It should be impossible for any man to contemplate without a sense of personal humility the tremendous events of the 12 months since the last annual Message, the great tasks that confront us, the new and huge problems of the coming months and years.  Yet these very things justify the deepest confidence in the future of this Nation of free men and women.

The plain people of this country found the courage and the strength, the self-discipline, and the mutual respect to fight and to win, with the help of our allies, under God.  I doubt if the tasks of the future are more difficult.  But if they are, then I say that our strength and our knowledge and our understanding will be equal to those tasks.

As printed above, references to tables appearing in the budget document have been omitted.

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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 years.

The power to mold the future of this Nation lies in our hands—­yours and mine, and they are joined together by the Constitution.

If in this year, and in the next, we can find the right course to take as each issue arises, and if, in spite of all difficulties, we have the courage and the resolution to take that course, then we shall achieve a state of well-being for our people without precedent in history.  And if we continue to work with the other nations of the world earnestly, patiently, and wisely, we can—­granting a will for peace on the part of our neighbors-make a lasting peace for the world.

But, if we are to realize these ends, the Congress and the President, during the next 2 years, must work together.  It is not unusual in our history that the majority of the Congress represents a party in opposition to the President’s party.  I am the twentieth President of the United States who, at some time during his term of office, has found his own party to be in the minority in one or both Houses of Congress.  The first one was George Washington.  Wilson was number eighteen, and Hoover was number nineteen.

I realize that on some matters the Congress and the President may have honest differences of opinion.  Partisan differences, however, did not cause material disagreements as to the conduct of the war.  Nor, in the conduct of our international relations, during and since the war, have such partisan differences been material.

On some domestic issues we may, and probably shall, disagree.  That in itself is not to be feared.  It is inherent in our form of Government.  But there are ways of disagreeing; men who differ can still work together sincerely for the common good.  We shall be risking the Nation’s safety and destroying our opportunities for progress if we do not settle any disagreements in this spirit, without thought of partisan advantage.