State Of The Union Addresses (1790-2006) - free ebook by United States. Presidents

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State Of The Union Addresses (1790-2006)

United States. Presidents

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Complete State of the Union Addresses, from 1790 to 2006

Complete State of the Union Addresses, from 1790 to 2006

CONTENTS George Washington, State of the Union Address, January 8, 1790 George Washington, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1790 George Washington, State of the Union Address, October 25, 1791 George Washington, State of the Union Address, November 6, 1792 George Washington, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1793 George Washington, State of the Union Address, November 19, 1794 George Washington, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1795 George Washington, State of the Union Addre

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State of the Union Address George Washington January 8, 1790

State of the Union Address George Washington January 8, 1790

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: I embrace with great satisfaction the opportunity which now presents itself of congratulating you on the present favorable prospects of our public affairs. The recent accession of the important state of North Carolina to the Constitution of the United States (of which official information has been received), the rising credit and respectability of our country, the general and increasing good will toward the government of the Union, and

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State of the Union Address George Washington December 8, 1790

State of the Union Address George Washington December 8, 1790

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: In meeting you again I feel much satisfaction in being able to repeat my congratulations on the favorable prospects which continue to distinguish our public affairs. The abundant fruits of another year have blessed our country with plenty and with the means of a flourishing commerce. The progress of public credit is witnessed by a considerable rise of American stock abroad as well as at home, and the revenues allotted for this and other

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State of the Union Address George Washington October 25, 1791

State of the Union Address George Washington October 25, 1791

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: "In vain may we expect peace with the Indians on our frontiers so long as a lawless set of unprincipled wretches can violate the rights of hospitality, or infringe the most solemn treaties, without receiving the punishment they so justly merit." I meet you upon the present occasion with the feelings which are naturally inspired by a strong impression of the prosperous situations of our common country, and by a persuasion equally strong

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State of the Union Address George Washington November 6, 1792

State of the Union Address George Washington November 6, 1792

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: It is some abatement of the satisfaction with which I meet you on the present occasion that, in felicitating you on a continuance of the national prosperity generally, I am not able to add to it information that the Indian hostilities which have for some time past distressed our Northwestern frontier have terminated. You will, I am persuaded, learn with no less concern than I communicate it that reiterated endeavors toward effecting a p

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State of the Union Address George Washington December 3, 1793

State of the Union Address George Washington December 3, 1793

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Since the commencement of the term for which I have been again called into office no fit occasion has arisen for expressing to my fellow citizens at large the deep and respectful sense which I feel of the renewed testimony of public approbation. While on the one hand it awakened my gratitude for all those instances of affectionate partiality with which I have been honored by my country, on the other it could not prevent an earnest wish

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State of the Union Address George Washington November 19, 1794

State of the Union Address George Washington November 19, 1794

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: When we call to mind the gracious indulgence of Heaven by which the American people became a nation; when we survey the general prosperity of our country, and look forward to the riches, power, and happiness to which it seems destined, with the deepest regret do I announce to you that during your recess some of the citizens of the United States have been found capable of insurrection. It is due, however, to the character of our Governme

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State of the Union Address George Washington December 8, 1795

State of the Union Address George Washington December 8, 1795

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: I trust I do not deceive myself when I indulge the persuasion that I have never met you at any period when more than at the present the situation of our public affairs has afforded just cause for mutual congratulation, and for inviting you to join with me in profound gratitude to the Author of all Good for the numerous and extraordinary blessings we enjoy. The termination of the long, expensive, and distressing war in which we have been

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State of the Union Address George Washington December 7, 1796

State of the Union Address George Washington December 7, 1796

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: In recurring to the internal situation of our country since I had last the pleasure to address you, I find ample reason for a renewed expression of that gratitude to the Ruler of the Universe which a continued series of prosperity has so often and so justly called forth. The acts of the last session which required special arrangements have been as far as circumstances would admit carried into operation. Measures calculated to insure a c

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State of the Union Address John Adams November 22, 1797

State of the Union Address John Adams November 22, 1797

Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: I was for some time apprehensive that it would be necessary, on account of the contagious sickness which afflicted the city of Philadelphia, to convene the National Legislature at some other place. This measure it was desirable to avoid, because it would occasion much public inconvenience and a considerable public expense and add to the calamities of the inhabitants of this city, whose sufferings must have excited the sympath

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State of the Union Address John Adams December 8, 1798

State of the Union Address John Adams December 8, 1798

While with reverence and resignation we contemplate the dispensations of Divine Providence in the alarming and destructive pestilence with which several of our cities and towns have been visited, there is cause for gratitude and mutual congratulations that the malady has disappeared and that we are again permitted to assemble in safety at the seat of Government for the discharge of our important duties. But when we reflect that this fatal disorder has within a few years made repeated ravages in

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State of the Union Address John Adams December 3, 1799

State of the Union Address John Adams December 3, 1799

It is with peculiar satisfaction that I meet the 6th Congress of the United States of America. Coming from all parts of the Union at this critical and interesting period, the members must be fully possessed of the sentiments and wishes of our constituents. The flattering prospects of abundance from the labors of the people by land and by sea; the prosperity of our extended commerce, notwithstanding interruptions occasioned by the belligerent state of a great part of the world; the return of heal

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State of the Union Address John Adams November 11, 1800

State of the Union Address John Adams November 11, 1800

Immediately after the adjournment of Congress at their last session in Philadelphia I gave directions, in compliance with the laws, for the removal of the public offices, records, and property. These directions have been executed, and the public officers have since resided and conducted the ordinary business of the Government in this place. I congratulate the people of the United States on the assembling of Congress at the permanent seat of their Government, and I congratulate you, gentlemen, on

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State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 8, 1801

State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 8, 1801

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: It is a circumstance of sincere gratification to me that on meeting the great council of our nation I am able to announce to them on grounds of reasonable certainty that the wars and troubles which have for so many years afflicted our sister nations have at length come to an end, and that the communications of peace and commerce are once more opening among them. Whilst we devoutly return thanks to the beneficent Being who has been pleas

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State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 15, 1802

State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 15, 1802

To the Senate and House of Representatives: When we assemble together, fellow citizens, to consider the state of our beloved country, our just attentions are first drawn to those pleasing circumstances which mark the goodness of that Being from whose favor they flow and the large measure of thankfulness we owe for His bounty. Another year has come around, and finds us still blessed with peace and friendship abroad; law, order, and religion at home; good affection and harmony with our Indian neig

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State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson October 17, 1803

State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson October 17, 1803

To The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: In calling you together, fellow citizens, at an earlier day than was contemplated by the act of the last session of Congress, I have not been insensible to the personal inconveniences necessarily resulting from an unexpected change in your arrangements, but matters of great public concernment have rendered this call necessary, and the interests you feel in these will supersede in your minds all private considerations. Congress witn

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State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson November 8, 1804

State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson November 8, 1804

The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: To a people, fellow citizens, who sincerely desire the happiness and prosperity of other nations; to those who justly calculate that their own well-being is advanced by that of the nations with which they have intercourse, it will be a satisfaction to observe that the war which was lighted up in Europe a little before our last meeting has not yet extended its flames to other nations, nor been marked by the calamities which sometimes s

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State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 3, 1805

State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 3, 1805

The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: At a moment when the nations of Europe are in commotion and arming against each other, and when those with whom we have principal intercourse are engaged in the general contest, and when the countenance of some of them toward our peaceable country threatens that even that may not be unaffected by what is passing on the general theater, a meeting of the representatives of the nation in both Houses of Congress has become more than usual

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State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 2, 1806

State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 2, 1806

The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: It would have given me, fellow citizens, great satisfaction to announce in the moment of your meeting that the difficulties in our foreign relations existing at the time of your last separation had been amicably and justly terminated. I lost no time in taking those measures which were most likely to bring them to such a termination--by special missions charged with such powers and instructions as in the event of failure could leave no

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State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson October 27, 1807

State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson October 27, 1807

The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: Circumstances, fellow citizens, which seriously threatened the peace of our country have made it a duty to convene you at an earlier period than usual. The love of peace so much cherished in the bosoms of our citizens, which has so long guided the proceedings of their public councils and induced forbearance under so many wrongs, may not insure our continuance in the quiet pursuits of industry. The many injuries and depredations commit

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State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson November 8, 1808

State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson November 8, 1808

The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: It would have been a source, fellow citizens, of much gratification if our last communications from Europe had enabled me to inform you that the belligerent nations, whose disregard of neutral rights has been so destructive to our commerce, had become awakened to the duty and true policy of revoking their unrighteous edicts. That no means might be omitted to produce this salutary effect, I lost no time in availing myself of the act au

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State of the Union Address James Madison November 29, 1809

State of the Union Address James Madison November 29, 1809

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: At the period of our last meeting I had the satisfaction of communicating an adjustment with one of the principal belligerent nations, highly important in itself, and still more so as presaging a more extended accommodation. It is with deep concern I am now to inform you that the favorable prospect has been over-clouded by a refusal of the British Government to abide by the act of its minister plenipotentiary, and by its ensuing policy

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State of the Union Address James Madison December 5, 1810

State of the Union Address James Madison December 5, 1810

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: The embarrassments which have prevailed in our foreign relations, and so much employed the deliberations of Congress, make it a primary duty in meeting you to communicate whatever may have occurred in that branch of our national affairs. The act of the last session of Congress concerning the commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain and France and their dependencies having invited in a new form a termination of

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State of the Union Address James Madison November 5, 1811

State of the Union Address James Madison November 5, 1811

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: In calling you together sooner than a separation from your homes would otherwise have been required I yielded to considerations drawn from the posture of our foreign affairs, and in fixing the present for the time of your meeting regard was had to the probability of further developments of the policy of the belligerent powers toward this country which might the more unite the national councils in the measures to be pursued. At the close

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State of the Union Address James Madison November 4, 1812

State of the Union Address James Madison November 4, 1812

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: On our present meeting it is my first duty to invite your attention to the providential favors which our country has experienced in the unusual degree of health dispensed to its inhabitants, and in the rich abundance with which the earth has rewarded the labors bestowed on it. In the successful cultivation of other branches of industry, and in the progress of general improvement favorable to the national prosperity, there is just occasi

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State of the Union Address James Madison December 7, 1813

State of the Union Address James Madison December 7, 1813

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: In meeting you at the present interesting conjuncture it would have been highly satisfactory if I could have communicated a favorable result to the mission charged with negotiations for restoring peace. It was a just expectation, from the respect due to the distinguished Sovereign who had invited them by his offer of mediation, from the readiness with which the invitation was accepted on the part of the United States, and from the pledg

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State of the Union Address James Madison September 20, 1814

State of the Union Address James Madison September 20, 1814

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Notwithstanding the early day which had been fixed for your session of the present year, I was induced to call you together still sooner, as well that any inadequacy in the existing provisions for the wants of the Treasury might be supplied as that no delay might happen in providing for the result of the negotiations on foot with Great Britain, whether it should require arrangements adapted to a return of peace or further and more effec

