Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush offered a dozen proposals on issues ranging from abortions to school vouchers to international arms competition when he accepted his party's nomination in Philadelphia last week.

The proposals shared time in his speech with professions of his strong Christian faith and paeans to past American presidents and patriots. There was also strong criticism of the current President Bill Clinton, with numerous allusions to Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Bush's vice presidential candidate, former Defense Secretary Richard Cheney, covered similar ground in his speech, but spent more time attacking Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, the soon-to-be nominated Democratic standard-bearer, than on issues.

"I will lead our nation towards a culture that values life--the life of the elderly and sick, the life of the young and the life of the unborn," Bush, governor of Texas and son of former President George H.W. Bush told the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Aug. 3.

"Good people can disagree on this issue, but surely we can agree on ways to value life by promotion of adoption, parental notification. And when Congress sends me a bill against partial-birth abortion, I will sign it into law," he added to strong cheers.

He framed his call for educational vouchers by describing the practice of promoting low-achieving students from grade to grade as the "soft bigotry of low expectations." He said local school boards should make educational decisions, but if their schools fail to teach, "parents should get money to make a different choice." Bush also called for expansion of the Head Start program "to teach all our children to read."

Cheney, who spoke to convention the day before Bush, foreshadowed the theme when he told delegates: "We can make our public schools better ... Tests will be taken, results will be measured and schools will answer to parents ... and no child will be left behind."

On arms control issues, Bush promised to "work to reduce nuclear weapons and nuclear tension." He said 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 Now is the time not to defend outdated (arms limitation) treaties but to defend the American people."

Though formerly secretary of defense in the administration of Bush's father, Cheney was not so specific as he discussed military spending priorities. "Clinton and Gore have extended our military commitments while depleting our power," he said. "Rarely has so much been demanded of our armed forces and so little given to them in return. George W. Bush and I are going to change that too."

The bulk of the issues Bush addressed were so-called pocket-book issues like tax reduction, health and housing costs, and Social Security. On the subject of gun control, the Republican nominee embraced the position of the National Rifle Association, which contends present laws are more than sufficient. "We must help protect our children in our schools and streets, and by finally and strictly enforcing our nation's gun laws," Bush said.

The GOP nominee pledged to senior citizens, who already are collecting Social Security benefits, that any proposals he makes to change the system will not affect them. "No changes, no reductions, no way!" he declared. Younger workers, on the other hand, would be the subject of suggested Social Security changes. "We will give you the option, your choice, to put part of your payroll taxes into sound, responsible investment...a nest egg to help your retirement or pass onto your children."

Bush promised to put Medicare "on firm financial ground and make prescription drugs available and affordable for every senior who needs them." Additionally, he promised to "give low income Americans tax credits to buy the private health insurance they need and deserve."

The Republican presidential candidate called for the abolition of the federal inheritance tax, which he described as a "death tax." Potentially affecting far more people was his proposal for income tax reform.

"No one in America should have to pay more than a third of their income to the federal government, so we will reduce tax rates for everyone in every bracket," he said. "Those with the greatest need should receive the greatest help, so we will lower the bottom rate from 15 percent to 10 percent and double the child credit."

President Theodore Roosevelt once described the White House as a "bully pulpit," and Bush told what kind of civic sermons he had in mind for the children of America. "We must tell them with confidence that drugs and alcohol can destroy you, and bigotry disfigures the heart." Further, he said, "our schools must support the ideals of parents, elevating character and abstinence from afterthoughts to urgent goals."

The Republican nominee continued his call for a partnership between the government and non-profit organizations, including those in the religious sphere. "We will support the heroic work of homeless shelters and hospices, food pantry and crisis pregnancy centers, people reclaiming their communities block by block and heart by heart," he said. "My administration will give taxpayers new incentives to donate to charity, encourage after school programs that build character, and support mentoring groups that shape and save young lives."

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In his speech, Bush alluded often to the role religion plays in his life and could play in the lives of others.

When he was growing up in Midland, Texas, he said, "There were many dry wells and sand storms to keep you humble, lifelong friends to take your side, and churches to remind us that every soul is equal in value and equal in need."

