In all we do, we should remember who we are and what we stand for.  We are Americans.  Our forefathers had far greater obstacles than we have, and much poorer chances of success.  They did not lose heart, or turn aside from their goals.  In the darkest of all winters in American history, at Valley Forge, George Washington said:  “We must not, in so great a contest, expect to meet with nothing but sunshine.”  With that spirit they won their fight for freedom.

We must have that same faith and vision.  In the great contest in which we are engaged today, we cannot expect to have fair weather all the way.  But it is a contest just as important for this country and for all men, as the desperate struggle that George Washington fought through to victory.

Let us prove, again, that we are not merely sunshine patriots and summer soldiers.  Let us go forward, trusting in the God of Peace, to win the goals we seek.

***

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 to chart the forward course.  Instead, I wish to speak of the course we have been following the past eight years and the position at which we have arrived.

In just two weeks, General Eisenhower will be inaugurated as President of the United States and I will resume—­most gladly—­my place as a private citizen of this Republic.  The Presidency last changed hands eight years ago this coming April.  That was a tragic time:  a time of grieving for President Roosevelt—­the great and gallant human being who had been taken from us; a time of unrelieved anxiety to his successor, thrust so suddenly into the complexities and burdens of the Presidential office.

Not so this time.  This time we see the normal transition under our democratic system.  One President, at the conclusion of his term, steps back to private life; his successor, chosen by the people, begins his tenure of the office.  And the Presidency of the United States continues to function without a moment’s break.

Since the election, I have done my best to assure that the transfer from one Administration to another shall be smooth and orderly.  From General Eisenhower and his associates, I have had friendly and understanding collaboration in this endeavor.  I have not sought to thrust upon him—­nor has he sought to take—­the responsibility which must be mine until twelve o’clock noon on January twentieth.  But together, I hope and believe we have found means whereby the incoming President can obtain the full and detailed information he will need to assume the responsibility the moment he takes the oath of office.