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State of the Union Address James Madison December 5, 1815

State of the Union Address James Madison December 5, 1815

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: I have the satisfaction on our present meeting of being able to communicate the successful termination of the war which had been commenced against the United States by the Regency of Algiers. The squadron in advance on that service, under Commodore Decatur, lost not a moment after its arrival in the Mediterranean in seeking the naval force of the enemy then cruising in that sea, and succeeded in capturing two of his ships, one of them t

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State of the Union Address James Madison December 3, 1816

State of the Union Address James Madison December 3, 1816

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: In reviewing the present state of our country, our attention cannot be withheld from the effect produced by peculiar seasons which have very generally impaired the annual gifts of the earth and threatened scarcity in particular districts. Such, however, is the variety of soils, of climates, and of products within our extensive limits that the aggregate resources for subsistence are more than sufficient for the aggregate wants. And as fa

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State of the Union Address James Monroe December 12, 1817

State of the Union Address James Monroe December 12, 1817

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: At no period of our political existence had we so much cause to felicitate ourselves at the prosperous and happy condition of our country. The abundant fruits of the earth have filled it with plenty. An extensive and profitable commerce has greatly augmented our revenue. The public credit has attained an extraordinary elevation. Our preparations for defense in case of future wars, from which, by the experience of all nations, we ought n

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State of the Union Address James Monroe November 16, 1818

State of the Union Address James Monroe November 16, 1818

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: The auspicious circumstances under which you will commence the duties of the present session will lighten the burdens inseparable from the high trust committed to you. The fruits of the earth have been unusually abundant, commerce has flourished, the revenue has exceeded the most favorable anticipation, and peace and amity are preserved with foreign nations on conditions just and honorable to our country. For these inestimable blessings

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State of the Union Address James Monroe December 7, 1819

State of the Union Address James Monroe December 7, 1819

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: The public buildings being advanced to a stage to afford accommodation for Congress, I offer you my sincere congratulations on the recommencement of your duties in the Capitol. In bringing you to view the incidents most deserving attention which have occurred since your last session, I regret to have to state that several of our principal cities have suffered by sickness, that an unusual drought has prevailed in the Middle and Western S

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State of the Union Address James Monroe November 14, 1820

State of the Union Address James Monroe November 14, 1820

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: In communicating to you a just view of public affairs at the commencement of your present labors, I do it with great satisfaction, because, taking all circumstances into consideration which claim attention, I see much cause to rejoice in the felicity of our situation. In making this remark I do not wish to be understood to imply that an unvaried prosperity is to be seen in every interest of this great community. In the progress of a nat

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State of the Union Address James Monroe December 3, 1821

State of the Union Address James Monroe December 3, 1821

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: The progress of our affairs since the last session has been such as may justly be claimed and expected under a Government deriving all its powers from an enlightened people, and under laws formed by their representatives, on great consideration, for the sole purpose of promoting the welfare and happiness of their constituents. In the execution of those laws and of the powers vested by the Constitution in the Executive, unremitted attent

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State of the Union Address James Monroe December 3, 1822

State of the Union Address James Monroe December 3, 1822

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Many causes unite to make your present meeting peculiarly interesting to out constituents. The operation of our laws on the various subjects to which they apply, with the amendments which they occasionally require, imposes annually an important duty on the representatives of a free people. Our system has happily advanced to such maturity that I am not aware that your cares in that respect will be augmented. Other causes exist which are

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State of the Union Address James Monroe December 2, 1823

State of the Union Address James Monroe December 2, 1823

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Many important subjects will claim your attention during the present session, of which I shall endeavor to give, in aid of your deliberations, a just idea in this communication. I undertake this duty with diffidence, from the vast extent of the interests on which I have to treat and of their great importance to every portion of our Union. I enter on it with zeal from a thorough conviction that there never was a period since the establis

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State of the Union Address James Monroe December 7, 1824

State of the Union Address James Monroe December 7, 1824

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: The view which I have now to present to you of our affairs, foreign and domestic, realizes the most sanguine anticipations which have been entertained of the public prosperity. If we look to the whole, our growth as a nation continues to be rapid beyond example; if to the States which compose it, the same gratifying spectacle is exhibited. Our expansion over the vast territory within our limits has been great, without indicating any dec

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State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 6, 1825

State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 6, 1825

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: In taking a general survey of the concerns of our beloved country, with reference to subjects interesting to the common welfare, the first sentiment which impresses itself upon the mind is of gratitude to the Omnipotent Disposer of All Good for the continuance of the signal blessings of His providence, and especially for that health which to an unusual extent has prevailed within our borders, and for that abundance which in the v

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State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 5, 1826

State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 5, 1826

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The assemblage of the representatives of our Union in both Houses of the Congress at this time occurs under circumstances calling for the renewed homage of our grateful acknowledgments to the Giver of All Good. With the exceptions incidental to the most felicitous condition of human existence, we continue to be highly favored in all the elements which contribute to individual comfort and to national prosperity. In the survey of o

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State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 4, 1827

State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 4, 1827

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: A revolution of the seasons has nearly been completed since the representatives of the people and States of this Union were last assembled at this place to deliberate and to act upon the common important interests of their constituents. In that interval the never slumbering eye of a wise and beneficent Providence has continued its guardian care over the welfare of our beloved country; the blessing of health has continued generall

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State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 2, 1828

State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 2, 1828

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: If the enjoyment in profusion of the bounties of Providence forms a suitable subject of mutual gratulation and grateful acknowledgment, we are admonished at this return of the season when the representatives of the nation are assembled to deliberate upon their concerns to offer up the tribute of fervent and grateful hearts for the never failing mercies of Him who ruleth over all. He has again favored us with healthful seasons and

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State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 8, 1829

State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 8, 1829

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: It affords me pleasure to tender my friendly greetings to you on the occasion of your assembling at the seat of Government to enter upon the important duties to which you have been called by the voice of our country-men. The task devolves on me, under a provision of the Constitution, to present to you, as the Federal Legislature of 24 sovereign States and 12,000,000 happy people, a view of our affairs, and to propose such measure

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State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 6, 1830

State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 6, 1830

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The pleasure I have in congratulating you upon your return to your constitutional duties is much heightened by the satisfaction which the condition of our beloved country at this period justly inspires. The beneficent Author of All Good has granted to us during the present year health, peace, and plenty, and numerous causes for joy in the wonderful success which attends the progress of our free institutions. With a population unp

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State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 6, 1831

State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 6, 1831

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The representation of the people has been renewed for the 22nd time since the Constitution they formed has been in force. For near half a century the Chief Magistrates who have been successively chosen have made their annual communications of the state of the nation to its representatives. Generally these communications have been of the most gratifying nature, testifying an advance in all the improvements of social and all the se

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State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 4, 1832

State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 4, 1832

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: It gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon your return to the seat of Government for the purpose of discharging your duties to the people of the United States. Although the pestilence which had traversed the Old World has entered our limits and extended its ravages over much of our land, it has pleased Almighty God to mitigate its severity and lessen the number of its victims compared with those who have fallen in most other c

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State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 3, 1833

State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 3, 1833

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: On your assembling to perform the high trusts which the people of the United States have confided to you, of legislating for their common welfare, it gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon the happy condition of our beloved country. By the favor of Divine Providence health is again restored to us, peace reigns within our borders, abundance crowns the labors of our fields, commerce and domestic industry flourish and increase,

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State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 1, 1834

State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 1, 1834

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: In performing my duty at the opening of your present session it gives me pleasure to congratulate you again upon the prosperous condition of our beloved country. Divine Providence has favored us with general health, with rich rewards in the fields of agriculture and in every branch of labor, and with peace to cultivate and extend the various resources which employ the virtue and enterprise of our citizens. Let us trust that in su

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State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 7, 1835

State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 7, 1835

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: In the discharge of my official duty the again devolves upon me of communicating with a new Congress. The reflection that the representation of the Union has been recently renewed, and that the constitutional term of its service will expire with my own, heightens the solicitude with which I shall attempt to lay before it the state of our national concerns and the devout hope which I cherish that its labors to improve them may be

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State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 5, 1836

State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 5, 1836

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: Addressing to you the last annual message I shall ever present to the Congress of the United States, it is a source of the most heartfelt satisfaction to be able to congratulate you on the high state of prosperity which our beloved country has attained. With no causes at home or abroad to lessen the confidence with which we look to the future for continuing proofs of the capacity of our free institutions to produce all the fruits

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State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 5, 1837

State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 5, 1837

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: We have reason to renew the expression of our devout gratitude to the Giver of All Good for His benign protection. Our country presents on every side the evidences of that continued favor under whose auspices it, has gradually risen from a few feeble and dependent colonies to a prosperous and powerful confederacy. We are blessed with domestic tranquillity and all the elements of national prosperity. The pestilence which, invading for a

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State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 3, 1838

State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 3, 1838

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: I congratulate you on the favorable circumstances in the condition of our country under which you reassemble for the performance of your official duties. Though the anticipations of an abundant harvest have not everywhere been realized, yet on the whole the labors of the husbandman are rewarded with a bountiful return; industry prospers in its various channels of business and enterprise; general health again prevails through our vast di

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State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 2, 1839

State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 2, 1839

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: I regret that I can not on this occasion congratulate you that the past year has been one of unalloyed prosperity. The ravages of fire and disease have painfully afflicted otherwise flourishing portions of our country, and serious embarrassments yet derange the trade of many of our cities. But notwithstanding these adverse circumstances, that general prosperity which has been heretofore so bountifully bestowed upon us by the Author of A

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State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 5, 1840

State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 5, 1840

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Our devout gratitude is due to the Supreme Being for having graciously continued to our beloved country through the vicissitudes of another year the invaluable blessings of health, plenty, and peace. Seldom has this favored land been so generally exempted from the ravages of disease or the labor of the husbandman more amply rewarded, and never before have our relations with other countries been placed on a more favorable basis than that

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State of the Union Address John Tyler December 7, 1841

State of the Union Address John Tyler December 7, 1841

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: In coming together, fellow-citizens, to enter again upon the discharge of the duties with which the people have charged us severally, we find great occasion to rejoice in the general prosperity of the country. We are in the enjoyment of all the blessings of civil and religious liberty, with unexampled means of education, knowledge, and improvement. Through the year which is now drawing to a close peace has been in our borders and p

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State of the Union Address John Tyler December 6, 1842

State of the Union Address John Tyler December 6, 1842

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: We have continued reason to express our profound gratitude to the Great Creator of All Things for numberless benefits conferred upon us as a people. Blessed with genial seasons, the husbandman has his garners filled with abundance, and the necessaries of life, not to speak of its luxuries, abound in every direction. While in some other nations steady and industrious labor can hardly find the means of subsistence, the greatest evil

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State of the Union Address John Tyler December 6, 1843