He told of Mary Jo Copeland, who operates the Sharing and Caring ministry in Minneapolis,which he said "serves 1,000 meals a week." Alluding to the story in Christian Scriptures of Jesus demonstrating his humility, Bush said that "each day, Mary Jo washes the feet of the homeless and sends them off with new socks and shoes. 'Look after your feet,' she tells them. 'They must carry you a long way in this world, and then all the way to God.'"

Bush added: "Government cannot do this work. It can feed the body, but it cannot reach the soul. Yet government can take the side of these groups, helping the helper, encouraging the inspired."

Building to a comparison of his moral values with those of President Clinton, Bush told the delegates: "At times we lost our way, but we're coming home. So many of us held our first child and saw a better self reflected in her eyes. And in that family love, many have found the sign and symbol of an even greater love, and have been touched by faith....

"Each of us is responsible to love and guide our children, and to help a neighbor in need," he preached. "Synagogues, churches and mosques are responsible, not only to worship, but to serve..."

Presidents, too, must be responsible, Bush said. "When I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will sear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office, to which I have been elected, so help me God."

The veiled reference to the Lewinsky scandal was a big applause line at the convention. Driving the point home a bit later in the speech, Bush also said: "After all the shouting and all the scandal, after all the bitterness and broken faith, we can begin again."

Bush also said: "I believe in tolerance, not in spite of my faith, but because of it. I believe in a God who calls us not to judge our neighbors but to love them. I believe in grace because I've seen it, and peace because I've felt it, and forgiveness because I've needed it."

Cheney's review of the Clinton administration took a similar tone. "When I look at the administration I am dismayed by opportunities squandered," he said. "George W. Bush will repair what has been damaged. He is a man without pretense and without cynicism. A man of principle, a man of honor. On the first hour of the first day...he will restore decency and integrity to the Oval Office... They (Clinton and Gore) will offer more lectures, and legalisms and carefully-worded denials. We will offer another way... A better way... And a stiff dose of truth."

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With the Convention held in Philadelphia -- where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and signed, and where George Washington governed during his second administration -- references to past U.S. Presidents were as inevitable as efforts to link them to the purposes of the Bush-Cheney campaign.

"Our founders first defined our purpose here in Philadelphia," Bush said. "Ben Franklin was here, Thomas Jefferson, and of course, George Washington, or, as his friends called him, 'George W.'"

Turning to another former President whom he admired, Bush said, "I want to thank my dad, the most decent man I have ever known. All my life I have been amazed that a gentle soul could be so strong. Dad, I am proud to be your son. My father was the last President of a great generation, a generation of Americans who stormed beaches, liberated concentration camps and delivered us from evil. Some never came home. Those who did put their medals in drawers, went to work and built on a heroic scale highways and universities, suburbs and factories, great cities and grand alliances, the strong foundations of an American century."

He remembered what he called the "eloquence of American action." Recalling when former President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the American general commanding the D-Day invasion, Bush said Ike told paratroopers not to worry. "And one replied: 'we're not worried, general. It's Hitler's turn to worry now.'"

Taking a jab at Al Gore, whom he accused of describing various Republican proposals as "risky schemes," Bush said: "He now leads the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but the only thing he has to offer is fear itself." Bush's allusion was to the famous speech by which FDR assured Depression-rattled Americans that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Said Bush: "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, of Teddy Roosevelt's energy, of Harry Truman's integrity and Ronald Reagan's optimism."

Cheney likewise invoked the founding fathers, remembering what it was like to fly over Washington and Arlington, Va., to reach his office at the Pentagon.

"You fly down along the Mall and see the monument to George Washington, a structure as grand as the man himself.... To the north is the White House where John Adams prayed 'that none but honest and wise men (may) ever rule under this roof.' ...Next you see the memorial to Thomas Jefferson, the third president and the author of our Declaration of Independence. .. And then you fly over the memorial to Abraham Lincoln....this greatest of presidents, the man who saved the union."

Next, said Cheney, in another Christian reference, one flies over Arlington National Cemetery, "its gentle slopes and crosses row on row."