tell you about myself.

I know a lot about hardship, because I came into

this world as a poor

black child in a tiny town in the backwoods of

Tennessee. I was born

in a log cabin that I built with my own hands.

I taught myself to read

by candlelight and helped support my 16 brothers

and sisters by working

summers as a deck hand on a Mississippi River

steamboat.

My mother taught me the value of education, so

every day, I would

walk 5 miles to a one-room schoolhouse. I was a

mischievous, fun

loving scamp, thought I never dreamed that one

day, my youthful

escapades would serve as the inspiration for

"Huckleberry Finn."

Back then, black folks in the south were

second-class citizens.

One day, a traveling minister came through

town, and I asked him if

anyone was ever going to do something to

guarantee civil rights for all

Americans. Well, I guess I made an impression.

You see, the minister's

name was Martin Luther King, Jr.

My father was a United States Senator. He once

perched me on his

knee and said, "Son, if you work hard and listen

to your mama, someday

you can live in a hotel in Washington, D.C., and

go to an exclusive prep

school." But life of privilege was not for me.

After getting my high

school diploma, I took a job in a hot, dirty

textile mill. I was so

appalled at the treatment of the workers there

that I organized a union.

Later,that experience inspired a movie - which

is why, to this day, my

close friends at the AFL-CIO call me "Norma

Rae."

When word got out what an 18 year old factory

worker had done,

Harvard called and offered me a scholarship. I

captained the hockey

team to four consecutive national championships,

but I also played

football and was good enough to win the Heisman

Trophy. During my

college years, I lived in a housing project and

moonlighted playing

lead guitar for a little rockband. You may have

heard of it -- the

Rolling Stones.

But there was a war going on, and I felt I had

to serve my

country. So I enlisted in the U. S. Army and

went to Vietnam. I was

deeply opposed to the war, but I did my duty as

a soldier and came back

home with the Medal of Honor and the Croix de

Guerre.

When I got back, I took a long journey across

this great land of

ours. I've crossed the deserts bare, man, I've

breathed the mountain

air, man, I've traveled, I've done my share,

man, I've been everywhere.

And the people I met at truckstops and

campgrounds and homeless shelters

on that journey all said the same thing: "Al, we

need you in

Washington."

I knew they were right, but first I had to take

care of some other

business---building the World Trade Center,

founding the Audubon

Society, doing the clinical research that proved

smoking caused cancer,

and coming up with the recipe for Mrs. Field's

chocolate chip cookies.

Finally, I deferred to the demands of the people

of Tennessee and

allowed them to elect me to the House of

Representatives and the

Senate. And then one winter day nearly nine

years ago, for no particular

reason, I answered the call of the people once

again and took the oath

of office as Vice President of the United

States.

Since then, I've been part of the most

successful administration

in American history. Many times Bill Clinton

has been pondering some

grave decision and has asked me what to do. And

when I would give him

my thoughts, he would invariable say, "Of

course. That's brilliant.

Why didn't I think of that?" During the darkest

days of the impeachment

battle, the president told me he only wished he

had listened when I told

him to stay away form that dark-haired intern.

So after I decided to run for president, I sat

down with him and

asked if he had any suggestions about how to

conduct my campaign. And

Bill Clinton gave me a few simple words of

advice -- words I'll never

forget. He looked me in the eye and he said,

"Al, just tell the truth,

it's always worked for me."