State of the Union Address John Tyler December 6, 1843

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: If any people ever had cause to render up thanks to the Supreme Being for parental care and protection extended to them in all the trials and difficulties to which they have been from time to time exposed, we certainly are that people. From the first settlement of our forefathers on this continent, through the dangers attendant upon the occupation of a savage wilderness, through a long period of colonial dependence, through the War

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State of the Union Address John Tyler December 3, 1844

State of the Union Address John Tyler December 3, 1844

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: We have continued cause for expressing our gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for the benefits and blessings which our country, under His kind providence, has enjoyed during the past year. Notwithstanding the exciting scenes through which we have passed, nothing has occurred to disturb the general peace or to derange the harmony of our political system. The great moral spectacle has been exhibited of a nation approximat

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State of the Union Address James Polk December 2, 1845

State of the Union Address James Polk December 2, 1845

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: It is to me a source of unaffected satisfaction to meet the representatives of the States and the people in Congress assembled, as it will be to receive the aid of their combined wisdom in the administration of public affairs. In performing for the first time the duty imposed on me by the Constitution of giving to you information of the state of the Union and recommending to your consideration such measures as in my judgment are

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State of the Union Address James Polk December 8, 1846

State of the Union Address James Polk December 8, 1846

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: In resuming your labors in the service of the people it is a subject of congratulation that there has been no period in our past history when all the elements of national prosperity have been so fully developed. Since your last session no afflicting dispensation has visited our country. General good health has prevailed, abundance has crowned the toil of the husbandman, and labor in all its branches is receiving an ample reward,

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State of the Union Address James Polk December 7, 1847

State of the Union Address James Polk December 7, 1847

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The annual meeting of Congress is always an interesting event. The representatives of the States and of the people come fresh from their constituents to take counsel together for the common good. After an existence of near three-fourths of a century as a free and independent Republic, the problem no longer remains to be solved whether man is capable of self-government. The success of our admirable system is a conclusive refutatio

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State of the Union Address James Polk December 5, 1848

State of the Union Address James Polk December 5, 1848

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: Under the benignant providence of Almighty God the representatives of the States and of the people are again brought together to deliberate for the public good. The gratitude of the nation to the Sovereign Arbiter of All Human Events should be commensurate with the boundless blessings which we enjoy. Peace, plenty, and contentment reign throughout our borders, and our beloved country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the worl

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State of the Union Address Zachary Taylor December 4, 1849

State of the Union Address Zachary Taylor December 4, 1849

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Sixty years have elapsed since the establishment of this Government, and the Congress of the United States again assembles to legislate for an empire of freemen. The predictions of evil prophets, who formerly pretended to foretell the downfall of our institutions, are now remembered only to be derided, and the United States of America at this moment present to the world the most stable and permanent Government on earth. Such is the resu

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State of the Union Address Millard Fillmore December 2, 1850

State of the Union Address Millard Fillmore December 2, 1850

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: Being suddenly called in the midst of the last session of Congress by a painful dispensation of Divine Providence to the responsible station which I now hold, I contented myself with such communications to the Legislature as the exigency of the moment seemed to require. The country was shrouded in mourning for the loss of its venerable Chief Magistrate and all hearts were penetrated with grief. Neither the time nor the occasion a

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State of the Union Address Millard Fillmore December 2, 1851

State of the Union Address Millard Fillmore December 2, 1851

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I congratulate you and our common constituency upon the favorable auspices under which you meet for your first session. Our country is at peace with all the world. The agitation which for a time threatened to disturb the fraternal relations which make us one people is fast subsiding, and a year of general prosperity and health has crowned the nation with unusual blessings. None can look back to the dangers which are passed or for

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State of the Union Address Millard Fillmore December 6, 1852

State of the Union Address Millard Fillmore December 6, 1852

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The brief space which has elapsed since the close of your last session has been marked by no extraordinary political event. The quadrennial election of Chief Magistrate has passed off with less than the usual excitement. However individuals and parties may have been disappointed in the result, it is, nevertheless, a subject of national congratulation that the choice has been effected by the independent suffrages of a free people,

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State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 5, 1853

State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 5, 1853

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The interest with which the people of the Republic anticipate the assembling of Congress and the fulfillment on that occasion of the duty imposed upon a new President is one of the best evidences of their capacity to realize the hopes of the founders of a political system at once complex and symmetrical. While the different branches of the Government are to a certain extent independent of each other, the duties of all alike have

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State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 4, 1854

State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 4, 1854

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The past has been an eventful year, and will be hereafter referred to as a marked epoch in the history of the world. While we have been happily preserved from the calamities of war, our domestic prosperity has not been entirely uninterrupted. The crops in portions of the country have been nearly cut off. Disease has prevailed to a greater extent than usual, and the sacrifice of human life through casualties by sea and land is wit

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State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 31, 1855

State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 31, 1855

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The Constitution of the United States provides that Congress shall assemble annually on the first Monday of December, and it has been usual for the President to make no communication of a public character to the Senate and House of Representatives until advised of their readiness to receive it. I have deferred to this usage until the close of the first month of the session, but my convictions of duty will not permit me longer to

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State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 2, 1856

State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 2, 1856

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The Constitution requires that the President shall from time to time not only recommend to the consideration of Congress such measures as he may judge necessary and expedient, but also that he shall give information to them of the state of the Union. To do this fully involves exposition of all matters in the actual condition of the country, domestic or foreign, which essentially concern the general welfare. While performing his c

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State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 8, 1857

State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 8, 1857

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: In obedience to the command of the Constitution, it has now become my duty "to give to Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures" as I judge to be "necessary and expedient." But first and above all, our thanks are due to Almighty God for the numerous benefits which He has bestowed upon this people, and our united prayers ought to ascend to Him that He would continue to bless our gr

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State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 6, 1858

State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 6, 1858

When we compare the condition of the country at the present day with what it was one year ago at the meeting of Congress, we have much reason for gratitude to that Almighty Providence which has never failed to interpose for our relief at the most critical periods of our history. One year ago the sectional strife between the North and the South on the dangerous subject of slavery had again become so intense as to threaten the peace and perpetuity of the Confederacy. The application for the admiss

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State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 19, 1859

State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 19, 1859

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Our deep and heartfelt gratitude is due to that Almighty Power which has bestowed upon us such varied and numerous blessings throughout the past year. The general health of the country has been excellent, our harvests have been unusually plentiful, and prosperity smiles throughout the land. Indeed, notwithstanding our demerits, we have much reason to believe from the past events in our history that we have enjoyed the special protection

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State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 3, 1860

State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 3, 1860

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Throughout the year since our last meeting the country has been eminently prosperous in all its material interests. The general health has been excellent, our harvests have been abundant, and plenty smiles throughout the laud. Our commerce and manufactures have been prosecuted with energy and industry, and have yielded fair and ample returns. In short, no nation in the tide of time has ever presented a spectacle of greater material pros

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State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 3, 1861

State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 3, 1861

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: In the midst of unprecedented political troubles we have cause of great gratitude to God for unusual good health and most abundant harvests. You will not be surprised to learn that in the peculiar exigencies of the times our intercourse with foreign nations has been attended with profound solicitude, chiefly turning upon our own domestic affairs. A disloyal portion of the American people have during the whole year been engaged in an att

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State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 1, 1862

State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 1, 1862

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Since your last annual assembling another year of health and bountiful harvests has passed, and while it has not pleased the Almighty to bless us with a return of peace, we can but press on, guided by the best light He gives us, trusting that in His own good time and wise way all will yet be well. The correspondence touching foreign affairs which has taken place during the last year is herewith submitted, in virtual compliance with a re

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State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 8, 1863

State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 8, 1863

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Another year of health and of sufficiently abundant harvests has passed. For these, and especially for the improved condition of our national affairs, our renewed and profoundest gratitude to God is due. We remain in peace and friendship with foreign powers. The efforts of disloyal citizens of the United States to involve us in foreign wars to aid an inexcusable insurrection have been unavailing. Her Britannic Majesty's Government, as w

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State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 6, 1864

State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 6, 1864

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Again the blessings of health and abundant harvests claim our profoundest gratitude to Almighty God. The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satisfactory. Mexico continues to be a theater of civil war. While our political relations with that country have undergone no change, we have at the same time strictly maintained neutrality between the belligerents. At the request of the States of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, a competent e

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State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 4, 1865

State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 4, 1865

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: To express gratitude to God in the name of the people for the preservation of the United States is my first duty in addressing you. Our thoughts next revert to the death of the late President by an act of parricidal treason. The grief of the nation is still fresh. It finds some solace in the consideration that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence by entering on the renewed term of the Chief Magistracy to which he had be

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State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 3, 1866

State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 3, 1866

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: After a brief interval the Congress of the United States resumes its annual legislative labors. An all-wise and merciful Providence has abated the pestilence which visited our shores, leaving its calamitous traces upon some portions of our country. Peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority have been formally declared to exist throughout the whole of the United States. In all of the States civil authority has superseded the coercio

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State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 3, 1867

State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 3, 1867

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: The continued disorganization of the Union, to which the President has so often called the attention of Congress, is yet a subject of profound and patriotic concern. We may, however, find some relief from that anxiety in the reflection that the painful political situation, although before untried by ourselves, is not new in the experience of nations. Political science, perhaps as highly perfected in our own time and country as in any ot

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State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 9, 1868

State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 9, 1868

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Upon the reassembling of Congress it again becomes my duty to call your attention to the state of the Union and to its continued disorganized condition under the various laws which have been passed upon the subject of reconstruction. It may be safely assumed as an axiom in the government of states that the greatest wrongs inflicted upon a people are caused by unjust and arbitrary legislation, or by the unrelenting decrees of despotic ru

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State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 6, 1869

State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 6, 1869

To the Senate and House of Representatives: In coming before you for the first time as Chief Magistrate of this great nation, it is with gratitude to the Giver of All Good for the many benefits we enjoy. We are blessed with peace at home, and are without entangling alliances abroad to forebode trouble; with a territory unsurpassed in fertility, of an area equal to the abundant support of 500,000,000 people, and abounding in every variety of useful mineral in quantity sufficient to supply the wor

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State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 5, 1870

State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 5, 1870

To the Senate and House of Representatives: A year of peace and general prosperity to this nation has passed since the last assembling of Congress. We have, through a kind Providence, been blessed with abundant crops, and have been spared from complications and war with foreign nations. In our midst comparative harmony has been restored. It is to be regretted, however, that a free exercise of the elective franchise has by violence and intimidation been denied to citizens in exceptional cases in

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State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 4, 1871

State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 4, 1871

To the Senate and House of Representatives: In addressing my third annual message to the law-making branch of the Government it is gratifying to be able to state that during the past year success has generally attended the effort to execute all laws found upon the statute books. The policy has been not to inquire into the wisdom of laws already enacted, but to learn their spirit and intent and to enforce them accordingly. The past year has, under a wise Providence, been one of general prosperity

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State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 2, 1872

