Texas governor George W. Bush (1946-; see entry in volume 5) was well organized and financed early in his bid for the Republican nomination for president. He quickly emerged as the frontrunner among a large field of candidates and steadily gained strength while the other candidates gradually dropped from the race. He participated in some debates and gave many speeches, but he was still not widely known to the nation when delegates convened at the Republican National Convention in August 2000 to officially nominate Bush as the party's presidential candidate.

Bush's acceptance speech for the nomination, then, was considered extremely important. Before a national television audience, he had to impress voters that he had the ideas and personal qualities that would make them want to vote for him.

Bush succeeded. He was praised in the national press for his speech, and he...