You convey too great a compliment when you say that I have earned the right to the presidential nomination. No man can establish such an obligation upon any part of the American people. My country owes me no debt. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor. In no other land could a boy from a country village, without inheritance or influential friends, look forward with unbounded hope. My whole life has taught me what America means. I am indebted to my country beyond any human power to repay.
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929–33)
Letter (1928-06-14) to George Moses
(Source)
On formally learning from Senator Moses of his nomination for President. The open letter was in the form of a return telegram to Moses, the chairman of the Republican National Convention, and was read aloud to that gathering in Convention Hall, Kansas City, Missouri..


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