State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 2, 1872

To the Senate and House of Representatives: In transmitting to you this my fourth annual message it is with thankfulness to the Giver of All Good that as a nation we have been blessed for the past year with peace at home, peace abroad, and a general prosperity vouchsafed to but few peoples. With the exception of the recent devastating fire which swept from the earth with a breath, as it were, millions of accumulated wealth in the city of Boston, there has been no overshadowing calamity within th

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State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 1, 1873

State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 1, 1873

To the Senate and House of Representatives: The year that has passed since the submission of my last message to Congress has, especially during the latter part of it, been an eventful one to the country. In the midst of great national prosperity a financial crisis has occurred that has brought low fortunes of gigantic proportions; political partisanship has almost ceased to exist, especially in the agricultural regions; and, finally, the capture upon the high seas of a vessel bearing our flag ha

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State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 7, 1874

State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 7, 1874

To the Senate and House of Representatives: Since the convening of Congress one year ago the nation has undergone a prostration in business and industries such as has not been witnessed with us for many years. Speculation as to the causes for this prostration might be indulged in without profit, because as many theories would be advanced as there would be independent writers--those who expressed their own views without borrowing--upon the subject. Without indulging in theories as to the cause of

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State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 7, 1875

State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 7, 1875

To the Senate and House of Representatives: In submitting my seventh annual message to Congress, in this centennial year of our national existence as a free and independent people, it affords me great pleasure to recur to the advancement that has been made from the time of the colonies, one hundred years ago. We were then a people numbering only 3,000,000. Now we number more than 40,000,000. Then industries were confined almost exclusively to the tillage of the soil. Now manufactories absorb muc

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State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 5, 1876

State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 5, 1876

To the Senate and House of Representatives: In submitting my eighth and last annual message to Congress it seems proper that I should refer to and in some degree recapitulate the events and official acts of the past eight years. It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training. From the age of 17 I had never even witnessed the excitement attending a Presidential campaign but twice antecedent to my own candidacy, and at but on

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State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 3, 1877

State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 3, 1877

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: With devout gratitude to the bountiful Giver of All Good, I congratulate you that at the beginning of your first regular session you find our country blessed with health and peace and abundant harvests, and with encouraging prospects of an early return of general prosperity. To complete and make permanent the pacification of the country continues to be, and until it is fully accomplished must remain, the most important of all our nation

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State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 2, 1878

State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 2, 1878

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Our heartfelt gratitude is due to the Divine Being who holds in His hands the destinies of nations for the continued bestowal during the last year of countless blessings upon our country. We are at peace with all other nations. Our public credit has greatly improved, and is perhaps now stronger than ever before. Abundant harvests have rewarded the labors of those who till the soil, our manufacturing industries are reviving, and it is be

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State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 1, 1879

State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 1, 1879

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: The members of the Forty-sixth Congress have assembled in their first regular session under circumstances calling for mutual congratulation and grateful acknowledgment to the Giver of All Good for the large and unusual measure of national prosperity which we now enjoy. The most interesting events which have occurred in our public affairs since my last annual message to Congress are connected with the financial operations of the Governme

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State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 6, 1880

State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 6, 1880

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: I congratulate you on the continued and increasing prosperity of our country. By the favor of Divine Providence we have been blessed during the past year with health, with abundant harvests, with profitable employment for all our people, and with contentment at home, and with peace and friendship with other nations. The occurrence of the twenty-fourth election of Chief Magistrate has afforded another opportunity to the people of the Uni

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State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 6, 1881

State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 6, 1881

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: An appalling calamity has befallen the American people since their chosen representatives last met in the halls where you are now assembled. We might else recall with unalloyed content the rare prosperity with which throughout the year the nation has been blessed. Its harvests have been plenteous; its varied industries have thriven; the health of its people has been preserved; it has maintained with foreign governments the undistur

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State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 4, 1882

State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 4, 1882

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: It is provided by the Constitution that the President shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. In reviewing the events of the year which has elapsed since the commencement of your sessions, I first call your attention to the gratifying condition of our foreign affairs. Our intercourse with other po

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State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 4, 1883

State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 4, 1883

To the Congress of the United States: At the threshold of your deliberations I congratulate you upon the favorable aspect of the domestic and foreign affairs of this Government. Our relations with other countries continue to be upon a friendly footing. With the Argentine Republic, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Hayti, Italy, Santo Domingo, and Sweden and Norway no incident has occurred which calls for special comment. The recent opening of new lines of telegraphic communication with Central

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State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 1, 1884

State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 1, 1884

To the Congress of the United States: Since the close of your last session the American people, in the exercise of their highest right of suffrage, have chosen their Chief Magistrate for the four years ensuing. When it is remembered that at no period in the country's history has the long political contest which customarily precedes the day of the national election been waged with greater fervor and intensity, it is a subject of general congratulation that after the controversy at the polls was o

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State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 8, 1885

State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 8, 1885

To the Congress of the United States: Your assembling is clouded by a sense of public bereavement, caused by the recent and sudden death of Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the United States. His distinguished public services, his complete integrity and devotion to every duty, and his personal virtues will find honorable record in his country's history. Ample and repeated proofs of the esteem and confidence in which he was held by his fellow-countrymen were manifested by his election to of

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State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 6, 1886

State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 6, 1886

To the Congress of the United States: In discharge of a constitutional duty, and following a well-established precedent in the Executive office, I herewith transmit to the Congress at its reassembling certain information concerning the state of the Union, together with such recommendations for legislative consideration as appear necessary and expedient. Our Government has consistently maintained its relations of friendship toward all other powers and of neighborly interest toward those whose pos

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State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 6, 1887

State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 6, 1887

To the Congress of the United States: You are confronted at the threshold of your legislative duties with a condition of the national finances which imperatively demands immediate and careful consideration. The amount of money annually exacted, through the operation of present laws, from the industries and necessities of the people largely exceeds the sum necessary to meet the expenses of the Government. When we consider that the theory of our institutions guarantees to every citizen the full en

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State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 3, 1888

State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 3, 1888

To the Congress of the United States: As you assemble for the discharge of the duties you have assumed as the representatives of a free and generous people, your meeting is marked by an interesting and impressive incident. With the expiration of the present session of the Congress the first century of our constitutional existence as a nation will be completed. Our survival for one hundred years is not sufficient to assure us that we no longer have dangers to fear in the maintenance, with all its

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State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 3, 1889

State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 3, 1889

To the Senate and House of Representatives: There are few transactions in the administration of the Government that are even temporarily held in the confidence of those charged with the conduct of the public business. Every step taken is under the observation of an intelligent and watchful people. The state of the Union is known from day to day, and suggestions as to needed legislation find an earlier voice than that which speaks in these annual communications of the President to Congress. Good

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State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 1, 1890

State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 1, 1890

To the Senate and House of Representatives: The reports of the several Executive Departments, which will be laid before Congress in the usual course, will exhibit in detail the operations of the Government for the last fiscal year. Only the more important incidents and results, and chiefly such as may be the foundation of the recommendations I shall submit, will be referred to in this annual message. The vast and increasing business of the Government has been transacted by the several Department

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State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 9, 1891

State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 9, 1891

To the Senate and House of Representatives: The reports of the heads of the several Executive Departments required by law to be submitted to me, which are herewith transmitted, and the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney-General, made directly to Congress, furnish a comprehensive view of the administrative work of the last fiscal year relating to internal affair. It would be of great advantage if these reports could have an alternative perusal by every member of Congress an

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State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 6, 1892

State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 6, 1892

To the Senate and House of Representatives: In submitting my annual message to Congress I have great satisfaction in being able to say that the general conditions affecting the commercial and industrial interests of the United States are in the highest degree favorable. A comparison of the existing conditions with those of the most favored period in the history of the country will, I believe, show that so high a degree of prosperity and so general a diffusion of the comforts of life were never b

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State of the Union Address by Grover Cleveland December 4, 1893.

State of the Union Address by Grover Cleveland December 4, 1893.

To the Congress of the United States: The constitutional duty which requires the President from time to time to give to the Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient is fittingly entered upon by commending to the Congress a careful examination of the detailed statements and well-supported recommendations contained in the reports of the heads of Departments, who are chiefly charged with the executive

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State of the Union Address by Grover Cleveland December 3, 1894

State of the Union Address by Grover Cleveland December 3, 1894

To the Congress of the United States: The assemblage within the nation's legislative halls of those charged with the duty of making laws for the benefit of a generous and free people impressively suggests the exacting obligation and inexorable responsibility involved in their task. At the threshold of such labor now to be undertaken by the Congress of the United States, and in the discharge of an executive duty enjoined by the Constitution, I submit this communication, containing a brief stateme

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State of the Union Address by Grover Cleveland December 2, 1895

State of the Union Address by Grover Cleveland December 2, 1895

To the Congress of the United States: The present assemblage of the legislative branch of our Government occurs at a time when the interests of our people and the needs of the country give especial prominence to the condition of our foreign relations and the exigencies of our national finances. The reports of the heads of the several administrative Departments of the Government fully and plainly exhibit what has been accomplished within the scope of their respective duties and present such recom

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State of the Union Address by Grover Cleveland December 7, 1896

State of the Union Address by Grover Cleveland December 7, 1896

To the Congress of the United States: As representatives of the people in the legislative branch of their Government, you have assembled at a time when the strength and excellence of our free institutions and the fitness of our citizens to enjoy popular rule have been again made manifest. A political contest involving momentous consequences, fraught with feverish apprehension, and creating aggressiveness so intense as to approach bitterness and passion has been waged throughout our land and dete

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State of the Union Address William McKinley December 6, 1897

State of the Union Address William McKinley December 6, 1897

To the Senate and House of Representatives: It gives me pleasure to extend greeting to the Fifty-fifth Congress, assembled in regular session at the seat of Government, with many of whose Senators and Representatives I have been associated in the legislative service. Their meeting occurs under felicitous conditions, justifying sincere congratulation and calling for our grateful acknowledgment to a beneficent Providence which has so signally blessed and prospered us as a nation. Peace and good wi

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State of the Union Address William McKinley December 5, 1898

State of the Union Address William McKinley December 5, 1898

To the Senate and House of Representatives: Notwithstanding the added burdens rendered necessary by the war, our people rejoice in a very satisfactory and steadily increasing degree of prosperity, evidenced by the largest volume of business ever recorded. Manufacture has been productive, agricultural pursuits have yielded abundant returns, labor in all fields of industry is better rewarded, revenue legislation passed by the present Congress has increased the Treasury's receipts to the amount est

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State of the Union Address William McKinley December 5, 1899

State of the Union Address William McKinley December 5, 1899

To the Senate and House of Representatives: At the threshold of your deliberations you are called to mourn with your countrymen the death of Vice-President Hobart, who passed from this life on the morning of November 21 last. His great soul now rests in eternal peace. His private life was pure and elevated, while his public career was ever distinguished by large capacity, stainless integrity, and exalted motives. He has been removed from the high office which he honored and dignified, but his lo

