Gramm First To Announce Candidacy

Vowing to redeem “the American dream” and balance the Federal budget, Texas Sen. Phil Gramm Friday became the first Republican to officially announce his candidacy for the presidency.

“If we don’t change the policy of our government … dramatically in 20 years, we’re not going to be living in the same country that we grew up in,” Gramm said in a 30-minute speech on the campus of Texas A&M, where he taught economics for 12 years prior to launching his political career in 1978.

Gramm later flew to Columbus, Ga., the place of his birth, for a speech at Wynnton Elementary School, where he had flunked the third grade. “What I learned here is there is always a second chance in America,” Gramm said.

Gramm’s hard-core conservatism has won him acclaim from some Republicans as the logical heir to the leadership of Ronald Reagan.