to come.