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State of the Union Address William McKinley December 3, 1900

State of the Union Address William McKinley December 3, 1900

To the Senate and House of Representatives: At the outgoing of the old and the incoming of the new century you begin the last session of the Fifty-sixth Congress with evidences on every hand of individual and national prosperity and with proof of the growing strength and increasing power for good of Republican institutions. Your countrymen will join with you in felicitation that American liberty is more firmly established than ever before, and that love for it and the determination to preserve i

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State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1901

State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1901

To the Senate and House of Representatives: The Congress assembles this year under the shadow of a great calamity. On the sixth of September, President McKinley was shot by an anarchist while attending the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, and died in that city on the fourteenth of that month. Of the last seven elected Presidents, he is the third who has been murdered, and the bare recital of this fact is sufficient to justify grave alarm among all loyal American citizens. Moreover, the circum

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State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 2, 1902

State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 2, 1902

To the Senate and House of Representatives: We still continue in a period of unbounded prosperity. This prosperity is not the creature of law, but undoubtedly the laws under which we work have been instrumental in creating the conditions which made it possible, and by unwise legislation it would be easy enough to destroy it. There will undoubtedly be periods of depression. The wave will recede; but the tide will advance. This Nation is seated on a continent flanked by two great oceans. It is com

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State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 7, 1903

State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 7, 1903

To the Senate and House of Representatives: The country is to be congratulated on the amount of substantial achievement which has marked the past year both as regards our foreign and as regards our domestic policy. With a nation as with a man the most important things are those of the household, and therefore the country is especially to be congratulated on what has been accomplished in the direction of providing for the exercise of supervision over the great corporations and combinations of cor

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State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 6, 1904

State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 6, 1904

To the Senate and House of Representatives: The Nation continues to enjoy noteworthy prosperity. Such prosperity is of course primarily due to the high individual average of our citizenship, taken together with our great natural resources; but an important factor therein is the working of our long-continued governmental policies. The people have emphatically expressed their approval of the principles underlying these policies, and their desire that these principles be kept substantially unchange

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State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 5, 1905

State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 5, 1905

To the Senate and House of Representatives: The people of this country continue to enjoy great prosperity. Undoubtedly there will be ebb and flow in such prosperity, and this ebb and flow will be felt more or less by all members of the community, both by the deserving and the undeserving. Against the wrath of the Lord the wisdom of man cannot avail; in time of flood or drought human ingenuity can but partially repair the disaster. A general failure of crops would hurt all of us. Again, if the fo

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State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1906

State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1906

To the Senate and House of Representatives: As a nation we still continue to enjoy a literally unprecedented prosperity; and it is probable that only reckless speculation and disregard of legitimate business methods on the part of the business world can materially mar this prosperity. No Congress in our time has done more good work of importance than the present Congress. There were several matters left unfinished at your last session, however, which I most earnestly hope you will complete befor

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State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1907

State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1907

To the Senate and House of Representatives: No nation has greater resources than ours, and I think it can be truthfully said that the citizens of no nation possess greater energy and industrial ability. In no nation are the fundamental business conditions sounder than in ours at this very moment; and it is foolish, when such is the case, for people to hoard money instead of keeping it in sound banks; for it is such hoarding that is the immediate occasion of money stringency. Moreover, as a rule,

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State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 8, 1908

State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 8, 1908

To the Senate and House of Representatives: FINANCES. The financial standing of the Nation at the present time is excellent, and the financial management of the Nation's interests by the Government during the last seven years has shown the most satisfactory results. But our currency system is imperfect, and it is earnestly to be hoped that the Currency Commission will be able to propose a thoroughly good system which will do away with the existing defects. During the period from July 1, 1901, to

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State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 7, 1909

State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 7, 1909

The relations of the United States with all foreign governments have continued upon the normal basis of amity and good understanding, and are very generally satisfactory. EUROPE. Pursuant to the provisions of the general treaty of arbitration concluded between the United States and Great Britain, April 4, 1908, a special agreement was entered into between the two countries on January 27, 1909, for the submission of questions relating to the fisheries on the North Atlantic Coast to a tribunal to

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State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 6, 1910

State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 6, 1910

To the Senate and House of Representatives: During the past year the foreign relations of the United States have continued upon a basis of friendship and good understanding. ARBITRATION. The year has been notable as witnessing the pacific settlement of two important international controversies before the Permanent Court of The Hague. The arbitration of the Fisheries dispute between the United States and Great Britain, which has been the source of nearly continuous diplomatic correspondence since

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State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 5, 1911

State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 5, 1911

PART I This message is the first of several which I shall send to Congress during the interval between the opening of its regular session and its adjournment for the Christmas holidays. The amount of information to be communicated as to the operations of the Government, the number of important subjects calling for comment by the Executive, and the transmission to Congress of exhaustive reports of special commissions, make it impossible to include in one message of a reasonable length a discussio

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State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 3, 1912

State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 3, 1912

PART I To the Senate and House of Representatives: The foreign relations of the United States actually and potentially affect the state of the Union to a degree not widely realized and hardly surpassed by any other factor in the welfare of the whole Nation. The position of the United States in the moral, intellectual, and material relations of the family of nations should be a matter of vital interest to every patriotic citizen. The national prosperity and power impose upon us duties which we ca

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State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 2, 1913

State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 2, 1913

Gentlemen of the Congress: In pursuance of my constitutional duty to "give to the Congress information of the state of the Union," I take the liberty of addressing you on several matters which ought, as it seems to me, particularly to engage the attention of your honorable bodies, as of all who study the welfare and progress of the Nation. I shall ask your indulgence if I venture to depart in some degree from the usual custom of setting before you in formal review the many matters which have eng

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State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 8, 1914

State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 8, 1914

GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: The session upon which you are now entering will be the closing session of the Sixty-third Congress, a Congress, I venture to say, which will long be remembered for the great body of thoughtful and constructive work which it has done, in loyal response to the thought and needs of the country. I should like in this address to review the notable record and try to make adequate assessment of it; but no doubt we stand too near the work that has been done and are ourselves

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State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 7, 1915

State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 7, 1915

GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: Since I last had the privilege of addressing you on the state of the Union the war of nations on the other side of the sea, which had then only begun to disclose its portentous proportions, has extended its threatening and sinister scope until it has swept within its flame some portion of every quarter of the globe, not excepting our own hemisphere, has altered the whole face of international affairs, and now presents a prospect of reorganization and reconstruction suc

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State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 5, 1916

State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 5, 1916

GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: In fulfilling at this time the duty laid upon me by the Constitution of communicating to you from time to time information of the state of the Union and recommending to your consideration such legislative measures as may be judged necessary and expedient, I shall continue the practice, which I hope has been acceptable to you, of leaving to the reports of the several heads of the executive departments the elaboration of the detailed needs of the public service and confi

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State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 4, 1917

State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 4, 1917

GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: Eight months have elapsed since I last had the honor of addressing you. They have been months crowded with events of immense and grave significance for us. I shall not undertake to detail or even to summarize those events. The practical particulars of the part we have played in them will be laid before you in the reports of the executive departments. I shall discuss only our present outlook upon these vast affairs, our present duties, and the immediate means of accompl

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State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 2, 1918

State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 2, 1918

GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: The year that has elapsed since I last stood before you to fulfil my constitutional duty to give to the Congress from time to time information on the state of the Union has been so crowded with great events, great processes, and great results that I cannot hope to give you an adequate picture of its transactions or of the far-reaching changes which have been wrought of our nation and of the world. You have yourselves witnessed these things, as I have. It is too soon to

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State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 2, 1919

State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 2, 1919

TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: I sincerely regret that I cannot be present at the opening of this session of the Congress. I am thus prevented from presenting in as direct a way as I could wish the many questions that are pressing for solution at this time. Happily, I have had the advantage of the advice of the heads of the several executive departments who have kept in close touch with affairs in their detail and whose thoughtful recommendations I earnestly second. In the matter of

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State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 7, 1920

State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 7, 1920

GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: When I addressed myself to performing the duty laid upon the President by the Constitution to present to you an annual report on the state of the Union, I found my thought dominated by an immortal sentence of Abraham Lincoln's--"Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us dare to do our duty as we understand it"--a sentence immortal because it embodies in a form of utter simplicity and purity the essential faith of the nation, the faith in which

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State of the Union Address Warren Harding December 6, 1921

State of the Union Address Warren Harding December 6, 1921

MR. SPEAKER AND MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS: It is a very gratifying privilege to come to the Congress with the Republic at peace with all the nations of the world. More, it is equally gratifying to report that our country is not only free from every impending, menace of war, but there are growing assurances of the permanency of the peace which we so deeply cherish. For approximately ten years we have dwelt amid menaces of war or as participants in war's actualities, and the inevitable aftermath, wi

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State of the Union Address Warren Harding December 8, 1922

State of the Union Address Warren Harding December 8, 1922

MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS: So many problems are calling for solution that a recital of all of them, in the face of the known limitations of a short session of Congress, would seem to lack sincerity of purpose. It is four years since the World War ended, but the inevitable readjustment of the social and economic order is not more than barely begun. There is no acceptance of pre-war conditions anywhere in the world. In a very general way humanity harbors individual wishes to go on with war-time comp

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State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 6, 1923

State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 6, 1923

Since the close of the last Congress the Nation has lost President Harding. The world knew his kindness and his humanity, his greatness and his character. He has left his mark upon history. He has made justice more certain and peace more secure. The surpassing tribute paid to his memory as he was borne across the continent to rest at last at home revealed the place he held in the hearts of the American people. But this is not the occasion for extended reference to the man or his work. In this pr

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State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 3, 1924

State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 3, 1924

To the Congress of the United States: The present state of the Union, upon which it is customary for the President to report to the Congress under the provisions of the Constitution, is such that it may be regarded with encouragement and satisfaction by every American. Our country is almost unique in its ability to discharge fully and promptly all its obligations at home and abroad, and provide for all its inhabitants an increase in material resources, in intellectual vigor and in moral power. T

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State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 8, 1925

State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 8, 1925

Members of the Congress: In meeting the constitutional requirement of informing the Congress upon the state of the Union, it is exceedingly gratifying to report that the general condition is one of progress and prosperity. Here and there are comparatively small and apparently temporary difficulties needing adjustment and improved administrative methods, such as are always to be expected, but in the fundamentals of government and business the results demonstrate that we are going in the right dir

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State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 7, 1926

State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 7, 1926

Members of the Congress: In reporting to the Congress the state of the Union, I find it impossible to characterize it other than one of general peace and prosperity. In some quarters our diplomacy is vexed with difficult and as yet unsolved problems, but nowhere are we met with armed conflict. If some occupations and areas are not flourishing, in none does there remain any acute chronic depression. What the country requires is not so much new policies as a steady continuation of those which are

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State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 6, 1927

State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 6, 1927

Members of the Congress: It is gratifying to report that for the fourth consecutive year the state of the Union in general is good. We are at peace. The country as a whole has had a prosperity never exceeded. Wages are at their highest range, employment is plentiful. Some parts of agriculture and industry have lagged; some localities have suffered from storm and flood. But such losses have been absorbed without serious detriment to our great economic structure. Stocks of goods are moderate and a

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State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 4, 1928

State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 4, 1928

To the Congress of the United States: No Congress of the United States ever assembled, on surveying the state of the Union, has met with a more pleasing prospect than that which appears at the present time. In the domestic field there is tranquility and contentment, harmonious relations between management and wage earner, freedom from industrial strife, and the highest record of years of prosperity. In the foreign field there is peace, the good will which comes from mutual understanding, and the

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State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 3, 1929

State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 3, 1929

To the Senate and House of Representatives: The Constitution requires that the President "shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." In complying with that requirement I wish to emphasize that during the past year the Nation has continued to grow in strength; our people have advanced in comfort; we have gained in knowledge; the education of youth has been more

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State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 2, 1930

State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 2, 1930

To the Senate and House of Representatives: I have the honor to comply with the requirement of the Constitution that I should lay before the Congress information as to the state of the Union, and recommend consideration of such measures as are necessary and expedient. Substantial progress has been made during the year in national peace and security; the fundamental strength of the Nation's economic life is unimpaired; education and scientific discovery have made advances; our country is more ali

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State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 8, 1931

State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 8, 1931

To the Senate and House of Representatives: It is my duty under the Constitution to transmit to the Congress information on the state of the Union and to recommend for its consideration necessary and expedient measures. The chief influence affecting the state of the Union during the past year has been the continued world-wide economic disturbance. Our national concern has been to meet the emergencies it has created for us and to lay the foundations for recovery. If we lift our vision beyond thes

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State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 6, 1932

State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 6, 1932

To the Senate and House of Representatives: In accord with my constitutional duty, I transmit herewith to the Congress information upon the state of the Union together with recommendation of measures for its consideration. Our country is at peace. Our national defense has been maintained at a high state of effectiveness. All of the executive departments of the Government have been conducted during the year with a high devotion to public interest. There has been a far larger degree of freedom fro

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1934

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1934

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Senators and Representatives in Congress: I come before you at the opening of the Regular Session of the 73d Congress, not to make requests for special or detailed items of legislation; I come, rather, to counsel with you, who, like myself, have been selected to carry out a mandate of the whole people, in order that without partisanship you and I may cooperate to continue the restoration of our national wellbeing and, equally important, to build on the ruins of the pa

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 4, 1935

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 4, 1935

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The Constitution wisely provides that the Chief Executive shall report to the Congress on the state of the Union, for through you, the chosen legislative representatives, our citizens everywhere may fairly judge the progress of our governing. I am confident that today, in the light of the events of the past two years, you do not consider it merely a trite phrase when I tell you that I am truly glad to greet yo

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1936

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1936

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: We are about to enter upon another year of the responsibility which the electorate of the United States has placed in our hands. Having come so far, it is fitting that we should pause to survey the ground which we have covered and the path which lies ahead. On the fourth day of March, 1933, on the occasion of taking the oath of office as President of the United States, I addressed the people of our country. Ne

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1937

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1937

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress of the United States: For the first time in our national history a President delivers his Annual Message to a new Congress within a fortnight of the expiration of his term of office. While there is no change in the Presidency this year, change will occur in future years. It is my belief that under this new constitutional practice, the President should in every fourth year, in so far as seems reasonable, review the existing state of our national

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1938

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1938

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: In addressing the Congress on the state of the Union present facts and future hazards demand that I speak clearly and earnestly of the causes which underlie events of profound concern to all. In spite of the determination of this Nation for peace, it has become clear that acts and policies of nations in other parts of the world have far-reaching effects not only upon their immediate neighbors but also on us. I

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 4, 1939

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 4, 1939

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and the Congress: In Reporting on the state of the nation, I have felt it necessary on previous occasions to advise the Congress of disturbance abroad and of the need of putting our own house in order in the face of storm signals from across the seas. As this Seventy-sixth Congress opens there is need for further warning. A war which threatened to envelop the world in flames has been averted; but it has become increasingly clear that world p

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1940

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1940

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives: I wish each and every one of you a very happy New Year. As the Congress reassembles, the impact of war abroad makes it natural to approach "the state of the union" through a discussion of foreign affairs. But it is important that those who hear and read this message should in no way confuse that approach with any thought that our Government is abandoning, or even overlooking, the great significance of its do

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1941

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1941

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Seventy-seventh Congress: I address you, the Members of the Seventy-seventh Congress, at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union. I use the word "unprecedented," because at no previous time has American security been as seriously threatened from without as it is today. Since the permanent formation of our Government under the Constitution, in 1789, most of the periods of crisis in our history have related to our domestic affairs. Fortunately,

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1942

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1942

In fulfilling my duty to report upon the State of the Union, I am proud to say to you that the spirit of the American people was never higher than it is today--the Union was never more closely knit together--this country was never more deeply determined to face the solemn tasks before it. The response of the American people has been instantaneous, and it will be sustained until our security is assured. Exactly one year ago today I said to this Congress: "When the dictators. . . are ready to make

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 7, 1943

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 7, 1943

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Seventy-eighth Congress: This Seventy-eighth Congress assembles in one of the great moments in the history of the Nation. The past year was perhaps the most crucial for modern civilization; the coming year will be filled with violent conflicts-- yet with high promise of better things. We must appraise the events of 1942 according to their relative importance; we must exercise a sense of proportion. First in importance in the American scene has been

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 11, 1944

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 11, 1944

To the Congress: This Nation in the past two years has become an active partner in the world's greatest war against human slavery. We have joined with like-minded people in order to defend ourselves in a world that has been gravely threatened with gangster rule. But I do not think that any of us Americans can be content with mere survival. Sacrifices that we and our allies are making impose upon us all a sacred obligation to see to it that out of this war we and our children will gain something

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State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1945

State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1945

To the Congress: In considering the State of the Union, the war and the peace that is to follow are naturally uppermost in the minds of all of us. This war must be waged--it is being waged--with the greatest and most persistent intensity. Everything we are and have is at stake. Everything we are and have will be given. American men, fighting far from home, have already won victories which the world will never forget. We have no question of the ultimate victory. We have no question of the cost. O

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State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 21, 1946

State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 21, 1946

To the Congress of the United States: A quarter century ago the Congress decided that it could no longer consider the financial programs of the various departments on a piecemeal basis. Instead it has called on the President to present a comprehensive Executive Budget. The Congress has shown its satisfaction with that method by extending the budget system and tightening its controls. The bigger and more complex the Federal Program, the more necessary it is for the Chief Executive to submit a sin

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State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 6, 1947

State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 6, 1947

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress of the United States: It looks like a good many of you have moved over to the left since I was here last! I come before you today to report on the State of the Union and, in the words of the Constitution, to recommend such measures as I judge necessary and expedient. I come also to welcome you as you take up your duties and to discuss with you the manner in which you and I should fulfill our obligations to the American people during the next 2

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State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 7, 1948

State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 7, 1948

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, and Members of the 80th Congress: We are here today to consider the state of the Union. On this occasion, above all others, the Congress and the President should concentrate their attention, not upon party but upon the country; not upon things which divide us but upon those which bind us together--the enduring principles of our American system, and our common aspirations for the future welfare and security of the people of the United States. The United States has beco

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State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 5, 1949

State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 5, 1949

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress: I am happy to report to this 81st Congress that the state of the Union is good. Our Nation is better able than ever before to meet the needs of the American people, and to give them their fair chance in the pursuit of happiness. This great Republic is foremost among the nations of the world in the search for peace. During the last 16 years, our people have been creating a society which offers new opportunities for every man to enjoy his share

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State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 4, 1950

State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 4, 1950

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress: A year ago I reported to this Congress that the state of the Union was good. I am happy to be able to report to you today that the state of the Union continues to be good. Our Republic continues to increase in the enjoyment of freedom within its borders, and to offer strength and encouragement to all those who love freedom throughout the world. During the past year we have made notable progress in strengthening the foundations of peace and fre

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State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 8, 1951

State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 8, 1951

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress: This 82d Congress faces as grave a task as any Congress in the history of our Republic. The actions you take will be watched by the whole world. These actions will measure the ability of a free people, acting through their chosen representatives and their free institutions, to meet a deadly challenge to their way of life. We can meet this challenge foolishly or wisely. We can meet it timidly or bravely, shamefully or honorably. I know that the

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State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 9, 1952

State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 9, 1952

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress: I have the honor to report to the Congress on the state of the Union. At the outset, I should like to speak of the necessity for putting first things first as we work together this year for the good of our country. The United States and the whole free world are passing through a period of grave danger. Every action you take here in Congress, and every action that I take as President, must be measured against the test of whether it helps to mee

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State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 7, 1953

State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 7, 1953

To the Congress of the United States: I have the honor to report to the Congress on the state of the Union. This is the eighth such report that, as President, I have been privileged to present to you and to the country. On previous occasions, it has been my custom to set forth proposals for legislative action in the coming year. But that is not my purpose today. The presentation of a legislative program falls properly to my successor, not to me, and I would not infringe upon his responsibility t

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State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower February 2, 1953

State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower February 2, 1953

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Eighty-third Congress: I welcome the honor of appearing before you to deliver my first message to the Congress. It is manifestly the joint purpose of the congressional leadership and of this administration to justify the summons to governmental responsibility issued last November by the American people. The grand labors of this leadership will involve: Application of America's influence in world affairs with such fortitude and such foresight that it wil

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State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 7, 1954

State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 7, 1954

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Eighty-third Congress: It is a high honor again to present to the Congress my views on the state of the Union and to recommend measures to advance the security, prosperity, and well-being of the American people. All branches of this Government--and I venture to say both of our great parties--can support the general objective of the recommendations I make today, for that objective is the building of a stronger America. A nation whose every citizen has go

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State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 6, 1955

State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 6, 1955

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress: First, I extend cordial greetings to the 84th Congress. We shall have much to do together; I am sure that we shall get it done--and, that we shall do it in harmony and good will. At the outset, I believe it would be well to remind ourselves of this great fundamental in our national life: our common belief that every human being is divinely endowed with dignity and worth and inalienable rights. This faith, with its corollary--that to grow and f

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State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 5, 1956

State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 5, 1956

To the Congress of the United States: The opening of this new year must arouse in us all grateful thanks to a kind Providence whose protection has been ever present and whose bounty has been manifold and abundant. The State of the Union today demonstrates what can be accomplished under God by a free people; by their vision, their understanding of national problems, their initiative, their self-reliance, their capacity for work--and by their willingness to sacrifice whenever sacrifice is needed.

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State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 10, 1957

State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 10, 1957

To the Congress of the United States: I appear before the Congress today to report on the State of the Union and the relationships of the Union to the other nations of the world. I come here, firmly convinced that at no time in the history of the Republic have circumstances more emphatically underscored the need, in all echelons of government, for vision and wisdom and resolution. You meet in a season of stress that is testing the fitness of political systems and the validity of political philos

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State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 9, 1958

State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 9, 1958

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the 85th Congress: It is again my high privilege to extend personal greetings to the members of the 85th Congress. All of us realize that, as this new session begins, many Americans are troubled about recent world developments which they believe may threaten our nation's safety. Honest men differ in their appraisal of America's material and intellectual strength, and the dangers that confront us. But all know these dangers are real. The purpose of this mess

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State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 9, 1959

State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 9, 1959

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the 86th Congress, my fellow citizens: This is the moment when Congress and the Executive annually begin their cooperative work to build a better America. One basic purpose unites us: To promote strength and security, side by side with liberty and opportunity. As we meet today, in the 170th year of the Republic, our Nation must continue to provide--as all other free governments have had to do throughout time--a satisfactory answer to a question as old as hi

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State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 7, 1960

State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 7, 1960

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the 86th Congress: Seven years ago I entered my present office with one long-held resolve overriding all others. I was then, and remain now, determined that the United States shall become an ever more potent resource for the cause of peace--realizing that peace cannot be for ourselves alone, but for peoples everywhere. This determination is shared by the entire Congress--indeed, by all Americans. My purpose today is to discuss some features of America's pos

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State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 12, 1961

State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 12, 1961

To the Congress of the United States: Once again it is my Constitutional duty to assess the state of the Union. On each such previous occasion during these past eight years I have outlined a forward course designed to achieve our mutual objective--a better America in a world of peace. This time my function is different. The American people, in free election, have selected new leadership which soon will be entrusted with the management of our government. A new President shortly will lay before yo

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State of the Union Address John F. Kennedy January 30, 1961

State of the Union Address John F. Kennedy January 30, 1961

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the Congress: It is a pleasure to return from whence I came. You are among my oldest friends in Washington--and this House is my oldest home. It was here, more than 14 years ago, that I first took the oath of Federal office. It was here, for 14 years, that I gained both knowledge and inspiration from members of both parties in both Houses--from your wise and generous leaders--and from the pronouncements which I can vividly recall, sitting where you now

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State of the Union Address John F. Kennedy January 11, 1962

State of the Union Address John F. Kennedy January 11, 1962

Mr. Vice President, my old colleague from Massachusetts and your new Speaker, John McCormack, Members of the 87th Congress, ladies and gentlemen: This week we begin anew our joint and separate efforts to build the American future. But, sadly, we build without a man who linked a long past with the present and looked strongly to the future. "Mister Sam" Rayburn is gone. Neither this House nor the Nation is the same without him. Members of the Congress, the Constitution makes us not rivals for powe

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State of the Union Address John F. Kennedy January 14, 1963

State of the Union Address John F. Kennedy January 14, 1963

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the 88th Congress: I congratulate you all--not merely on your electoral victory but on your selected role in history. For you and I are privileged to serve the great Republic in what could be the most decisive decade in its long history. The choices we make, for good or ill, may well shape the state of the Union for generations yet to come. Little more than 100 weeks ago I assumed the office of President of the United States. In seeking the help of the

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State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 8, 1964

State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 8, 1964

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the House and Senate, my fellow Americans: I will be brief, for our time is necessarily short and our agenda is already long. Last year's congressional session was the longest in peacetime history. With that foundation, let us work together to make this year's session the best in the Nation's history. Let this session of Congress be known as the session which did more for civil rights than the last hundred sessions combined; as the session which enacted the

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State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 4, 1965

State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 4, 1965

On this Hill which was my home, I am stirred by old friendships. Though total agreement between the Executive and the Congress is impossible, total respect is important. I am proud to be among my colleagues of the Congress whose legacy to their trust is their loyalty to their Nation. I am not unaware of the inner emotions of the new Members of this body tonight. Twenty-eight years ago, I felt as you do now. You will soon learn that you are among men whose first love is their country, men who try

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State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 12, 1966

State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 12, 1966

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the House and the Senate, my fellow Americans: I come before you tonight to report on the State of the Union for the third time. I come here to thank you and to add my tribute, once more, to the Nation's gratitude for this, the 89th Congress. This Congress has already reserved for itself an honored chapter in the history of America. Our Nation tonight is engaged in a brutal and bitter conflict in Vietnam. Later on I want to discuss that struggle in some det

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State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 10, 1967

State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 10, 1967

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Members of the Congress: I share with all of you the grief that you feel at the death today of one of the most beloved, respected, and effective Members of this body, the distinguished Representative from Rhode Island, Mr. Fogarty. I have come here tonight to report to you that this is a time of testing for our Nation. At home, the question is whether we will continue working for better opportunities for all Americans, when most Americans are alread

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State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 17, 1968

State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 17, 1968

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the Congress, and my fellow Americans: I was thinking as I was walking down the aisle tonight of what Sam Rayburn told me many years ago: The Congress always extends a very warm welcome to the President--as he comes in. Thank all of you very, very much. I have come once again to this Chamber--the home of our democracy--to give you, as the Constitution requires, "Information of the State of the Union." I report to you that our country is challenged, at home

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State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 14, 1969

State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 14, 1969

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the Congress and my fellow Americans: For the sixth and the last time, I present to the Congress my assessment of the State of the Union. I shall speak to you tonight about challenge and opportunity--and about the commitments that all of us have made together that will, if we carry them out, give America our best chance to achieve the kind of great society that we all want. Every President lives, not only with what is, but with what has been and what could

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State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 22, 1970

State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 22, 1970

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, my colleagues in the Congress, our distinguished guests and my fellow Americans: To address a joint session of the Congress in this great Chamber in which I was once privileged to serve is an honor for which I am deeply grateful. The State of the Union Address is traditionally an occasion for a lengthy and detailed account by the President of what he has accomplished in the past, what he wants the Congress to do in the future, and, in an election year, to lay the basi

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State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 22, 1971

State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 22, 1971

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, my colleagues in the Congress, our distinguished guests, my fellow Americans: As this 92d Congress begins its session, America has lost a great Senator, and all of us who had the privilege to know him have lost a loyal friend. I had the privilege of visiting Senator Russell in the hospital just a few days before he died. He never spoke about himself. He only spoke eloquently about the need for a strong national defense. In tribute to one of the most magnificent Americ

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State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 20, 1972

State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 20, 1972

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, my colleagues in the Congress, our distinguished guests, my fellow Americans: Twenty-five years ago I sat here as a freshman Congressman--along with Speaker Albert--and listened for the first time to the President address the State of the Union. I shall never forget that moment. The Senate, the diplomatic corps, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet entered the Chamber, and then the President of the United States. As all of you are aware, I had some differences with Presiden

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State of the Union Address Richard Nixon February 2, 1973

State of the Union Address Richard Nixon February 2, 1973

To the Congress of the United States: The traditional form of the President's annual report giving "to the Congress Information of the State of the Union" is a single message or address. As the affairs and concerns of our Union have multiplied over the years, however, so too have the subjects that require discussion in State of the Union Messages. This year in particular, with so many changes in Government programs under consideration--and with our very philosophy about the relationship between

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State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 30, 1974

State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 30, 1974

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, my colleagues in the Congress, our distinguished guests, my fellow Americans: We meet here tonight at a time of great challenge and great opportunities for America. We meet at a time when we face great problems at home and abroad that will test the strength of our fiber as a nation. But we also meet at a time when that fiber has been tested, and it has proved strong. America is a great and good land, and we are a great and good land because we are a strong, free, crea

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State of the Union Address Gerald R. Ford January 15, 1975

State of the Union Address Gerald R. Ford January 15, 1975

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 94th Congress, and distinguished guests: Twenty-six years ago, a freshman Congressman, a young fellow with lots of idealism who was out to change the world, stood before Sam Rayburn in the well of the House and solemnly swore to the same oath that all of you took yesterday--an unforgettable experience, and I congratulate you all. Two days later, that same freshman stood at the back of this great Chamber--over there someplace--as President Truman, a

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State of the Union Address Gerald R. Ford January 19, 1976

State of the Union Address Gerald R. Ford January 19, 1976

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 94th Congress, and distinguished guests: As we begin our Bicentennial, America is still one of the youngest nations in recorded history. Long before our forefathers came to these shores, men and women had been struggling on this planet to forge a better life for themselves and their families. In man's long, upward march from savagery and slavery--throughout the nearly 2,000 years of the Christian calendar, the nearly 6,000 years of Jewish reckoning

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State of the Union Address Gerald R. Ford January 12, 1977

State of the Union Address Gerald R. Ford January 12, 1977

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 95th Congress, and distinguished guests: In accordance with the Constitution, I come before you once again to report on the state of the Union. This report will be my last--maybe--[laughter]--but for the Union it is only the first of such reports in our third century of independence, the close of which none of us will ever see. We can be confident, however, that 100 years from now a freely elected President will come before a freely elected Congres

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State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 19, 1978

State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 19, 1978

Two years ago today we had the first caucus in Iowa, and one year ago tomorrow, I walked from here to the White House to take up the duties of President of the United States. I didn't know it then when I walked, but I've been trying to save energy ever since. I return tonight to fulfill one of those duties of the Constitution: to give to the Congress, and to the Nation, information on the state of the Union. Militarily, politically, economically, and in spirit, the state of our Union is sound. W

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State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 25, 1979

State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 25, 1979

Tonight I want to examine in a broad sense the state of our American Union--how we are building a new foundation for a peaceful and a prosperous world. Our children who will be born this year will come of age in the 21st century. What kind of society, what kind of world are we building for them? Will we ourselves be at peace? Will our children enjoy a better quality of life? Will a strong and united America still be a force for freedom and prosperity around the world? Tonight, there is every sig

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State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 21, 1980

State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 21, 1980

This last few months has not been an easy time for any of us. As we meet tonight, it has never been more clear that the state of our Union depends on the state of the world. And tonight, as throughout our own generation, freedom and peace in the world depend on the state of our Union. The 1980's have been born in turmoil, strife, and change. This is a time of challenge to our interests and our values and it's a time that tests our wisdom and our skills. At this time in Iran, 50 Americans are sti

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State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 16, 1981

State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 16, 1981

To the Congress of the United States: The State of the Union is sound. Our economy is recovering from a recession. A national energy plan is in place and our dependence on foreign oil is decreasing. We have been at peace for four uninterrupted years. But, our Nation has serious problems. Inflation and unemployment are unacceptably high. The world oil market is increasingly tight. There are trouble spots throughout the world, and 52 American hostages are being held in Iran against international l

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State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 26, 1982

State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 26, 1982

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Congress, honored guests, and fellow citizens: Today marks my first State of the Union address to you, a constitutional duty as old as our Republic itself. President Washington began this tradition in 1790 after reminding the Nation that the destiny of self-government and the "preservation of the sacred fire of liberty" is "finally staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." For our friends in the press, who pl

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State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 25, 1983

State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 25, 1983

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Congress, honored guests, and fellow citizens: This solemn occasion marks the 196th time that a President of the United States has reported on the State of the Union since George Washington first did so in 1790. That's a lot of reports, but there's no shortage of new things to say about the State of the Union. The very key to our success has been our ability, foremost among nations, to preserve our lasting values by making change work for

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State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 25, 1984

State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 25, 1984

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Congress, honored guests, and fellow citizens: Once again, in keeping with time-honored tradition, I have come to report to you on the state of the Union, and I'm pleased to report that America is much improved, and there's good reason to believe that improvement will continue through the days to come. You and I have had some honest and open differences in the year past. But they didn't keep us from joining hands in bipartisan cooperation

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State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan February 6, 1985

State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan February 6, 1985

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Congress, honored guests, and fellow citizens: I come before you to report on the state of our Union, and I'm pleased to report that after 4 years of united effort, the American people have brought forth a nation renewed, stronger, freer, and more secure than before. Four years ago we began to change, forever I hope, our assumptions about government and its place in our lives. Out of that change has come great and robust growth--in our con

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State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan February 4, 1986

State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan February 4, 1986

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Congress, honored guests, and fellow citizens: Thank you for allowing me to delay my address until this evening. We paused together to mourn and honor the valor of our seven Challenger heroes. And I hope that we are now ready to do what they would want us to do: Go forward, America, and reach for the stars. We will never forget those brave seven, but we shall go forward. Mr. Speaker, before I begin my prepared remarks, may I point out that

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State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 27, 1987

State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 27, 1987

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of Congress, honored guests, and fellow citizens: May I congratulate all of you who are Members of this historic 100th Congress of the United States of America. In this 200th anniversary year of our Constitution, you and I stand on the shoulders of giants--men whose words and deeds put wind in the sails of freedom. However, we must always remember that our Constitution is to be celebrated not for being old, but for being young--young with the sam

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State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 25, 1988

State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 25, 1988

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, and distinguished Members of the House and Senate: When we first met here 7 years ago--many of us for the first time--it was with the hope of beginning something new for America. We meet here tonight in this historic Chamber to continue that work. If anyone expects just a proud recitation of the accomplishments of my administration, I say let's leave that to history; we're not finished yet. So, my message to you tonight is put on your work shoes; we're still on the jo

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State of the Union Address by George Herbert Walker Bush February 9, 1989

State of the Union Address by George Herbert Walker Bush February 9, 1989

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, and distinguished Members of the House and Senate, honored guests, and fellow citizens: Less than 3 weeks ago, I joined you on the West Front of this very building and, looking over the monuments to our proud past, offered you my hand in filling the next page of American history with a story of extended prosperity and continued peace. And tonight I'm back to offer you my plans as well. The hand remains extended; the sleeves are rolled up; America is waiting; and now w

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State of the Union Address George H.W. Bush January 31, 1990

State of the Union Address George H.W. Bush January 31, 1990

Tonight, I come not to speak about the "State of the Government", not to detail every new initiative we plan for the coming year, nor describe every line in the budget. I'm here to speak to you and to the American people about the State of the Union about our world, the changes we've seen, the challenges we face. And what that means for America. There are singular moments in history, dates that divide all that goes before from all that comes after. And many of us in this chamber have lived much

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State of the Union Address George H.W. Bush January 29, 1991

State of the Union Address George H.W. Bush January 29, 1991

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, members of the United States Congress. I come to this house of the people to speak to you and all Americans, certain we stand at a defining hour. Halfway around the world, we are engaged in a great struggle in the skies and on the seas and sands. We know why we're there. We are Americans--part of something larger than ourselves. For two centuries we've done the hard work of freedom. And tonight we lead the world in facing down a threat to decency and humanity. What is

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State of the Union Address George H.W. Bush January 28, 1992

State of the Union Address George H.W. Bush January 28, 1992

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished members of Congress, honored guests and fellow citizens: I mean to speak tonight of big things, of big changes and the promises they hold and of some big problems and how together we can solve them and move our country forward as the undisputed leader of the age. We gather tonight at a dramatic and deeply promising time in our history, and in the history of man on earth. For in the past 12 months, the world has known changes of almost biblical proportion

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State of the Union Address by Bill Clinton February 17, 1993

State of the Union Address by Bill Clinton February 17, 1993

The speech was not officially deemed a "State of the Union address"; like the freshman addresses of President George H. W. Bush, President Clinton treated this speech as simply an "Address to a Joint Session of Congress." Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House and the Senate, distinguished Americans here as visitors in this Chamber, as am I. It is nice to have a fresh excuse for giving a long speech. [Laughter] When Presidents speak to Congress and the Nation from this podium, typicall

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State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 25, 1994

State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 25, 1994

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the 103rd Congress, my fellow Americans: I am not sure what speech is in the TelePrompTer tonight, but I hope we can talk about the State of the Union. I ask you to begin by recalling the memory of the giant who presided over this chamber with such force and grace. Tip O'Neill liked to call himself "A Man of the House" and he surely was that. But even more, he was a man of the people, a bricklayer's son who helped to build the great American middle class. T

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State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 24, 1995

State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 24, 1995

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, members of the 104th Congress, my fellow Americans: Again we are here in the sanctuary of democracy. And once again, our democracy has spoken. So let me begin by congratulating all of you here in the 104th Congress, and congratulating you, Mr. Speaker. If we agree on nothing else tonight, we must agree that the American people certainly voted for change in 1992 and in 1994. And as I look out at you, I know how some of you must have felt in 1992. I must say that in bot

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State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 23, 1996

State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 23, 1996

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of the 104th Congress, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans all across our land: Let me begin tonight by saying to our men and women in uniform around the world, and especially those helping peace take root in Bosnia and to their families, I thank you. America is very, very proud of you. My duty tonight is to report on the state of the Union--not the state of our government, but of our American community; and to set forth our responsibilities, in the

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State of the Union Address William J. Clinton February 4, 1997

State of the Union Address William J. Clinton February 4, 1997

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of the 105th Congress, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans: I think I should start by saying thanks for inviting me back. I come before you tonight with a challenge as great as any in our peacetime history--and a plan of action to meet that challenge, to prepare our people for the bold new world of the 21st century. We have much to be thankful for. With four years of growth, we have won back the basic strength of our economy. With crime and welfare

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State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 27, 1998

State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 27, 1998

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of the 105th Congress, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans: Since the last time we met in this chamber, America has lost two patriots and fine public servants. Though they sat on opposite sides of the aisle, Representatives Walter Capps and Sonny Bono shared a deep love for this House and an unshakable commitment to improving the lives of all our people. In the past few weeks, they have both been eulogized. Tonight, I think we should begin by sendin

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State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 19, 1999

State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 19, 1999

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, honored guests, my fellow Americans: Tonight I have the honor of reporting to you on the State of the Union. Let me begin by saluting the new speaker of the House and thanking him especially tonight for extending an invitation to two guests sitting in the gallery with Mrs. Hastert. Lyn Gibson and Wei Ling Chestnut are the widows of the two brave Capitol Hill police officers who gave their lives to defend freedom's house. Mr. Speaker, at your

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State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 27, 2000

State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 27, 2000

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, honored guests, my fellow Americans: We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history. Never before has our nation enjoyed, at once, so much prosperity and social progress with so little internal crisis or so few external threats. Never before have we had such a blessed opportunity--and, therefore, such a profound obligation-- to build the more perfect union of our founders' dreams. We begin the new century with over 20 million new jobs

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State of the Union Address George W. Bush February 27, 2001

State of the Union Address George W. Bush February 27, 2001

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress: It's a great privilege to be here to outline a new budget and a new approach for governing our great country. I thank you for your invitation to speak here tonight. I know Congress had to formally invite me, and it could have been a close vote. (Laughter.) So, Mr. Vice President, I appreciate you being here to break the tie. (Laughter.) I want to thank so many of you who have accepted my invitation to come to the White House to discuss import

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State of the Union Address George W. Bush September 20, 2001

State of the Union Address George W. Bush September 20, 2001

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tempore, members of Congress, and fellow Americans: In the normal course of events, Presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the Union. Tonight, no such report is needed. It has already been delivered by the American people. We have seen it in the courage of passengers, who rushed terrorists to save others on the ground -- passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer. And would you please help me to welcome his wife, Lisa Beamer, here tonig

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State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 29, 2002

State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 29, 2002

Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished guests, fellow citizens: As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers. Yet the state of our Union has never been stronger. (Applause.) We last met in an hour of shock and suffering. In four short months, our nation has comforted the victims, begun to rebuild New York and the Pentagon, rallied a great coalition, captured, arres

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State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 28, 2003

State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 28, 2003

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, fellow citizens: Every year, by law and by custom, we meet here to consider the state of the union. This year, we gather in this chamber deeply aware of decisive days that lie ahead. You and I serve our country in a time of great consequence. During this session of Congress, we have the duty to reform domestic programs vital to our country...and we have the opportunity to save millions of lives abroad from a terrible

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State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 20, 2004

State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 20, 2004

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: America this evening is a nation called to great responsibilities. And we are rising to meet them. As we gather tonight, hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. (Applause.) Each day, law enforcement personnel and intellige

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State of the Union Address George W. Bush February 2, 2005

State of the Union Address George W. Bush February 2, 2005

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, fellow citizens: As a new Congress gathers, all of us in the elected branches of government share a great privilege: We've been placed in office by the votes of the people we serve. And tonight that is a privilege we share with newly-elected leaders of Afghanistan, the Palestinian Territories, Ukraine, and a free and sovereign Iraq. (Applause.) Two weeks ago, I stood on the steps of this Capitol and renewed the commitment of our nation to

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State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 31, 2006

State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 31, 2006

Thank you all. Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, members of the Supreme Court and diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: Today our nation lost a beloved, graceful, courageous woman who called America to its founding ideals and carried on a noble dream. Tonight we are comforted by the hope of a glad reunion with the husband who was taken so long ago, and we are grateful for the good life of Coretta Scott King. (Applause.) Every time I'm invited to this

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State of the Union Address by George W. Bush January 23, 2007

State of the Union Address by George W. Bush January 23, 2007

Thank you very much. And tonight, I have a high privilege and distinct honor of my own--as the first President to begin the State of the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker (Applause.) In his day, the late Congressman Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. from Baltimore, Maryland, saw Presidents Roosevelt and Truman at this rostrum. But nothing could compare with the sight of his only daughter, Nancy, presiding tonight as Speaker of the House of Representatives. (Applause.) Congratulations, Madam Sp

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State of the Union Address by George W. Bush January 28, 2008

State of the Union Address by George W. Bush January 28, 2008

THE PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: Seven years have passed since I first stood before you at this rostrum. In that time, our country has been tested in ways none of us could have imagined. We faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world economy, and the health and welfare of our citizens. These issues call for vigorous debate, and I think it's fair to say we've answered the call. Yet hi

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